New standalone campaign

Sega and Creative Assembly have announced the first DLC pack for their hit strategy game Total War: Three Kingdoms. Called Eight Princes, the new standalone campaign will be set about 100 years after the events from the "Three Kingdoms" period and fo?cus on the civil war that broke out among the ru??lers of the Jin Dynasty. As the title implies, this will introduce eight new factions for you to control with legendary princes as their leaders.

The leaders included will be Sima Yong, Sima Jiong, Sima Yue, Sima Ai, Sima Ying, Sima Lun, Sima Liang, and Sima Wei. Each will have exclusive units and traits that will bring different playstyles to the base Three Kingdoms game. There's? also talk of an alignments system that will allow your faction to set their beliefs a specific way. Choosing from Spirit, Might, or Mind, you'll be granted resource bonuses that will help improve either your military or cultural growth on the campaign map.

Total War: Three Kingdoms - Eight Princes will be heading to Steam ??on August 8, 2019, for $8.99. A pre-order discount knocks 10% off the price.

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Can anyone provide me with a decent challenge?!

I'm not sure there is a better time period for video game adaptations than the Han dynasty period of ancient China. Filled to the brim with heroic individuals, grand battles, and personal drama, that historical setting is most famous for being adapted into the 14th century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms??. It has everything that makes for a good story and is based on real-life events: it's a win-win!

With the Total War series being a staple in large-scale strategy games for over a decade now, it only makes sense that the Three Kingdoms period would eventually find a home here. There isn't much you need to change to provide a Total War version of this story and it also perfectly encapsulates wha??t makes Creative Assembly's series so wonderful. It practicall??y makes too much sense.

While not everything in Total War: Three Kingdoms clicks, one cannot deny that Creative Assembly has knocked it out of the park wi?th regards to capturing this e??ra of legends.

Total War: Three Kingdoms (PC)
Developer: Creative Assembly
Publisher: Sega
Released: May 23, 2019
MSRP: $59.99

Booting up Total War: Three Kingdoms for the first time can be daunting. One look at the Campaign menu will show you 11 different leaders you can start your journey with. Each has a specific trait that makes them a viable option to become emperor of China and each has unique units that give them a leg up in specific battles. It's hard to parse everything if you're completely blind about what the Three Kingdoms period is all about. In possibly the only failure of this game, Total War: Three Kingdoms does nothing to get y?ou up to speed about who would be a good choice for you.

That being said, starting a campaign prompts you with the question of whether or not you're new to the Total War series. Selecting no will actually reduce the number of hints you're given with a further option to shut them off outright. Selecting yes will p??ractically guide you by the hand to figuring out how the campaign map works and how unfavorable battles can have the odds shifted through smart strategic thinking. While you may be jumping around from ruler to ruler trying to find one that gels with you, at least you'll understand how the game plays.

To that end, it's quite an accomplishment how well Creative Assembly has adopted the Three Kingdoms story for each of this title's generals. In Luo Gaunzhong's novel, infamous leader Cao Cao was a total jerk that used manipulative tactics to create an advantage for himself in times of need. Playing Cao Cao in Three Kingdoms, you're given the unique ability to diplomatically influence other nations into starting proxy wars with each other or negatively influencing the opinion of one another. That attention to detail creates a sensation that you're living in an actual, factual world, something that past Total War games haven't quite captured as thoughtfully.

This feeds into the overhauled diplomacy system Three Kingdoms exhibits. While past Total War games shared similarities to the Civilization series, Three Kingdoms goes full in on recreating what works so well about Firaxis' popular franchise. You now have total control over what you can trade, what you can request, how you can reject ?offers, and even a points system to see if a deal will be accepted before you even request it. It's a real treat to have an enemy officer request a piece of land from you only to turn around and offer more gold and shift the deal in your favor. It may be a little video gamey, but it makes dealing with diplomacy a lot more engaging than any strategy title I've played before.

In fact, I could talk more about the campaign structure than the battles because Three Kingdoms has overhauled this so much that I feel it is the standout feature here. In past Total War games, the campaign map felt like a means to an end for recreating historical settings. It was a necessary evil so to speak since you couldn't simply have constant battles without context. In Three Kingdoms, I became much more interested in upgrading my settlements and plotting the paths? of my armies because the campaign map doesn't feel like an aftert??hought.

