If you too are a lover of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the mythical three-dimensional wargame created by Games Workshop published for the first time in 1983, we are sure you will also be interested in knowing all the aspects of the second strategic video game dedicated to it. Today, in fact, we want to take you into the profound gaming experience that the kids of Creative Assembly they managed again to recreate in this second chapter: Total War: Warhammer II.
The great Vortex must be protected
Only twelve months after the release of its predecessor, this new chapter of the beautiful series of strategic video games Total War, focused on the glorious battles between the forces of good and those of chaos, return to engage our playful afternoons. On this occasion, however, the fun and general enjoyment of the game are particularly increased, because it seems that the software house has understood some limitations of the first title and has tried to eliminate them or at least to smooth them (within the limits of the possibility for the Total War structure) . If you are passionate about strategic titles you will know perfectly well that the various Total War they have always been synonymous with quality in terms of the simulation of battles, on the management of territories and which are not at all satisfactory, however, in terms of history. A defect that does not get along very well with the great tradition of the three-dimensional game, because all users of the board game fall in love first with the beautiful miniatures and then with the fantastic story that characterizes the many factions. The background of each army, lord and champion of the board game are told in the books and it is also usual to reproduce pitched battles of the stories written in these manuals. This defect was in fact one of the problems of the previous title and, fortunately, it was more limited in this second chapter, which has kept the formula of the general gameplay unchanged and indeed improved and which has gone to improve aspects such as graphics and the inclusion of a little storyline for each army. Thanks to this innovation, the game will conquer you just like the beautiful wargame, because you can relive the stories about the mythical Vortex together with your favorite battalions. In this new episode we will find ourselves fighting in the lands of Ulthuan and Lustria, where four historical populations compete for dominance and control of the dangerous, yet powerful, magical vortex.
Four factions, Eight great leaders
The settings of this new game bring us to the knowledge of four new great armies: High Elves, Lizardmen (Lizardman), Skaven and Dark Elves. Each faction aims to control the vortex of magical winds and it is precisely for this circumstance that any peace treaty or agreement between the various factions fails, so that we can immerse ourselves in a new world where dominance must be affirmed again. Surely the excuse used to start wars and conspiracies is certainly not fantastic, but we must say it improves compared to that of its predecessor, which thanks to intermission videos manages to give us a reason to continue.
High Elves
- High Elves they are the most beautiful thing you can find among the lands of the Old World: ancient like the latter have always been skilled fighters and decidedly great strategists. To conquer the great magical vortex using this faction we will have to enlarge our sources of "Shards of Stone Road" and take advantage of the great diplomatic skills that this faction can boast. Compared to the other armies, the High Elves they can count on an almost perfect organization: in fact the riots with this army are very little stuff. This faction has a very high degree of civilization that stimulates the player to take advantage of diplomatic skills compared to pitched battles that, in the long run, could put their territory at risk. Despite this, the military strength of this faction is strong enough to stand up to opponents, managing a varied structure ranging from skilled archers, to mythical silver helmets, to dragons, phoenixes and beautiful eagles. Most likely this is the right army to start playing if you are not skilled strategists and do not yet know the mythical world of Warhammer.
Lizardmen
Historically they are the oldest and longest-lived army in the Old World because, thanks to the strongest magic of the game and a very thick natural armor, they have always managed to survive the changes of the earth. Thanks to their experience, when players conquer new territories they can count on a geomantic network that improves the performance of the terrain and increases the effectiveness of the laws. Thanks to this ability, i Lizardman they can immediately count on robust and stable growth and a high supply of money. Armies are made up of simple troops, naturally more resistant than the soldiers of other factions and equipped with a force capable of growing thanks to the use of the powerful magic at their disposal. Unfortunately, the infantry units are slower than the enemies, but this weakness is lessened if we think that they can deploy huge dinosaurs from which the shinki throw their spiky javelins. The Lizard Men they are suitable for attrition battles, even if they have Primordial Instinct as a defect, which forces them to charge the nearest enemies without the player being able to control them.
