Info about Total War: WARHAMMER III:

Official game description:
Immortal Empires is Now Available to all Total War: WARHAMMER III Players
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Immortal Empires is the culmination of the entire Total War: WARHAMMER series. Combining the campaign maps, races, and factions from all three games\* into a single, epic sandbox campaign. It’s the most complete and definitive Warhammer strategy experience ever conceived!  
Immortal Empires is Out Now  
_\*All owners of Total War: WARHAMMER III can now access the Immortal Empires Campaign. However, there are several races available in Immortal Empires that are unlocked if you own Total War: WARHAMMER, Total War: WARHAMMER II or DLC across the entire trilogy._
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Release date: Feb 16, 2022

Categories: Turn-based Strategy, Real-time Strategy, Cooperative Multiplayer, Fantasy, Large-Scale Battles, Resource Management, Faction Management, Empire Building

Feature scans:
- MTX: score 70; verdict: Aggressive DLC Policy; summary: Total War: Warhammer III features an aggressive monetization strategy where a vast amount of content is locked behind multiple paid DLCs and previous game purchases. DLCs are widely considered overpriced and offer diminishing value. Evidence of pay-to-win in multiplayer exists, and the developer is accused of neglecting bug fixes and communication in favor of pushing DLC sales.
- Mods: score 45; verdict: Mod-Dependent; summary: User feedback consistently indicates that Total War games suffer from unresolved bugs, crashes, and AI issues, leading to a heavy reliance on the Community Bug Fix Mod. Developers are criticized for slow fixes while modders patch problems quickly. Although the game is playable with the mod, the vanilla experience is considered buggy but not universally broken (crash-on-startup reports are limited).
- Wiki: score 50; verdict: The Student; summary: The game suffers from a widespread 'Wiki Tax' where players must rely on external guides, wikis, and community content to understand hidden mechanics, navigate poor tutorials, and discover optimal builds. While bugs and performance issues also contribute, the primary barrier is instructional: the game fails to teach its own systems effectively.
- Proton/Linux: score 70; verdict: Tinkering Required; Multiplayer Broken; summary: Total War: Warhammer III on Linux is a mixed experience. The native Linux port is outdated and lacks crossplay, while Proton runs the game but requires extensive manual tweaks (Proton-GE, launch options, VRAM config) to avoid freezes and crashes. Multiplayer is effectively broken between Linux and Windows. Some users achieve stable single-player gameplay after workarounds, but the overall friction is significant.
- Steam Deck: score 85; verdict: Broken; summary: Total War: Warhammer 3 on Steam Deck and Linux faces severe stability issues, frequent crashes, broken multiplayer cross-play, mandatory Denuvo DRM online requirements, and heavy reliance on community tweaks. While some users report playability after extensive configuration, the overall experience is marred by poor optimization and unresolved bugs, making it unreliable for casual use.