It also helps that if you just plain detest the sometimes hard-to-follow battles, you can automate them and stay glued to the campaign map. I wouldn't overly rely on that function (the RNG used to determine success is often a gamble), but Creative Assembly has injected some very interesting mechanics into this often overlooked aspect of Total War? that makes it hard to put down. During a few of my campaign runs, once I gathered enough money I often skipped battles entirely so that I could stay involved here.

That isn't to say the battles are bad, but they are the one aspect of Three Kingdoms that doesn't feel different from the past. I haven't played all of the latest entries, but the same tactics I've been utilizing since Rome: Total War released work just as well in Three Kingdoms. The enemy AI in battle isn't that intelligent on difficulties below Hard and will often fail to adjust to a flank coming their way. You can typically bum-rush the opposi??tion, take out their generals, and win skirmishes that are overwhelmingly against you. ??The sense of scale is still a sight to behold, but the battle system could use an overhaul.

That said, I think the thing that really sells Three Kingdoms is the majestic art style. Forgoing pure realism, Three Kingdoms embraces the larger-than-life personas of its cast and creates a vivid and colorful presentation. Characters are drawn in a painterly manner and battle animations look like they are ripped straight from Hong Kong cinema. Apart from something like the Dynasty Warriors series, these historical characters have never looked better before. The very sparse cutscenes bring this all home with a sense of scale that i??s appropriate for the epic saga of the original novel.

If this is all sounding a bit too fantastical for you, though, you'll be happy to know that Creative Assembly has not forgone historical accuracy for the sake of a cool game. When you begin a campaign or random battle in Three Kingdoms, you're given the option to play in a Romance mode or Records mode. For Romance, think along the lines of Dynasty Warriors with regards to your generals. They'll be able to ride into battle and take on hundreds of soldiers with little problem. They'll even h??ave a wide array of special moves and can be equipped with armor ??for tactical advantages in certain situations.

For Records mode, your generals will be reduced to the quality of mere mortals. Fatigue will plague them if they battle for too long and they'll need to ??be smart about their movements on the battlefield so as not to get flanked and killed. Even movements on the campaign map will tire out your troops, which can make ambushes all the more deadly when you're? caught unaware. There's a stark contrast between the two options that cater to different crowds, but I appreciate the choice.

In another solid move, both options will alter the story that your general progresses through. In Romance, for instance, tyrannical ruler Dong Zhuo has the option of marrying the concubine Diaochan and infuriating warlord Lu Bu. In turn, Lu Bu can then murder Dong Zhuo and assume control of the faction, mu?ch like how the novel played out. In Records mode, though, Diaochan doesn't exist because she wasn't a historical figure (no actual record of her exists). The whole plotline with Lu Bu betraying Dong Zhuo plays out more like how it did in history, which gives players two totally separate options for experiencing each ruler.

I'm not sure I have the fortitude to go through two storylines, but only because a single campaign playthrough can take you up to 20 hours to finish. With Total War's campaign map being the literal map of China, you can imagine how insanely large your army will become. When you're at hour 14 and you need to check in on 120 different villages, the micromanagement starts to wear you down. I wish there was an option to automate the upgrading process for your buildings because it wo??uld be immensely helpful for those late-game sessions when you're closing in on a victory and just want to be finished.

Still, that's a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things. It can be tedious, but watching the map slowly shift to your faction's color is a rush of adrenaline Total War hasn't had in quite some time. That desire for one more turn is strong and the knowledge that you'll have yet another sliver of the map to call your own pushes you to keep going beyond your limits. I'll readily admit I played Three Kingdoms for e??ight-hour stretches without realizin??g simply because of how well I was progressing in the campaign.

Once you're all squared away with the campaign, Three Kingdoms doesn't have a whole lot else going on. There are historical battles you can play through, but these are quick battles that are over before they even really start. Going through certain critical moments of generals' lives, these battles are more unique than what you'll find in ??the campaign but don't really expand on the stories of the novels in any fashion. This is the only place you'll find real cutscenes, but even those aren't capped off with a grand speech or sense of completion. The menu doesn't even tick off if you've finished a certain scenario. It can be deflating to overcome a huge army and then have the game not acknowledge your feat.

Multiplayer, at least, isn't limited to just the battle mode. If you want to drag a friend along for a multi-day campaign, you're free to do so. Setting up a co-op session is also more fluid than how Total War accomplished the task in the past. You won't launch a campaign specifically as a cooperative match, but can form a? military coalition with your friend and then proceed to conquer China together without much fuss. Since you won't have to worry about accruing treachery points when backstabbing your buddy, you can also treat them like mere cogs of war, which i?s sure to go over well when you meet up again.

