Total War: WARHAMMER II

 PC
  • Publisher: Sega
  • Release Date: Sep 28, 2017
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 603 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 462 out of 603
  2. Mixed: 66 out of 603
  3. Negative: 75 out of 603
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  1. Andymion08
    Dec 19, 2017
    7
    Total War: Warhammer 2 "suffers" from a similar problem to other big strategist games like Civilization: by the time the sequel is out the previous version has over a years worth of patches and DLC. Because of this when the new vortex campaign mechanics fell flat and the mortal empires campaign arrived late and unpolished it was easy to move on. It's not bad or incomplete by any means, butTotal War: Warhammer 2 "suffers" from a similar problem to other big strategist games like Civilization: by the time the sequel is out the previous version has over a years worth of patches and DLC. Because of this when the new vortex campaign mechanics fell flat and the mortal empires campaign arrived late and unpolished it was easy to move on. It's not bad or incomplete by any means, but I know that my time would be better spent if I waited another 6 to 9 months before diving back in.… Expand
  2. Bakana
    Oct 6, 2017
    5
    I played for roughly 24 hours and I have to say that I'm pretty disappointed. I have played almost all of the Total War games ( Shogun 2, Rome, Rome 2, Empire, Napoleon, Attila and the first of the Warhammer ones ). So it's not a stretch to tell you that I have a fair share of experience up my sleeve.

    To the game. Some mechanics feel really odd. Im not going into too much detail, but    I played for roughly 24 hours and I have to say that I'm pretty disappointed. I have played almost all of the Total War games ( Shogun 2, Rome, Rome 2, Empire, Napoleon, Attila and the first of the Warhammer ones ). So it's not a stretch to tell you that I have a fair share of experience up my sleeve.

    To the game.
    Some mechanics feel really odd. Im not going into too much detail, but when you reach the end game - ( lil spoiler? ) enemies can just pay money to spawn an army to tear down your cities involved in the Ritual.

    It is just not interactive.. and the excuse "Well its Magic" does not make it any less frustrating.

    To be honest.. It probably makes the balancing better overall cause at some point in the game you are just going to steamroll the hell out of anyone who get's in your way.. but i would prefer something like, "If you get to a certain degree of possessed power everyone turns on you". They could unite against you.. and it would make sense to unite against an overwhelming force that threatens to take over everything.

    But just paying money.. to send an army is not fun.. not for the one that pays neither for the one who may get blown up.

    I didn't even make such bad experiences with it.. It made the game closer and harder, which I always enjoy.. but in a way that didn't make sense to me.

    Maybe it was the fact that I only played on hard.. but the AI was pretty lackluster too.

    Units just getting stuck behind their own troops causing them to not fight till the warriors in front of them die.

    I once won a fight with the prediction of only like 10%-15% winning.. and that causes me to not really feel like being in danger most of the time..

    Maybe I should try an even harder difficulty. But what I experienced is that with harder difficulty the only thing that changes until the break point of becoming an unstoppable force is that I need to wait long times to stabilize economy. Just passing turn for turn to get to the next step and the next step.
    Which I personally blame the low amount of buildings to choose from for.

    There is only one building that makes the citizens happier. Often I had to build only this one building in every city I conquered. It just isn't the diversity that I have been loving in other Total War games.

    To this date I think that shogun was the best one. Though not as big in troop diversity which is obviously easier to achieve for a fantasy game.

    It had a really nice balance in buildings to choose from as far as I can remember.

    The Maelstrom was kind of cool.. and kind of annoying.. again part wise cause you often had to teleport to a fight, just because it was on the other side of the map.. but that caused you to never really being punished.. I wouldve enjoyed it more to maybe having to send a spy or any kind of special unit to the other rituals.. maybe having like 10 round's to do so..

    and my last point to make is, that I didn't like having just like 8 characters and only 4 factions to choose from.. pretty disappointed with that as well..

    but I heard that the devs are planning on bringing the map and factions of the first and the second installment of TW Warhammer together as a bigger Campaign option.. looking forward to that.

    Thanks for reading if anyone made it through. :P
    Have a wonderful day    … Expand
  3. marc5477
    Oct 27, 2017
    6
    Tries to combine too many elements but does not excel at any of them.

    4x is there but much shallower than games like Galciv or Civilizations. Even Stellaris and Star Ruler offered more 4x content than this game. City building is not its strong point. RTS elements are available during combat. Its actually pretty fun but gets old real quick. Its very slow due to how many hit points    Tries to combine too many elements but does not excel at any of them.

    4x is there but much shallower than games like Galciv or Civilizations. Even Stellaris and Star Ruler offered more 4x content than this game. City building is not its strong point.

    RTS elements are available during combat. Its actually pretty fun but gets old real quick. Its very slow due to how many hit points everything has and how little damage units do especially early in the game. I like the army management but I wish battles would go faster. You can simulate battles but that takes the fun out of the RTS but after about 2 hours of playing I really cringed at fighting battles because they simply take too much time. You also cannot customize races, factions, heroes or anything like that.