Skaven
This is the laziest unit of Warhammer. This army can count on various power-ups that, when exploited to the maximum, make the game much more fun. Initially they are difficult to manage, because unlike the other factions, these depend much less on gold but definitely more on Food, a fundamental resource to be able to bring myriads of slaves into battle. The more Food our rats will have, the more bonuses we will be able to pour into battle, this is because the essence of our army is to "jam" the infantry and opposing breakthrough units with enormous quantities of "Slaves", to wipe them down with our mighty Warp machines or our elite units. However, mice are very often subject to great internal unrest, so much so that in the midst of battles a unit can rebel against our command and form a new enemy. Another important factor is that the camps Skaven in the eyes of our enemies they will look like ruins, forcing them first to explore them and only then to attack them.
Dark Elves
The most beautiful and mighty army in the whole world Warhammer. No kidding, this is my personal judgment, because I still own the mythical Malekhit and all the Druchii troops with whom I have battled on the gaming tables for many years. Having said that, the Druchii are perhaps the army that has the most "hate" of all: they were in fact driven out of the beautiful lands of Ulthuan and forced to take refuge in the north in Nagarythe. Famous in the original game as great slavers, thanks to the well-known Black Arks, also in Total War: Warhammer II the Dark Elves they base their economy on capturing slaves during raids. The more slaves we can control, the more our economy will flourish, even if the uncontested increase in slaves will lead to more unrest in our provinces. With this beautiful dichotomy the armies of the Dark Elves they prey on the south, relying on their agile and very strong warriors, on the use of large monsters such as the mighty Ydre or on the powerful magical powers that Morathi and Malekhit can launch on the battlefield. Unlike good cousins, not taking this army to war could cause huge riots, because every Dark commander is bloodthirsty and wants to get the attention of the great god Khane.
gameplay
After years of videogame abuse suffered by the beautiful Warhammer Fantasy Battle, we can honestly say that both titles released to date of the trilogy he is producing Creative Assembly, have hit the mark. It will certainly be thanks to the great experience he boasts with the various Total War that the union with Games Workshop it worked, making better and better titles. Although the additions to the gameplay compared to the predecessor are not many, we must certainly point out that compared to before the victory conditions of our army are more and will not be linked only to total control of the territory, but will also concern the management of the vortex. This new element will affect our games and our reactions to certain game conditions. To control the great vortex we will have to forcibly go through specific rituals, which will force us to face the opponents who will hinder us or who will compete for the same goal. At the top of the screen a progress bar has been introduced for this purpose, which will grow and fill up more and more, updating us on the situation of our resources for rituals. In order to obtain these important materials, in some cases we will have to build ad hoc structures and conquer strategic territories, which however in many cases will induce us to spend a lot of energy. It will therefore be very important to sip your resources and your possibilities: in fact the strategy in this part of the game will be very important. You cannot afford to underestimate the much improved artificial intelligence since the first chapter, which will carry out new tasks and annoy you much better than before. As if that were not enough before each ritual the forces of Chaos they will wake up trying to stop it, forcing you to face them by investing a large number of resources. The difficulty curve of the title is really well structured, every player from the novice to the most hardened, will be able to find bread for their teeth. Users will start by choosing the faction and champion with whom they will face the game's treacherous challenges. Immediately after, you can choose whether to start a really well done tutorial, which will guide you perfectly within the dynamics of the game. These will differ according to the areas of the map and the armies, which as we have listed above are very different from each other especially considering that they have unique weapons and special powers. On a practical level, the battles will continue to unfold as always and even graphically there is no particular improvement to be expected. A real revolution is instead due to the possibility of exploring the various locations. where you will be called to make choices and where you can claim rewards. Even the end of the shift was characterized by some hints on all the things that still can be done before giving way to artificial intelligence. Last but not least, we must underline that the diplomacy system is not deeply studied, but on the contrary, in some moments of the game the continuous requests for pacts or treaties will make us understand how these are really important and that they cannot be resolved in any other way.
Ulthuan is safe
After a review like this it's hard to make you even better understand this new one Total War: Warhammer II is not a game to be underestimated. Once again the software house has managed to create a really well done title, which thanks to the many innovations and the many improvements stands out perfectly from its predecessor. The graphic performance, however, has not been retouched, apart from some new textures and some targeted work: the game has in fact been optimized in loading times and in general in stability. The company has also focused strongly on the audio sector which is really well done and that adapts to every situation, just a pity that there is no dubbing in other languages of our beloved champions.
