Total War: Three Kingdoms is the latest installment in the Total War series. It takes places in a romanticized China during the famous Three Kingdoms period ( 220–280 AD ), and HEAVILY inspired by the The Romance Of The Three Kingdoms novel. A setting very familiar to anybody who's played Dynasty Warriors, or the more obscure Romance Of The Three Kingdoms series of games.
It follows a lot of normal Total War conventions. You build your armies, take territory, and engage in quasi-real time strategy battles. All of this is on a turn based world map with a surprisingly intricate diplomacy system between the various factions. Each faction gets unique units and buildings, all of which will drastically change your battle plan. When building your army you want to take your unique strengths into account, but never underestimate the secret weapons your enemy may have hiding in their ranks.
Each faction has its own unique game mechanics as well. For example, my main man Cao Cao as a special type of currency called "Credibility" that is used for diplomacy. By spending Credibility, he can manipulate another faction's opinion of him, or even a different faction. But by using even more of it, you can even convince two different factions to go to war with each other on your behalf, all without getting your armies directly involved.
But where this game stands out the most is its Romance Mode. A mode meant to replicate the larger than life feel of the famous novel. In this mode you build your entire army around the hero units. Fatigue sets in slower, is recovered faster, and your generals go from tactical pieces to one-man doomsday weapons. It is a very dramatic mode where famous names like Guan Yu can hold of an entire group of enemy foot soldiers, and the terrifying Lu Bu and wipe out your entire front line armed with nothing more than his weapon Sky Breaker and the loyal steed Red Hare.
The Romance mode also allows generals to engage in one-on-one duels. Mid-battle two generals can agree to an honorable duel, and will charge to meet each other. There they will duke it out while the battle rages on. But the armies will be very careful to not interfere. Winning a duel can change the tide of certain defeat. On the other hand, loosing such an important showdown can foil even the most foolproof of plan you have for your army. If you are a fan of strategy games, and especially if you are a Total War fan, you can't miss this amazing entry. No go fourth, great general. Claim your throne as Emperor of all of China.
"Heaven is to be rent asunder, Earth shall fall away"
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