The stability of internet matches is perfectly apt for this, too. I wouldn't call the netcode flawless (some pauses can occur when you're doing battle), but the slower nature of Total War lends itself well?? to network play. The few matches I could find were mostly lag-free and I was able to dominate my opposition with tactics they couldn't anticipate. I'd call that a win as far as connectivity is concerned.

Overall, Total War: Three Kingdoms can be summed up as yet another great entry in the long-running series. While it may not be the absolute pinnacle of what Creative Assembly can achieve, it has become my favorite entry simply because of the setting used. We've reached a point where your personal favorite Total War will be determined more by the property being adapted than any worry about quality or gameplay factors. Since everything is fine in Three Kingdoms, what else do I really need to say?

Go and pursue Lu Bu, if you dare.

_{[This review is based on a reta??il build of the game provided by the publisher??.]}

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Lu Bu is content

Total War: Three Kingdoms (aka Total War: Lu Bu) releases today and is already off to a great start. As noticed by Twitter's own Daniel Ahmad, Creative Assembly has announced that Three Kingdoms is the most pre-ordered title in the series' long history. While exact numbers aren't given, a quick look over at SteamDB shows that the game is sitting at number four on the platform's most-played titles. It's even outperforming Grand Theft Auto V, a gam??e that ??sells more copies than bottles of water.

From what I've played, I do believe Three Kingdoms deserves these honors, too. The title is fun with a lot of strategic depth to it. It may not revolutionize Total War, but it provides a fully realized and absolutely beautiful setting with a cast of colorful characters. Selecting a ruler is almost like shining a lens on your inner self and figuring out how you'd go about ruling ancient China. There's also the series staple massive-scale battles, ??too.

While I'm not quite ready for a final verdict, it's safe to say that Three Kingdoms is off to a grand start. Fans are digging it and the game is sure to get some good support? in the coming months. Lu Bu wou??ld be content with that outcome.

Daneil Ahmad [Twitter]

Steam Charts and Stats [SteamDB]

The post Total War: Three Kingdoms brea??ks series record for most pre-ordered entry appeared first on Destructoid.

Even more Lu Bu

With Total War: Three Kingdoms releasing in a few days, development has wrapped on the main title and work has begun on post-launch support. While there will obviously be updates to the core experience as more players get their hands on it, developer Creative Assembly has laid out how Three Kingdoms will change moving forward.

The first order of business is for what additional content the game will get. As with past Total War entries, there will be a mixture of free and pai?d DLC that will expand the title for months to come. The first is the "Yellow Turban Rebellion" add-on that was granted to players that pre-ordered the game. It's c?urrently unavailable and should be ready for launch this Thursday. After that, the team says it will focus on what it is calling "Chapter Packs" for the campaign mode.

These chapter packs will take "notable chapters from Romance" and put players in brand new starting positions on the strategy map to tweak the scenarios slightly. New characters and objectives will be featur?ed, forcing you to make different decisions with the armies you've grown accustomed to. This will also extend to villain characters, which may be younger or olde??r based on which scenario you pick.

As for how large each chapter pack will be, Creative Assembly says, "you can expect a Chapter Pack to be somewhere between a Culture Pack and a Campaign Pack." Culture packs are small scenarios that the game lets you play while a Campaign pack is an entire story that takes several hours to finish. The goal is to allow players to eventually decide which chapter of a character's life ??they want to play in, instead of going full hog on a massive campaign.

As for how the main game will be shaped outside of DLC, Creative Assembly states there will be an additional support team to help players with any issues that may arise. Since PC configurations vary wildly, there is no accounting for absolutely every setup, and the developer urges fans to give feedback on its forum dedicated to Three Kingdoms??. I can live with that, especially since I feel the game is pretty solid fr??om a stability standpoint.

Modding will also be coming to Three Kingdoms shortly after launch. The reason it isn't cu?rrently available is that Creative Assembly reports players sometimes report bugs caused by mods that then derail the patching process. At least when modding does eventually come, the team assures fans that the game's data structure is a lot more robust than previous entries, which should allow for more complex mods to be cooked up.

Even if you may be rolling your eyes at potential DLC, I do currently think the base Total War: Three Kingdoms experience is solid. DLC will always be a tricky process, but I don't get the feeling that things were left out to be sold back later. It seems more like this has taken the place of traditional expansion packs, which Rome II started years ago. Hopefully, that is the case because Three Kingdoms is a lot of fun.

