"Total War: Warhammer is, without question, one of the greatest strategy games of all time, and the start of a series whose legacy continues to grow even as it races towards its 10th birthday"
Singleplayer.
Co-op Multiplayer.
PvP Multiplayer.
It’s not often a game gets almost everything right.
Yet, that is what happened with Total War: Warhammer, Don’t get me wrong, it was not an instantanoius thing, and the developers were forced to make some changes along the way which improved upon various aspects of the game, however in 2025 I can safely say Total War: Warhammer is as close to perfect as any game can get, and after playing through it again, I must admit, it is still the best part of the trilogy and perhaps is the best Total War game ever made.
While the Warhammer setting may not appeal to everyone, and fans of historical Total War titles may feel they have been sidelined in favour of the fantastical, for those who can look past the more fantasical elements of the Warhammer Universe, Total War: Warhammer is one of the most polished, refined, and expansive titles in the history of Total War, thanks to the developers having learned from mistakes made with developing otherwise excellent titles such as Total War: Rome II and Total War: Attila.
Total War: Warhammer is the type of game that gamers in 15-20 years will speak of as fondly as people speak of Rome: Total War and Medieval II: Total War today.
I can see myself returning to it time and time again for many years to come, in much the same way I love to play Medieval II: Total War over 18 years after its release.
Total War Games are very combat-heavy, and the Warhammer universe is similarly war-torn, and combining them results in campaigns that are some of the most memorable of any I have ever played.
More importantly, after much trial and error, The Creative Assembly finally developed a functional diplomacy system, and alliances can be maintained throughout the entire campaign.
This makes Total War: Warhammer feel far more immersive than it did at launch, when even traditional allies such as The Empire and Dwarves would eventually go to war for no apparent reason.
In a recent campaign, when playing as the Empire, I allied myself with the Dwarfs, Nordland, and Bretonia. Together, we fought against Orcs, Undead, wildmen from the north, and eventually the end times as the forces of Chaos laid waste to entire factions.
While the AI factions often became bogged down with their troubles and rarely made it to the frontline, they did help to secure several fronts as well as dealt with smaller threats such as hordes of beast men and rebels, which gave Empire time to regroup, refocus, and even reclaim some long-lost territories from the Vampire Counts, allowing me to claim complete victory shortly after the defeat of Archaon the Everchosen, and the last vestiges of his Chaos forces.
In much the same way that Total War: Attila’s main campaign feels hopeless, players will be forced to focus on survival more than expansion once the Endtime begins.
While it’s possible to expand during these times, and I did manage to wipe out the Vampire Counts after they took the brunt of a Chaos wave, I rebuilt my armies and cities in preparation for the arrival of Archaon the Everchosen.
During this brief respite, I was able to pull forces away from the Norsca front long enough to secure my eastern and southern borders to ensure that when the endtimes was in full swing, I was able to dedicated the bulk of my armies to saving the known world, instead of dealing with vampiric corruption and the occasional Orc Waargah.
However at no time from the moment the endtimes began until I ended the threat of Chaos for good did I feel “safe”, and that is part of what makes Total War: Warhammer so enjoyable, at the time when most strategy games are winding down, with players only being able to focus on mopping up resistance, Total War: Warhammer ramps it up to 11 forcing players to fight for every inch of land, while being attacked by multiple Chaos aligned forces from what can at times feel like all directions.
During these times of Chaos, it’s not uncommon for AI factions to take advantage of this by attacking bordering cities and factions, hoping to expand while factions are forced to look to the north, lest the seemingly endless tide of Chaos armies overwhelm them.
For players who do not wish to undertake a full campaign, Total War: Warhammer allows them to access the quest battles for every faction and leader from the main menu.
This provides a huge amount of excellent scenario-based content. It offers players a glimpse into the world’s Lore while allowing them to complete a series of “mini-campaigns,” each focused on a single character or faction.
While these battles can, and are best completed during a campaign, its not always easy to spare the forces to do so, and being able to avoid missing out on content that enriches the world is a not only a very consumer friendly move, but a great way to explore more of the Warhammer universe, without being forced to play through the game as every single faction and leader in effort to experience the full list of scenarios available.
While core mechanics are shared between action factions, each faction and very often the leader play directly enough that playing multiple campaigns back to back feels as unique as playing a new game set in the same world.
For example, playing as The Empire, Dwarves, and Bretonia would result in three very different campaigns, with different goals, different threats, and most importantly, unique units and tactics required to progress.
When playing as the Empire, I would sack first and then raze every enemy inhostpitable settlement, and become very wealthy doing so, and suffered no penalty for doing so; however, when playing as Bretonia, such actions would result in a loss of chilvary, which would make leader sless efficant, and in some cases make final victory less likely or in extreme cases impossible.
And this is not the only difference between the two largest human factions. However, I will allow you to discover the rest for yourself!
With war, economics, and technological progression, objectives and narrative being dependent on which faction/leader you choose, Total War: Warhammer is the type of game you could easily invest 1000 hours into, and still find new ways to play and secrets to discover after all that time.
This extreme replayability makes Total War: Warhammer DLC such an excellent value for money. Each faction and leader offers players potentially dozens of hours of enjoyment. In addition, the same factions and leaders can be unlocked in the Mortal Empires mode, which was released for Total War: Warhammer II and expanded upon in Total War: Warhammer III.
Total War: Warhammer is a 4x strategy video game developed by The Creative Assembly and published by SEGA, it was released on 24 May 2016 and retails for $59.99.
Total War: Warhammer is available exclusively on PC.
The following peripherals are officially supported:
Total War: Warhammer is rated PEGI 16+ and contains:
Total War: Warhammer is undoubtedly the most complete-feeling entry in the Total War: Warhammer Trilogy, and the map, narrative, and faction selection are some of the best, in my opinion.
While it lacks Mortal Empires, which was first introduced with Total War: Warhammer II, it is a huge contributor to that mode’s success because all of its factions and locations are playable in Total War: Warhammer II and Total War: Warhammer III for those who own the original game and, where applicable, its DLC.
Total War: Warhammer can be found for around $8 on multiple third-party websites.
It has been bundled and even given away several times, making it one of the most accessible and affordable entries in one of the best gaming trilogies ever made.
I fully recommend it to Total War and Warhammer fans due to its excellent mechanics, stunning visuals, and strong adherence to Wargamer lore.
We found Total War: Warhammer to be a masterpiece of a game, meaning it is a must-play for almost every gamer, due to its near-perfect gameplay experience.