    RPG elements exist similar to many 4x games like Fallen Enchantress or Endless Legend. In this game you recruit heroes (and lords) but the problem is there is little variation between them resulting in everyone being a generic carbon copy of each other. Once your army is large, it literally feels like the heroes are all generic and just another unit taking the charm out of the idea of heroes and RPG advancement. As for story, forget it. The story is super generic and dull and there is practically zero character development. Dont buy this looking for a good story.

    Overall I would say this game is slightly above average and I strongly suggest that they focus on one element in the future and push it to give the game some character. Otherwise the game is simply too generic and too similar to everything else that has come out the last 15 years. I cant think of a single feature that was unique in this game and after playing 3 campaigns I have zero interest in ever playing it again. Heck I didnt even want to finish the campaigns after 100 turns so I did have to push myself a bit despite boredom.    … Expand
  4. Rrichard
    Oct 2, 2017
    5
    Same weaknesses as the first game: the battles are not fun to play. It is very difficult to track all of the units across the map, particularly with the huge variations in sizes. All of the battles are huge 20v20 brawls without any tactical depth. I just spammed armies of Spearmen and autoresolved everything to get through the campaign.

    The loyalty mechanic makes the Dark Elves and    Same weaknesses as the first game: the battles are not fun to play. It is very difficult to track all of the units across the map, particularly with the huge variations in sizes. All of the battles are huge 20v20 brawls without any tactical depth. I just spammed armies of Spearmen and autoresolved everything to get through the campaign.

    The loyalty mechanic makes the Dark Elves and Skaven a PITA to play, with risk of mini civil war (the mechanic that ruined Rome 2 and Attila) constantly. The campaign itself is quite weak, with less depth than the first game. The 'rituals' just involve defending yourself against multiple 20-stack armies placed into your territory every few turns.

    A sad downturn in enjoyment as compared to the awesome Empire and Shogun 2 games. The series has been on a downard trajectory since Rome.    … Expand
  5. albertpross
    Oct 13, 2017
    7
    AIfter all these years and TW games, the AI is still gamy
    -
    Elves/dark elves destroy everybody without any effort - Lizardmen were a huge disappointment. no range + no speed = easy target (they're okayish against AI) - Buildings & units are unbalanced. The only "strategy" is figuring out which to build and which to ignore. - Battles basically involve kiting with ranged units and    AIfter all these years and TW games, the AI is still gamy
    -
    Elves/dark elves destroy everybody without any effort
    -
    Lizardmen were a huge disappointment. no range + no speed = easy target (they're okayish against AI)
    -
    Buildings & units are unbalanced. The only "strategy" is figuring out which to build and which to ignore.
    -
    Battles basically involve kiting with ranged units and charging with cavalry. Not very deep.
    -
    Still an above average game but needed more playtesting. Typical publisher shortsightedness.    … Expand
  6. jseph1234
    Oct 5, 2020
    6
    Game is excellent in and of itself. Wha I don't like the idea of this Trilogy being just adding on new content on top of old content and charging another $60. In other words You can buy Warhammer 1 for $60 and then will buy Warhammer 2 which will have the same content as Warhammer 1 and then you can buy Warhammer 3 which will have the same content as 1 & 2! Why spend $180 instead ofGame is excellent in and of itself. Wha I don't like the idea of this Trilogy being just adding on new content on top of old content and charging another $60. In other words You can buy Warhammer 1 for $60 and then will buy Warhammer 2 which will have the same content as Warhammer 1 and then you can buy Warhammer 3 which will have the same content as 1 & 2! Why spend $180 instead of just waiting for Warhammer 3 and saving yourself $120?? RIPOFF!!