- Hardware Profile:
  - Summary: The game suffers from widespread crashing and poor optimization across most hardware configurations, with only the lowest-spec Windows cohort showing a mix of playable and problematic reports.
  - Sample size: 574 (2% coverage)
  - Audience skew: Review sample is mostly Windows-based.
  - Windows <8GB VRAM / <16GB RAM (mixed, 126 reports): Some players report smooth performance, but others experience crashes and freezes.
  - Windows 8-11GB VRAM (negative, 114 reports): Frequent crashes and poor optimization are widely reported across many setups.
  - Windows 12-15GB VRAM / 16-31GB RAM (negative, 105 reports): Constant crashes and poor performance make the game nearly unplayable.
  - Windows <8GB VRAM / 16-31GB RAM (negative, 90 reports): Crashes and poor performance are prevalent, despite some positive reports on lower settings.
  - Windows 16GB+ VRAM (negative, 63 reports): Even high-end systems suffer from frequent crashes and instability.
  - Windows 12-15GB VRAM / 32GB+ RAM (mixed, 43 reports): Performance is generally good for some, but crash issues and graphical problems are reported.
  - Caveats: 574 of 24802 reviews expose hardware metadata.; Review sample is mostly Windows-based.
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $15.00 - $30.00
  - Reasoning: Multiple reviews indicate that the base game is not worth its full price (€60/$60) and should be purchased on sale. One review explicitly states that $15 is a good deal for the base game. The community broadly agrees that the fair price is at a discount, typically between $15 and $30, which aligns with common sale prices. The evidence supports a range of $15 to $30 as the community's perceived fair base-game price.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: N/A
  - Story completion: 45.0h
  - Session length: N/A
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The first evidence directly states a typical campaign completion time of 40-50 hours, which best represents story/campaign completion. The second evidence confirms that campaign length varies, but the 40-50 hour range is a concrete player-reported benchmark. No evidence provides specific numbers for total game completion (including all DLC content), typical single-session length, or endgame/post-story hours, so those are set to null.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: Total War: WARHAMMER III provides immediate enjoyment for most players despite a steep learning curve, but fun can decline after the first 20 turns due to repetitive gameplay and bugs.
  - Stance: Fun immediately
  - Anchor: N/A
  - Time to anchor: N/A
  - Friction: steep learning curve; overwhelming number of factions and mechanics; repetitive mid-to-late game; bugs and AI issues; expensive DLC locking content; boring settlement battles and sieges
  - Unlock drivers: completing the tutorial/prologue; understanding basic mechanics; using mods to add variety; playing co-op with friends
  - Conditions: playing in co-op or multiplayer; using mods from Steam Workshop; playing as favorite factions like The Empire; choosing Immortal Empires sandbox mode; investing time to learn faction mechanics
- Player Archetypes:
  - Disillusioned Veteran (no buy)
    - Motivation: Once passionate about the series, now driven by disappointment and a desire to warn others about declining quality.
    - Playstyle: Primarily single-player campaign, focusing on strategic depth and fair AI, but frequently encountering bugs and unbalanced mechanics.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: no buy
    - Labels: veteran; old-school player; long-time fan
    - Reference games: Total War: Warhammer I; Total War: Warhammer II; Total War: Rome II; Total War: Medieval II
  - Content-Hungry Strategist (sale)
    - Motivation: Enjoying deep strategic gameplay, exploring diverse factions, and immersing in hundreds of hours of campaign content.
    - Playstyle: Single-player campaign-focused, emphasizing economic management, tech research, and tactical battles. May use mods for extra content.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: strategy enthusiast; Warhammer fan; campaign player
    - Reference games: Total War: Warhammer II; Total War: Three Kingdoms; Total War: Warhammer III
  - Co-op Warhost Player (sale)
    - Motivation: Social and tactical cooperative gameplay with friends, building empires together in a shared campaign.
    - Playstyle: Multiplayer co-op campaigns, often modifying settings or using mods for smoother experience. Less focused on single-player or competitive multiplayer.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: co-op player; multiplayer enthusiast; group strategist
    - Reference games: Total War: Warhammer II; Total War: Rome II; Total War: Warhammer III