Business Practices Blog – Three Kingdoms Post-Launch and What's Next [Total War]

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You may want to pursue Lu Bu

When you think of what a teenager might like, the first thing that pops into your mind probably isn??'t history. But for one reason or another, ??the History Channel was my jam in high school. I loved watching old documentaries about World War II and learning about Rome's dominance of the ancient world. Something about all of the double-crossing and covert operations piqued my interest, which then put me on the hunt for some historical gaming.

World War II shooters were big at the time, but other parts of history were somewhat underrepresented. I liked Age of Empires fine enough, but when Creative Assembly announced Rome: Total War, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. The wait wasn't helped by the fact that the History Channel was running the show Decisive Battles, a program that utilized the Rome: Total War engine for battle?? re-enactments. Talk about being a tease.

With my older self being more engaged with Eastern civilization, then, it should come as no surprise that Total War: Three Kingdoms has been on my radar for quite a while. I love the Romance of the Three Kingdoms story, I'm a big fan of Dynasty Warriors, and I've enjoyed the Total War games for roughly 15 years. Of course I was going to b??e on ??this.

While not everything in Three Kingdoms is an improvement to the Total War formula, the game does a great job at catering to both ends of the strategy fan spectrum ??while providing an absolutely amazing historical set??ting that is perfect for this genre.

Total War: Three Kingdoms (PC)
Developer: Creative Assembly
Publisher: Sega
Released: May 23, 2019
MSRP: $59.99

I'll save my deep dive into the different campaigns for the full review, but I'll address the most pressing issue that a lot of people probably have. With the last few Total War games, it seemed Creative Assembly couldn't create a stable engine. Rome II suffered from a lot of game crashes and stuttering framerates and even the Warhammer titles were plagued with issues for a bit. When it was announced that Three Kingdoms would be getting a delay,?? the hope was that there would be zero problems come release day.

While I've had a few crashes, for the most part, you can put those fears to bed. Even on my aging PC, Three Kingdoms runs well and rarely stutters. The battle scenes are appropriately dense and epic in scale while the strategy map doesn't begin t??o chug until the late game. I'm not sure why any crashes are happening, but with auto-saves after every tur??????????????????????????n (a feature you can disable if you'd like), you rarely lose more than three minutes of progress when the game does abruptly close.

The load times are about the only thing that sucks. This has been a problem with newer Total War games for years and there isn't any real workaround apart from installing to an SSD. I don't have one available, so booting the game can take two to three minutes and loading battles is often 45-55 seconds before you're able to do anything. It's not the worst I've seen (and is even a massive improvement over Rome II), but this clearly isn't optimized for mechanical ?hard drives.

Still, once you get past the elongated loading screens, the game is really solid. The majestic style of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel translates beautifully to a tactical strategy game. With constant warring going on in those stories, it makes more sense for your armies to be battling for hundreds of years without rest. The juicy personal journeys of each general also create a sense o?f progression that h??as been lacking in this series for years.

That progression also flows over into the gameplay. While the strategy map of Total War has always played more like a traditional RTS than the battle maps, Three Kingdoms is practically a Civilization game. There are a lot of diff??erent systems at play here, down to diplomacy, trading, coalitions, army management, building upgrades, etc. As you battle with specific generals, they even level up and learn new skills. You can swap armor, weapons, and a few special pieces of equipment, as well. It can be really intimidating coming off of how basic this series used to be.

A lot of this should come as no surprise to people that played Total War: Warhammer, though. Three Kingdoms borrows a lot from what those two games started, including having a mode where generals are practically superheroes. Dubbed the "Romance" mode, this recreates what Luo Guanzhong wrote in his novel (or how Dynasty Warriors amplifies the abilities of each character). Characters can take on hundreds of units by themselves and are even given special moves w??ith cooldowns that can turn the odds in their favor in an instant. It's a real thrill and encapsulates what makes this series so special in the?? first place.

If you're one for a more historically accurate game, though, you can opt into the "Records" mode. This will change your generals into mere mortals and has them get bogged down by things like stamina, weariness, and age. In an incredible twist, playing in either mode during the campaign actually changes how the story plays out. Romance will follow the plot of the novels while Records gives you an approximation of real-life events. That's some huge attention to detail that practically doubles the amount of content you can get out of Three Kingdoms.