    A.I. STILL Sucks (They same bad as Rome 2)    … Expand
  7. Alexthecritic
    Oct 3, 2017
    5
    This game is essentially a $60 DLC with a few new mechanics. Activision is getting more and more greedy. The Total War series in the past would usually release standalone expansions like the Fall of Samurai and Attila that cost consumers 30-40 dollars. But this time, Activision decided to market the expansion like a brand new game by calling it "Warhammer II." However, this "new" gameThis game is essentially a $60 DLC with a few new mechanics. Activision is getting more and more greedy. The Total War series in the past would usually release standalone expansions like the Fall of Samurai and Attila that cost consumers 30-40 dollars. But this time, Activision decided to market the expansion like a brand new game by calling it "Warhammer II." However, this "new" game fails to address the flaws of the previous game and there are not a lot of innovations in it. All you get is the vortex mechanic and the beautiful reskins of the old units. I would not recommend this game at $60. You could pick it up after Activision offers a huge discount. If you decided to skip this game, you would not miss anything.… Expand
  8. zombox5000
    Jan 6, 2021
    6
    I love the way the game captures the huge scale of the wars between the factions. The only problem continues to be the lazy AI that all Total War games use. The challenge comes in the form of the computer opponents cheating to instant build huge armies or create units that they clearly couldn't (and faster than they should be able to). They also don't have to deal with territorialI love the way the game captures the huge scale of the wars between the factions. The only problem continues to be the lazy AI that all Total War games use. The challenge comes in the form of the computer opponents cheating to instant build huge armies or create units that they clearly couldn't (and faster than they should be able to). They also don't have to deal with territorial stability or politics and the computer will always favor attacking a player over another PC, regardless of political affiliation. If the developers would fix these issues, the game would truly be amazing.… Expand
  9. Wiebe
    Feb 26, 2020
    7
    Warhammer makes total war definitely more interesting. But heroes abilities and agents, as well as buildings could have been better developed. Overall it seems as total war has barely evolved over the years.
  10. GJA
    Apr 20, 2021
    6
    Better than the last but still not a good total war game. Many total war features were simplified for casuals that are new to the genre and overall the game is much easier. The only good thing it has is the fantasy setting but there isn't much replayability once you have tried each one of the races.
  11. ume1994
    Sep 2, 2019
    7
    优点：天马行空的想象力；气势恢宏的战争场面；
    缺点：无聊的经济与外交系统；空洞的人物背景；令人忽视的音乐；
  12. CraterGames
    Mar 24, 2019
    6
    Total War: Warhammer II. My god that game is so damn good! In stock game you can choose with "class" you wanna play. You want to be quick and deadly, chose skavens, you wanna be slow and heavy armored, chose Lizardmen, or maybe you want tyo play save and fight from range, than chose Elfs. Game is very balanced so every class it strong in something else.
    As much I love this game, for    Total War: Warhammer II. My god that game is so damn good! In stock game you can choose with "class" you wanna play. You want to be quick and deadly, chose skavens, you wanna be slow and heavy armored, chose Lizardmen, or maybe you want tyo play save and fight from range, than chose Elfs. Game is very balanced so every class it strong in something else.
    As much I love this game, for whatever reason when they added new DLC, the game starts to frick out. It crashes to desktop, in game screen looks like it is low quality, at overall there is so many bugs that destroy any fun from the game. Dunno what's going on but until this thing is not fixed, I will leave lower review.    … Expand
  13. Vulgrim
    May 26, 2021
    6
    If you want to play as elves or skaven, and you don't pay too much attention to lore etc. this is a very good title. Unfortunately, like all Total War games, he suffers from some ills, adding his own. In its current state, with all (except the last) DLC and FLC, it provides fun for tens of hours. The following rating is based on the complete title with all available content:

    + Number of    If you want to play as elves or skaven, and you don't pay too much attention to lore etc. this is a very good title. Unfortunately, like all Total War games, he suffers from some ills, adding his own. In its current state, with all (except the last) DLC and FLC, it provides fun for tens of hours. The following rating is based on the complete title with all available content:

    + Number of playable lords
    + Mechanics of some factions
    + Graphics and audio
    + Wood Elven Re-balance
    + Quantity and visual aspect of the Tradition of Magic
    + Mortal Empire campaign
    + MODS (SFO especially)

    - Lords are not as interesting or even playable
    - Mortal Empire campaign is not a "linked map", to fit the map from one, large areas of the map have been cut out of two (in the south and west)
    - The game has an undead pirate faction, but still no naval battles
    - Some campaigns are stupid to win conditions or require defeating factions on the other side of the map
    - Buggy achievements
    - PRICE    … Expand
  14. pcenthusiast170
    Oct 10, 2020
    5
    seems strange to block all the free dlc during a free weekend also why can't i play mortal empires dlc considering i have downloaded it but the game play is pretty good
  15. Yaav13
    May 9, 2022
    7
    My truthful honorable incorruptible conclusive rating of this considered game: 7.

Awards & Rankings

14
#14 Best PC Game of 2017
31
#31 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017
14
#14 Most Shared PC Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 69 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 66 out of 69
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 69
  3. Negative: 0 out of 69
  1. The Digital Fix
    Mar 25, 2019
    90
    In short, Total War: Warhammer II offers plenty of content for fans of strategy games, Warhammer and Total Warhammer fans, and new starters to the genre. It is easily one of the genre's finest, standing alongside X-Com 2 as one of the best PC games of the last few years.
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  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 16, 2018
    100
    An innovative, original structure built on the solid foundations of the first game has exceedingly succeeded. Who was afraid that at second Warhammer developers will lose their breath, was terribly mistaken. [Issue#279]
  3. GameCritics
    Jan 23, 2018
    85
    As weird as some the diplomacy and other mechanics can be, it’s an impressive title with a ton of depth to get stuck into. Now, I’d better get back to my current mission in progress — those enemy armies won’t eat themselves, after all.
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