*This article is compiled from IGN US and is not reproduced without authorization.
Throughout the series, Total War: Warhammer 3 is the one that made me want to play a multiplayer game the most. Creative Assembly's efforts to support up to eight friends online in the campaign mode are unprecedented, and while there are still occasional network connectivity issues in the actual game that run up like the Skavan Dungeons, most of the time the online experience is fun.
The biggest and most exciting innovation in this game is the synchronized turn and the mechanics that allow you to choose sides at will in battle. When I say synchronization here, I don't mean that everyone determines their actions and then settles them together. What I'm actually referring to is that if you start a new round and your friend is moving his army, you can actually see that army moving. It's all happening in real time, and if you all want to take over the same city, the one that operates first or is closer to the city will be able to do it.
Regarding this design, I even like it and some don't like it. For example, sometimes the engine will need to decide which action to deal with first, and you may be left out; if my friend has an automatic battle to settle and I'm choosing technology, then the two actions can't happen at the same time, I may click on the technology and then for a few seconds there is no response, which makes the UI feedback annoyingly low.
Competing with people for a certain goal may be fun, but due to the real-time action-based mechanics now, you may need to scramble to move troops over, and in the cost, your other army may be beaten to death by a third player, which doesn't feel so much like the "Total War" series. But this is indeed a big improvement compared to waiting for players to settle rounds one by one.
Friend and foe
For combat, the fun part is really the beginning. Even if the battle is just a single human player against the AI faction, all eight players have the opportunity to participate, and each can choose to join one side of the battlefield or watch the battle. If there are reinforcements, they can also choose to control the reinforcements.
On the battlefield, the leader of a faction can assign any unit, lord, or hero to a player who joins that faction. So even if other players aren't related to both sides on the battlefield, a battle can turn into a four-on-four epic duel where everyone has something to do.
However, if you are fighting a friend who is far superior to yours, you must be careful, if he is intent on dealing with you, then he only needs to control your opponent in every battle, and he can consume you little by little.
All of these mechanics are used in the Chaos Demon Domain campaign, which I've covered in detail in my previous Total War: Warhammer 3 single-player review. But given its length, unless you and your friends are quarantined for 10 days doing nothing, I don't really recommend using it for multiplayer games. Luckily, there are two more multiplayer campaigns in the game, and their rhythm is just right for a Sunday night with a drink.
"The Decaying Thing of Kisliff" is a cooperative campaign for three players, its main trunk is to defend Kisliff from the demon army, but it also contains some internal conflicts appropriated from the main battle, such as the conflict between the Ice King's Court and the Orthodox Church. This multiplayer co-op campaign is short and can end in 15 rounds, and my main displeasure with it is that Total War: Warhammer's dozens of factions contain only five of them, so it may soon become a bit boring and repetitive.
The Dark Ages
Another campaign is Dark and Unharmed, which supports up to eight players and is set during a period of demonic and ogre-infested chaos in Aurora history. There are some FACTIONS OF NPCs like Greenskin wandering around, and from Grissus to Enkali to Myo Shadow, all of which are available to players to choose from, so the diversity of battles in this campaign is greatly enriched.
The campaign mode is a simple and straightforward turf battle, and for each stronghold captured, you can earn one victory point per turn. The first person to earn 40 points wins, so a game usually ends within 20 rounds. The rhythm of the elements of technology, construction, and conscription has also been adjusted in these two mini-campaigns, so I think this length is just right.
summary
Total War: Warhammer 3 features the best multiplayer mechanics in the series, with two short, exciting mini-campaigns that allow you and your friends to enjoy a relaxing, self-contained experience beyond encounters, while spending months playing the main campaign. Nowadays, even friends who can only make time to play together for a few hours a week can enjoy the game. Turn-based battles with synchronous settlement can feel a bit of a rush, and the network connectivity issues that need to be addressed still exist. But overall, I was amazed by the combination of all these elements of Creative Assembly.
merit
Innovative synchronous settlement mechanism
Supports up to 8 people online
A multiplayer campaign of the right length
shortcoming
The new mechanism also raises some new problems
Network connectivity stability needs to be addressed urgently