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Unique and varied factions (weight 0.34): Players greatly appreciate the distinct factions, each with unique mechanics, playstyles, and internal systems. This variety significantly enhances replayability by ensuring each campaign feels fresh.
- Core gameplay is excellent (weight 0.28): A large number of players consistently praise the game's core mechanics, describing it as fun, addictive, and engrossing. The game is considered a joy to play and a great overall experience.
- Exceptional replayability (weight 0.2): The game is highly praised for its immense replay value, driven by faction variety and deep campaign mechanics. Players emphasize that experiences are rarely the same twice, leading to hundreds of hours of engagement.
- Massive scale and content (weight 0.19): The game is described as enormous, with a vast strategic map, dozens of races, and hundreds of factions. This massive scope provides a huge amount of content and long-term enjoyment.
- Active and supportive modding community (weight 0.14): The modding scene is considered outstanding and often elevates the game. Players frequently mention that mods drastically improve the experience or even save the base game.
- High playtime value (weight 0.13): Many players report investing hundreds or even thousands of hours into the game, indicating extremely high engagement and satisfaction. The content is seen as providing excellent value for time spent.
- Epic and strategic battles (weight 0.12): Players consistently praise the large-scale field battles for being spectacular, strategic, and more fun than expected. The real-time tactical combat is a major highlight.
- Excellent for Warhammer and RTS fans (weight 0.12): The game is an ideal fit for fans of both the Warhammer fantasy setting and the real-time strategy genre. The combination of deep strategy and authentic Warhammer atmosphere is highly appealing.
- Excellent audio and visual presentation (weight 0.07): The game is praised for its great graphics, improved visuals over previous titles, and high-quality sound design, music, and voice acting. The atmosphere is immersive and well-crafted.
- Immortal Empires sandbox is outstanding (weight 0.05): The Immortal Empires campaign mode is highlighted as the main attraction, creating a content-rich sandbox experience. Players find it incredibly satisfying to combine all factions in one map.
- Great when the game works (weight 0.05): Some players note that the game is genuinely fun and great when it functions correctly, implying performance issues can hinder the experience. The core enjoyment is contingent on technical stability.
- Unique offering with no competitor (weight 0.05): Players feel the game offers a unique combination of mechanics and setting that no other game on the market can match. Its distinct position in the market is a key strength.
- Abundant base content without DLC (weight 0.04): The base game is considered generous, offering a huge amount of content and all core mechanics without requiring paid DLC. This provides a complete and honest experience from the start.
- Among favorite games of all time (weight 0.04): A notable subset of players consider Total War: Warhammer 3 to be one of their all-time favorite games. The high praise indicates strong personal attachment and exceptional enjoyment.
- Innovative new mechanics (weight 0.04): Players appreciate the introduction of some really new and interesting mechanics beyond the standard system. The fresh additions contribute to the feeling of a novel experience.
- Game has potential for further improvement (weight 0.04): A few players acknowledge the game's underlying potential but suggest it has not yet been fully realized. The sentiment implies hope for future patches or updates to unlock its full promise.

Common complaints:
- Excessive DLC costs (weight 0.38): Players frequently complain that the total price for all DLC is exorbitant, ranging from 300 to over 400 euros, and that individual DLCs are overpriced for their content. This heavy monetization creates a high barrier to entry and feels unfair.
- Content locked behind DLC (weight 0.32): A large portion of the game's content, including factions, units, and even basic units like spearmen, is locked behind multiple DLC packs and previous games. Players estimate that 80-90% of the game requires additional purchases to access.
- DLC bloat off-putting (weight 0.2): The sheer number of small, expensive DLCs is off-putting to new and returning players. The monetization model is compared to Paradox-style DLC bloat, which many find excessive.
- Developers ignore bugs (weight 0.18): Players report that developers acknowledge bugs but fail to fix them for years, leaving core issues like the Lizardmen AI broken for over 6 months. Bugs from Warhammer 1 and 2 still persist in Warhammer 3.
- Game broken for months (weight 0.18): The game has been in a broken state for over 2 months due to bugs that break battles, campaigns, and AI behavior. Each update seems to introduce more problems rather than fix them.
- AI completely broken (weight 0.18): A game-breaking AI bug causes AI factions to recruit armies but then do nothing for months, making the game nearly unplayable. This issue affects races like Lizardmen and Tomb Kings and has persisted for over 8 months without a fix.
- Base game lacks content (weight 0.14): The base game is considered minimal, with few playable factions and less than 15% of the total content. Players feel the game is sold incomplete and that a massive paywall exists for a full experience.
- DLC quality low (weight 0.13): Many DLCs are described as thin, overpriced, and offering less content for higher prices. Recent DLCs are seen as underdeveloped and not worth the cost.
- Pay-to-win mechanics (weight 0.12): Confederation and certain powerful units are locked behind paid DLC, leading to accusations of pay-to-win. This monetization strategy is seen as unfair and repulsive.
- AI bug ruins Lizardmen (weight 0.12): The Lizardmen AI (especially Tehenuin) is specifically broken, roaming aimlessly and ignoring enemies. This bug has been ignored for 8 months, making the faction unplayable.
- Pricing not justified (weight 0.1): The high base price of 60 euros and the extremely high total cost for all DLC are not justified by the content provided. Even after spending hundreds of euros, players feel they are not getting full value.
- Must buy previous games (weight 0.1): To play basic factions like the Empire or Dwarfs, players must own Total War: Warhammer 1 and 2 in addition to this game, along with many DLCs, making the total cost extremely high.
- Siege battles poorly designed (weight 0.09): Siege battles are frequently called tedious, boring, and poorly designed. The AI struggles with pathing and decision-making in sieges, making them frustrating experiences.
- Game abandoned by developer (weight 0.06): Players feel that Creative Assembly has abandoned the game to work on the next title, leaving it unfinished and unmaintained. This perception is reinforced by the lack of meaningful bug fixes.
- Bugs from older games (weight 0.06): Bugs that existed in Warhammer 2 and even Warhammer 1, such as shadow graphics issues, have never been fixed and are still present in Warhammer 3. This shows a lack of long-term support.
- Ranged units not firing (weight 0.05): Ranged units sometimes stop shooting despite clear line of sight, a bug that affects gameplay significantly but remains unfixed.