One thing I do greatly enjoy is that there are unlockable factions for the campaign mode. When I first booted the game up, I figured I'd jump right into Lu Bu's campaign and own the world. Turns out he isn't selectable at first, being locked behind a path that mirrors his plot from the novel. You'll need to first unlock Dong Zhuo (which happens either when you personally destroy his army or reach Emperor rank in a campaign), then follow the path in Zhuo's campaign that leads to Lu Bu's betrayal. Details like that are why I'm sort of in love with Three Kingdoms.

For the most part, though, the battle AI hasn't noticeably changed in nearly 15 years. You can still bum rush the opposing army with greater numbers and get by without much damage. Simulating battles from the strategy map is almost never a good idea because the game's RNG isn't in your favor (even when your generals can mop up). It's funny that the combat parts are where I sort of check out because that was the biggest draw years ago when Rome was new.

Even with that one aspect not being dramatically overhauled, Three Kingdoms is still quite the game. As I play more and more, I'm sure I'll discover different details or tactics that allow me to better conquer the campaign map. With the amount of content on offer (and the general length of a campaign being roughly 10 hours), you can't say Creative Assembly isn't giving you your money's worth. What this boils down to is whether or not you have an interest in Total War or ancient China. If both of those things sound appealing, then you're l??ikely going to find something to enjoy here??.

It's still too early for me to ??say that this is the definitive entry of the series, but it makes a great first impression and has me wanting for more. Now if only I could actually win a damn campaign, I'd be set.

_{[This review in progress is based on a retail build of th??e game provided by the publisher.]}

Also see: Total War: Three Kingdoms Guide from our sister site, PC Invasion

The post Review in Progress: Total War: Three Kingdoms appeared first on Destructoid.

You can pursue Lu Bu

Most of the marketing around Total War: Three Kingdoms, Creative Assembly's upcoming, Lu Bu themed installment in the Total War series, has been focused on the "romance" mode that the game has. Selecting that option allows you to experience battles as if you were playing Dynasty Warriors, with on?e man against an entire army. For the more traditional fans out there, the "records" mode is what they'll be after and we now have a good look at ho??w it will play out.

In a ridiculously long trailer (clocking in at just over 23 minutes), we get a breakdown of how the power of your heroes will be affected and how battles will last a bit longer due to some extra systems at play. Units will get fatigued during battle, which cuts down on the damage they deal and can lead to their untimely death if not properly maintained. You'll need to make sure you're giving them adequate breaks a??nd sending reserve units into the fight to maintain your push.

I really like the way this game is looking and I hope the recent delay helps make this the best possible entry it can be. A lot of the recent Total War games have been plagued with lackluster la??unches and Lu Bu won't tolerate being rushed out the gate.

Total War: Three Kingdoms trailer shows more realistic 'Records' mode [PC Gamer]

The post Total War: Three Kingdoms’ ‘records’ mode looks more traditional appeared first on Destructoid.

Spies like us

It’s high time I bought myself a proper gaming PC. Since high school, I’ve been a dedicated Mac user. Growing up, my goal was to be a filmmaker and for aspiring writer/directors, there was nothing more appealing than iMovie. That was to be my gateway to Hollywood fame and fortune. It was the program of choic??e in my filmmaking class and I used it to create my ver??y first short film. Don’t ask me what it’s called because I don’t remember. Something about me being a serial killer who cleans up after a kill. I don’t know, it was rubbish, I shot it in black and white, completed it at the last minute after weeks of completely rewriting my script and I pray to whichever deity actually runs things down here that all remaining traces of that short are gone.

But that dream was the catalyst that pushed me towards being a Mac user and I’ve been one ever since. Through thick but mostly thin, I’ve stood by this incredibly boring, trillion-dollar company while pining for the experiences found on a Windows PC. Sure, after the transition to Intel I can now run many more games on my MacBook than I could before when all the big hits arrived two years after the initial release and Aspyr never dropped the fucking price on their games, but there is still so much I’ve missed out on. I wrote about this previously in my Pathfinder: Kingmaker preview, but as I learned last Friday, it’s not just CRPGs that have passed me by. I’ve missed legitimately unique experiences that most likely can’t be recreated on a console, like the one found in Total War: Three Kingdoms.

Announced at the beginning of this year, Three Kingdoms is Creative Assembly’s first Total War game set in China using the oft-adapted historical fiction Romance of the Three Kingdoms as ??the basis for its campaign. For fans, it’s something they’ve been wanting for quite awhile.?? For the developers, it’s a much-needed break from the periods and places that have been the focus of the series’ past.

