Alright, so it’s not a secret that as I’m writing this, Warhammer 2 isn’t in the best spot right now. It’s a little rough around the edges, even if it’s not at Rome 2 levels. But this is a look at the game from a wide angle, to be sure, so let’s get started. With that out of the way: Warhammer 2 is (currently) the latest installment in the Total War series, which tasks you with managing vast campaigns and carrying out grand battles. This installment focuses on the New World of the Warhammer Fantasy universe, which brings two flavors of Elf (High and Dark), the rat-like Skaven, and the cold-blooded Lizardmen into the motley crew of races on offer so far (discounting the Tomb Kings, who aren’t out yet or part of the base game, but are shaping up to be really cool).

Opinions are pretty mixed about how the Vortex campaign works, and that’s fair. Personally, I’m a fan of it, even if I feel like it’s too easy to just ignore what’s supposed to be a failure condition (and believe me, you’ll need to ignore it on higher difficulties, where the AI outraces you to the end so quickly that you will be thanking the designers for making it almost impossible to lose due to a Vortex defeat even if it’s theoretically possible), but Mortal Empires was the more appealing draw for me. This secondary campaign requires you to own the original Warhammer, but then adds the entire Old World into the mix too, giving you a ridiculously massive set of continents to conquer as your chosen races. Alliances will form, unlikely superpowers will emerge, and because Norsca’s not included yet, Surtha Ek will send 18 chariots and an infantry unit at you. It has a few performance issues, but I will admit that I’m slightly under-spec, and it’s incredibly satisfying to be able to mess with the whole world (with a few omissions).

At the same time as I heap praise onto this title, it’s somewhat obvious that Creative Assembly are spreading themselves a little thin. Warhammer 2’s “FreeLC” offerings thus far are well behind the timetable set by the original, not to mention the DLC has been slimmer (Beastmen were out 2 months after release, while we’ve waited nearly 5 for the Tomb Kings). I suspect this is due to the somewhat-rough shape Mortal Empires put the game in when it released, and only time will tell if they will make good on their promises or cut their losses. For what it’s worth, I remain confident the former is the case, and the game as it stands is definitely worth the asking price to me, being one of my favorite releases of 2017.

Alright, so it’s not a secret that as I’m writing this, Warhammer 2 isn’t in the best spot right now. It’s a little rough around the edges, even if it’s not at Rome 2 levels. But this is a look at the game from a wide angle, to be sure, so let’s get started. With that out of the way: Warhammer 2 is (currently) the latest installment in the Total War series, which tasks you with managing vast campaigns and carrying out grand battles. This installment focuses on the New World of the Warhammer Fantasy universe, which brings two flavors of Elf (High and Dark), the rat-like Skaven, and the cold-blooded Lizardmen into the motley crew of races on offer so far (discounting the Tomb Kings, who aren’t out yet or part of the base game, but are shaping up to be really cool). Opinions are pretty mixed about how the Vortex campaign works, and that’s fair. Personally, I’m a fan of it, even if I feel like it’s too easy to just ignore what’s supposed to be a failure condition (and believe me, you’ll need to ignore it on higher difficulties, where the AI outraces you to the end so quickly that you will be thanking the designers for making it almost impossible to lose due to a Vortex defeat even if it’s [i]theoretically[/i] possible), but Mortal Empires was the more appealing draw for me. This secondary campaign requires you to own the original Warhammer, but then adds the entire Old World into the mix too, giving you a ridiculously massive set of continents to conquer as your chosen races. Alliances will form, unlikely superpowers will emerge, and because Norsca’s not included yet, Surtha Ek will send 18 chariots and an infantry unit at you. It has a few performance issues, but I will admit that I’m slightly under-spec, and it’s incredibly satisfying to be able to mess with the whole world (with a few omissions). At the same time as I heap praise onto this title, it’s somewhat obvious that Creative Assembly are spreading themselves a little thin. Warhammer 2’s “FreeLC” offerings thus far are well behind the timetable set by the original, not to mention the DLC has been slimmer (Beastmen were out 2 months after release, while we’ve waited nearly 5 for the Tomb Kings). I suspect this is due to the somewhat-rough shape Mortal Empires put the game in when it released, and only time will tell if they will make good on their promises or cut their losses. For what it’s worth, I remain confident the former is the case, and the game as it stands is definitely worth the asking price to me, being one of my favorite releases of 2017.