Gameplay feedback:
- Hybrid turn-based and real-time (weight 0.32): The game combines turn-based strategy on a campaign map with real-time tactical battles, a defining feature of the series that appeals to strategy fans.
- Fantasy setting with massive battles (weight 0.19): Set in the Warhammer fantasy world, the game features large-scale battles with thousands of units, magic, monsters, and diverse factions.
- Immortal Empires sandbox campaign (weight 0.14): The Immortal Empires mode combines content from the entire trilogy into a massive sandbox campaign with nearly 290 factions on a giant map.
- Cooperative multiplayer options (weight 0.13): Players can enjoy cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes, including co-op campaigns and simultaneous turn multiplayer for up to 8 players.
- Legendary Lords and diverse leaders (weight 0.13): Players can choose from many Legendary Lords and 24 factions, each with unique abilities, campaign goals, and multiple lord choices.
- Rich fantasy setting variety (weight 0.11): The high fantasy setting includes magic, monsters, and many iconic Warhammer races such as Greenskins, Skaven, Dwarves, Elves, Lizardmen, Vampire Pirates, and Chaos Dwarfs.
- Real-time tactical combat depth (weight 0.08): Real-time battles require tactical thought, unit command, and leverage formations, terrain, morale, magic, flying units, artillery, and monstrous entities.
- Part of Total War series (weight 0.06): The game belongs to the Total War franchise, known for blending turn-based strategy and real-time tactical battles with faction-specific features and diplomacy.
- Management and progression systems (weight 0.05): The game includes settlement management, tech trees, skill trees, diplomacy, and construction mechanics that complement the strategic layer.
- Auto-resolve vs manual battles (weight 0.04): Players can choose between auto-resolving battles for speed or playing them manually for tactical control, offering flexibility.

