Recent reviews by Sanctioner

This feels like a demo version of the full game. I had more fun playing TW Warhammer II. The number of playable factions in TW Warhammer III dropped from ~69 to just 7. The only 2 non-evil factions are both humans, and one of the evil factions is a combination of the others, which confounds me why I would ever want to play as them because i get the full roster when I just choose one of the other evil factions. If you are new to TW WH series, the lack of available factions to play as is probably a non-issue, but 7 is still pretty low. It will probably feel like a demo still but with nothing to compare. If you are not new to TW WH series, this is like taking a cannon ball to the chest, even if you didn't let the hype get to you.

Pros

I like how multiplayer is more than just 2 players and the game allows human players to run their turns at the same time. This is a major gameplay improvement over the last, especially since armies that have more than a few unit types often can't get the attention they need from just 2 players. Some units just have to rest against my strategy until i can finally get around to clicking on them. Either the cavalry is just sitting there, spells aren't being cast, saveable units die, or other atrocities. With 3 people or more this is a lot less of an issue. It's too convenient to blame some players for being slow, but unlike others, I only have 2 hands, and am older and can't dedicate my game time to 8 hours a day every day for some speed conditioning. If it can't be done by someone who plays a few times a month, it needs improvement, and this improvement that is new in TW Warhammer III really helps. I do wish single player had something too though. We are allowed to run the battle in slow motion at least.

Cons

Probably my biggest complaint is an assault on my personal play style on the campaign map. When you click on a city from the status bar on the bottom, the game zooms you in ridiculously close--i mean REALLY close--like the game's camera eye is trying to look inside the windows of one of the buildings in the city. It's like when you go to the eye doctor and they test you for glaucoma or whatever, and you put your head in the machine and this thing has to get so close to your eye it literally touches your eye. I know because I asked and the doctor said the machine touches your eye. Here the buildings literally touch the camera's eye and you can't see anything else. I need the game to respect my chosen camera height on the campaign map, no matter what.

On both the campaign map and the battle map, i wish I could zoom out further. I keep hitting the ceiling.

My first real run through of the game i got all the souls and then the long, multi-step, final battle. I was just about to beat the boss and the game crashed. I didn't play for a week or more. After some time i reloaded the game to redo the battle and all my souls were gone as if I never got them.

The souls race is probably the dumbest idea for a campaign. The eye of the vortex was pretty bad from TW WH II, but this is worse. I like to play slowly and expand, and not be forced to play a certain way, or at a certain pace, and i like to do things on my own time, nice and relaxing. Instead, this game only allows a single play style and it's the style the devs want you to play with no room for negotiation. This gross absence of choice significantly ruins the game. This isn't fun. Fun is when a person plays an interactive game and the game encourages interactivity. Here, the game actively discourages you from interacting with it in the manner of your liking. If you play any other way you lose the race and thus the game. Not everyone likes racing games but this is the only mode of play. On a side note, some features that take time, like spreading corruption, is negatively impacted by this race against time because you may not have time to spread enough corruption and the rifts always seem to open right when you are about to go to war but now you can't because you have to take care of the rifts.

I cannot recommend this game. The amount of content needed to get this up to where TW WH II was will take years. The content has been worth it in the prior games of the series but I cannot enjoy it if established players have to start all over from a base game (or less, like a demo of it) when before we enjoyed so many more factions on a large map where players had control over their play style with no game features forcing you to rush anything.

I may be back in a few years, if I'm still interested in games.

Game is nothing but an endless stream of frustrations, each one builds on top of another. The game can't be won if a single mistake is made, or if you wait too long to do something, which always happens for lack of the exact resources needed. There is never an opening that lets up and eases some of it.

There needs to be difficulty settings so its easier for beginners until the mechanics are learned. Instead the game thrusts you into impossible goals after it's already too late to do anything about it. At least with Oregon Trail, you could theoretically win.

If you like frustration, get this.

This game does not work on modern PCs. the only option that worked for me was to run the game in DirectX 9 mode. Luckily that .exe is offered. And you cannot launch it from steam without renaming the DirectX9 version to the one that Steam wants to load. I do not feel the developers should be held responsible for updating their games until the end of time, but Steam should at least display a warning.

Altair's voice is some of the worst voice acting I have ever heard to date in all the games I've ever played. It's painful to listen to. Most other voices are just ok. I turn music off so no comment there. The beggars, guards, and other people are numerous but their voices aren't numerous enough, so you'll hear the same recordings over and over again, though each map has different voices for the same types of people.

The controls are a little awkward, and i'm not referring to the difficulty matching up each action to a button. It actually plays pretty well once you understand the High Profile mode which some people have difficulty adjusting to. The awkwardness is with the camera angles. They get stuck a lot in tight places, where you will often find yourself in, and it causes you to stab innocent people or jump off a ledge when you don't intend to.

I was hoping the fluidness and abilities would match that of the batman series, but it doesn't at all. You can't aim the angle in which to throw a person off a ledge, forcing you to line your character up correctly, which may not be possible the way the guards move or other objects that may be in the way. You can't pounce from a ledge to kill despite the opening sequence alluding that you can. (You also cannot hide amidst the schollars while being watched as alluded to in the opening sequence as well.) Hiding only works when you're not watched, which I feel is more real anyway. You can't extend your hidden blade while swordfighting. The knife throw and knife slash is the same button, so if they dodge your attack and land too far away, you'll reduce your inventory of throwing knives if you keep smashing the button. You can pickpocket for more though. Your character is a bit limited in what it can do.

Despite its age, the game holds up pretty well. the pixellation is apparent in the scenes but the models are full and detailed. the maps are maze-like and feel like a corridor may or may not be present while running around, and if you run down a dark alley, you may have a 50/50 chance you'll hit a wall and have to fight the people you're facing. there is plenty of z-axis also. You'll feel like the maps are quite full. There is duplication of architecture but it isn't noticeable that much. the horse riding is also pretty cool and you can fight while riding, though its a little hard to hit anything. They can knock you off your horse.

the guard's senses are better than the Hitman games. Hitman's character's ability to detect you is good, but this game feels more real. You can fist fight in front of guards without them caring, so you can get away from the drunks.

I got it on sale and its about a fair price then. Buy it to partake in the storyline or learn the controls and it will help you later in the series. It's still a good game.

Around fifteen years ago, i sketched a scene on paper, colored it in photoshop and published it on deviantart. It was a scene on top of a cliff, with the ocean in the background, trees around me, heading down to a shoreline on the left. Behind the shoreline was a mountain in the distance, with rocks below at the ocean, and the sunrise slightly to the right shining directly at me ahead from the water, casting its reflections on every wave in the sea as it massaged the shoreline. A white gull in the sky completed the art as the clouds were coming in.

I had exactly drawn Arcadia Bay in all the right proportions, 15 years ago, from the location of the lighthouse. The only thing missing was the town itself. Like Max, i also left town, and never called some of my friends for reasons, like Max, that I just don't know, and like her I feel like crap about it.

This has been a personal time rewind for me. I would have never known about it had it not gone on sale. I really don't know what this is supposed to mean or what to make of this, but I am glad that I got to experience it.