Total War devs claim Warhammer 3 is the most noob entry yet

If you're considering getting into the Total War: Warhammer series, then 2022 could be the year to do so, as the developers at Creative Assembly claim it's the "best game to learn naturally".

The Warhammer franchise isn't something you can learn overnight. With a wiki of nearly 8 pages, you can delve into loads of lore, stories, and game tactics.

Warhammer's expansiveness could also be seen as its downside, as new fans might feel a bit overwhelmed by all there is to learn.

As a complete Warhammer noob myself, I was very lucky to have the chance to chat with both the game director and lead writer of Total War: Warhammer 3.

Fortunately, the new consensus is that the latest Warhammer game is actually the most beginner-friendly release to date, and the perfect starting point if you want to get started in the franchise.

"Warhammer 3, more than any other Total War game before, we really cared about bringing in new players," game director Ian Roxburgh told Trusted Reviews.

“There are so many aspects that all fit together to create the gaming experience. It's a relatively steep learning curve for someone who is coming from scratch and learning from scratch.

“So with Warhammer 3 we really went to great lengths to create what we call the prologue, which is kind of like a mini-campaign as soon as you load up the game which is very story and narrative heavy like that to speak to you through this great emerging story.

“At the same time, we are gradually introducing some basic features to allow you, at the right pace, to learn all these intricacies of how the game works.

“So we spent a lot of effort and resources, compared to normal, going through this process of understanding and doing playtesting with people from all walks of life in the outside world, to refine how we we can bring people in to understand the core mechanics of Total War and also give them a base in the story, in the world that they're going to start playing the main campaign game in,” Roxburgh continued.

In general, you don't need to understand Warhammer's story to play and enjoy the game, but the game mechanics themselves can be tricky for someone new, as I experienced during my practical work with the upcoming game.

“We realize that any strategy game, especially one as advanced and complex as a Total War game, needs people to navigate that learning curve in the smoothest and most entertaining way possible.

"The success of the previous two games allowed us to have this larger budget, and we've put a lot of time and effort into making this the only game if you're new to Total War, and want the try, it's the one to buy.

"So, as a noob, rest assured that if you were to buy and play Warhammer 3 to begin with, it's the best game to learn naturally and with lots of fun," Roxburgh concluded.

Andy Hall, the Senior Writer, also mentioned that Warhammer 3 introduces many new gameplay elements which he hopes will encourage more people to play. There will also be new multiplayer features, so less experienced players can rely on friends to help them through the onboarding process more easily.

"I think another aspect that we introduced with this game is the multiplayer aspect, now we have simultaneous terms," ​​Hall told Trusted Reviews.

“And even when you fight, your friends can join you. And you can give them units to fight. So you can have one mate on two micro cavalry units and give the other mate artillery while you try to take a city from a chaos force.

“Or alternatively one of the others is more of an adversarial campaign where you can have a few more friends, up to eight players.

“And again, when you enter this battle mode, some of them can take out the opposing army and you can fight. And lots of jokes ensue. And it's so much fun,” Hall continued.

But while Creative Assembly is making a big push to attract newcomers, it stressed that it hasn't forgotten about more experienced Total War players.

"At any time, people can just increase the difficulty level as they become more experienced with the game," says Roxburgh. "It's a tough balance between established fans and newbies, but we have the prologue there and we have the difficulty levels and we try to funnel people into asking the right questions at the start to put them in the right place. to get the experience that's right for them.

For more Total War: Warhammer 3 coverage, check out our hands-on review and keep an eye on Trusted Reviews for more updates.