Performance notes:
- Frequent crashes (weight 0.23): Game crashes frequently regardless of RAM or graphics card, even on high-end PCs with top-tier hardware like RTX 4090 and i9 14900KS. Crashes occur randomly, during campaign map navigation, after battles, and can cause progress loss.
- Poor optimization (weight 0.1): Game is poorly optimized, leading to high GPU and CPU usage even in menus or campaign map. Performance does not match hardware capability, with complaints about frame drops and stuttering on high-end systems.
- Long loading times (weight 0.1): Loading screens and turn processing times are excessively long, especially later in the campaign and on older hardware. End turn times can reach 60-120 seconds.
- Game freezes mid-action (weight 0.07): Game freezes during battles, when hovering over events, or when moving on the campaign map, leading to desktop crashes or full system shutdowns.
- Hardware dependency (weight 0.06): Game requires an SSD and powerful hardware to run acceptably; older HDDs or less powerful CPUs result in very poor loading times and performance.
- Performance drops late game (weight 0.06): Performance degrades significantly in the late campaign, with FPS drops to single digits on the global map and slideshow-like gameplay by turn 150.
- Save file corruption (weight 0.06): Crashes at the end of battles or after updates can cause progress loss, corrupted save files, or lost autosaves.
- Runs well for some (weight 0.06): A minority of users report no crashes or bugs, and the game runs well even on Linux or after specific fixes (e.g., disabling mods).
- Denuvo impact (weight 0.05): Denuvo DRM is cited as a source of resource drain, causing crashes on launch and requiring offline mode to boot.
- Large battle slowdown (weight 0.05): Massive battles with many units cause significant lag and frame drops, even on high-end systems.
- Settings not helpful (weight 0.03): Lowering graphics settings does not improve stability or performance, and even lowest settings look poor and still struggle to run.
- Compatibility issues (weight 0.03): Crashes and performance issues occur across both AMD and Nvidia GPUs, with some users needing driver rollbacks or specific configurations to run the game.
- Graphics bugs persist (weight 0.03): Long-standing graphical issues, such as shadows from Warhammer 1 and bugs with certain GPU series, remain unfixed.
- Network and netcode issues (weight 0.03): Poor netcode and network issues affect online play.
- Launcher difficulties (weight 0.02): The game launcher itself can cause issues, preventing the game from starting correctly.

Recommendations:
- General negative recommendation (weight 0.22): A large group of reviewers give a general negative recommendation, stating they cannot recommend the game to anyone due to various issues including bugs, pricing, and overall experience.
- Buy only on sale (weight 0.2): Many reviewers recommend waiting for sales before purchasing the base game or DLCs. They suggest buying only the base game first and adding DLCs later if interested, as the game is often discounted.
- Great for Warhammer and strategy fans (weight 0.19): Many players who are fans of Warhammer fantasy, strategy games, or previous Total War titles find the game highly enjoyable and recommend it. It is praised for its deep RTS mechanics and faithful representation of the Warhammer universe.
- Not for new players (weight 0.08): The game is not recommended for newcomers to the series or genre due to its complexity and high cost. It is better suited for experienced players who are already familiar with Total War or Warhammer.
- Poor value for money (weight 0.04): Some players feel that the game does not offer good value for its current price, considering it overpriced relative to the content and quality provided.

Other player notes:
No miscpoints

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.3): Players are frustrated by persistent technical issues like crashes, save corruption, and poor performance even on high-end hardware, which ruin long campaigns. The AI is widely criticized for cheating, being passive or illogical, and failing to provide a fair challenge, while the game's balance is undermined by overpowered DLC factions and power creep. Additionally, the monetization model is seen as predatory, with excessive DLC costs and content locked behind multiple purchases, making the game feel incomplete and overpriced.
- Disappointment (weight 0.16): Players are disappointed that the game fails to live up to its potential due to persistent bugs, poor AI, and a focus on monetization over quality. The DLC model is criticized for locking essential content behind paywalls, making factions feel incomplete and the overall experience fragmented. Many feel the series has declined in quality, with broken promises and a lack of meaningful updates, leading to a sense of wasted potential.
- Anger (weight 0.09): Players express anger at the developer's exploitative monetization, including excessive DLC costs, content locked behind multiple purchases, and predatory pricing that totals hundreds of dollars. Technical issues like crashes, save corruption, and broken mechanics are seen as ignored in favor of releasing paid content, leading to a sense of disrespect. The developer's dismissive attitude, poor communication, and failure to fix long-standing bugs further fuel this anger.
- Excitement (weight 0.07): Players are excited by the game's epic scale, massive battles, and the vast variety of factions, units, and mechanics that offer high replayability. The immersive fantasy world, cinematic moments, and unique faction identities create a deeply engaging experience. Many look forward to future content and improvements, praising the game's ambition and the satisfaction of commanding armies in spectacular conflicts.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.06): Players feel satisfied with the game's strategic depth, faction variety, and the rewarding experience of mastering complex mechanics and overcoming challenges. The continuous developer support, free content updates, and improvements over previous titles are appreciated. Many highlight the game's replayability, the joy of epic battles, and the sense of accomplishment from achieving victories against the odds.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.03): Players enjoy the game for its fun and immersive Warhammer world, diverse factions, and engaging real-time battles. Mods and custom content enhance the experience, while the early game tension and faction asymmetry keep gameplay fresh. Despite some issues, the game offers hundreds of hours of entertainment and high replayability.
- Love (weight 0.02): Players love the game for its unique and unmatched experience, deep lore, and the core gameplay that remains engaging even after thousands of hours. Despite frustrations with the company, the game itself is cherished for its potential and the joy it brings. Many consider it their favorite game and a faithful adaptation of the Warhammer universe.
- Sadness (weight 0.02): Players feel sadness over the game's potential being undermined by corporate greed and mismanagement, which spoils the work of developers and artists. Watching a beloved studio lose its passion and neglect the game, despite loving it, leads to a sense of loss. Some express sadness at having to leave negative reviews despite thousands of hours of enjoyment.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.02): Players are enthusiastic about the game's high replayability, variety of factions, and engaging mechanics that offer a bombastic and polished experience. The combat, with monsters, magic, and heroes, adds depth and excitement. Many wholeheartedly recommend the game, praising it as a love letter to Warhammer and a fantastic strategy title.
- Hope (weight 0.01): Players hope that the developer will address core issues and improve the game, believing in the potential for future content and fixes. Some express willingness to change their reviews if the game is improved, looking forward to a more consumer-friendly approach. There is optimism that the game can still achieve its tremendous replay value.
- Appreciation (weight 0.01): Players appreciate the game's atmosphere, art design, and the incredible scale and variety of factions and battles. The modding community is highly praised for enhancing the experience with clever and well-supported content. The game's lore, mechanics, and visual quality are recognized as wonderful achievements.
- Annoyance (weight 0.01): Players are annoyed by persistent bugs, high DLC prices, and technical issues like launcher time counting as playtime. Restrictive mechanics, such as chaos rifts and confederation limitations, add frustration. The developer's treatment of content creators and unresolved problems further contribute to this annoyance.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Players admire the game as one of the best fantasy strategy titles, praising its visual quality, atmospheric world design, and epic battles. The faction design, voice acting, and depth of gameplay are highly regarded. The modding community is also admired for its amazing contributions.
- Amazement (weight 0.01): Players are amazed by the game's vast scope, with thousands of individual models on screen fighting with unique animations. The immense variety of units, creative designs, and the spectacle of battles remain a marvel. Missions and side quests are also highlighted as amazing.
- Amusement (weight 0.01): Players find amusement in the AI's occasionally absurd behavior, humorous descriptions of factions and conflicts, and the fun challenge of manual battles. The game's creative and humorous elements, such as metaphors and character descriptions, add to the enjoyment. Developers' attempts to fix bugs are also seen as amusing.
- Betrayal (weight 0.01): Players feel betrayed by the developer's exploitative practices, empty promises, and poor treatment of fans and content creators. The abandonment of development and focus on monetization over quality are seen as a betrayal of trust. The game's late stage with neglected issues reinforces this feeling.
- Joy (weight 0.01): Players experience joy from the game's ability to make even losing enjoyable, and the constant return to its huge world and diverse factions. The simple fun of charging into battle with Ogres and the dreamlike feeling of playing the game bring happiness. Discovering and loving the game is a source of joy.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Players are bored by repetitive campaigns, long sieges, and a homogenized late game that lacks variety. The gameplay is seen as less engaging compared to previous Total War titles, with interest waning halfway through campaigns. The lack of strategic depth in the late game contributes to this boredom.
- Addiction (weight 0.01): Players describe the game as addictive, with the ability to turn an ordinary evening into a multi-day campaign. The constant pull to return and the engaging nature of Total War games keep players hooked. The game's depth and replayability fuel this addiction.
- Concern (weight 0.01): Players are concerned about the high cost of the game and its DLC, which requires significant financial investment. Some worry about potential disconnection due to cultural elements, while others feel the game is being ignored by the developer. These concerns affect their overall perception of the game.}