During a recent hands-on session with an early mission in the game, I sat down with Pawel Wojs and Al Bickham of Creative Assembly to talk about the game and the changes longtime Total War fans can expect. The biggest change is in the available modes. Three Kingdoms will launch with different versions of the campaign, one based off Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the other Records of the Three Kingdoms. Records mode hues more closely to the experience Total War ??;players are accustomed to, with characters in the story equivalent to traditional generals.

Romance mode, however, is where the game really mixes it up. Here, characters appear as heroes, and just like in a certain long-running Koei Tecmo franchise, they have special abilities normal soldiers do not possess. In my demo, I took control of an army led by? Su?n Ren, a Vanguard class hero, and Sun Quan, who is of the Commander class. In battle, as I led the heroes against enemy armies, I was able to use their talents to burst through enemy defenses, weaken their camps, and do damage to opposing heroes before engaging them in a duel.

"It's a level of strategy game that hasn't been made before: the Total War formula with that great, classic narrative," Wojs explained. "Creating these characters has been a great and very new challenge for us, but there is all this great source material [with] fantastic descriptions of all the characters in the Romance novel as well as references to them in the Records. Plus all the movies and televisi??on se?ries in China that detail these characters very well. All of these points of reference allowed us to create the characters as they are."

These heroes appear larger than life on the game's map. In Creativ?e Assembly's dedication to authenticity, the map of ancient ??China reflects the layout of the land, geopolitical boundaries and all, as it was during this era. This level of historical accuracy is thanks to many hours of research, as well as Rafe de Crespigny, who provided assistance on the project.

"He's the foremost expert on this period in the West," Wojs said. "We have all of his books and we literally have him on speed dial with any questions about the period. Whether it's was the lay of the land, the cities, the geopolitical landscape, he helped us build the structure o??f the game."

During a short presentation before my hands-on with the title, Mr. Bickham went over a few of the features found in the title. There is a day and night cycle, with floating lanterns illuminating the dark blue skies of night. Players will have to account for changes in terrain, as well as combustible materials -- it's quite lovely watching a forest ignite in a blaze and I write this as a Californian whose state is currently 99% on fire. There is also a fight-or-flight mechanic that'll give p?layers the opportunity to flee if the battle seems unwinnable. The feature that's mo??st exciting the development team, however, is the new spy system.

In order to describe it, there are few things you should know about the heroes. First, these characters have personality traits that are unfamiliar to players early on. It's only when you travel with and battle alongside them that you begin to understand them. These personalities can clash with other heroes in your faction, making for some difficult decisions. Second, heroes have personal relationships with one another. They can become friends or rivals depending on how they're used in and out of battle. If two characters have similar dispositions, they can become the best of friends. Third, heroes can move between factions. It's entirely possible to fire a character, releasing them to this pool of unrecruited heroes who can be picked up by other factions. Basically a Total War free agency.

It??'s important to kn?ow all three of those facets of the game as they all play into this new spy system.

"Some characters will have a predisposition to being spies," Bickham explained. "Not all characters. If you have a very honorable character he wouldn’t be, but there are those in the game with a willingness to engage in subterfuge. So if you have a character, like a character who you’ve worked up through the ranks, you’ll be able to ask them if they’re willing to go spy for you. If they do, it’ll look like the characte??r has been fired in the eyes of the other factions. He’ll just be a recruitable character in the pool like those you’ve previously let go. If somebody else recruits him, immediately you’ll get vision over their holdings. The spy is there and he’s embedded, providing you information on what’s going on."

"The longer he remains, he builds up his cover. The longer he’s there, the more powerful actions you can unlock. The more advanced the espionage is, the more likely it’ll be he blows his cover. If your spy stays undercover for so long they actually become well-liked within their faction, he can be employed as the heir to it. Suddenly, your guy is the next in line to the throne to this fac??tion. And if something were to happen to the faction leader, your spy can become their new leader, at which point you’ll trigger a?? civil war and try to flip that faction over to your side. Of course, there’s going to be a lot of polarization but you can split it in half and go to war with the other."

Unfortunately, my brief outing with the title did not allow me to try out the spy system, but it did give me an idea of just how a Total War game plays. My only experience with the franchise is with Spartan: Total Warrior. Yes, I did ask the developers to port the game to Switch and, no promises, but they seemed strangely receptive to the idea. Anyway, that's the lump sum of my time with the series but I do have a history of playing real-time strategy games like Command & Conquer: Red Alert and those awesome Star Wars Battlegrounds titles that are basically just C&C clones.

Total War is nothing like those games.

If anything -- you'll probably hate me for this comparison -- it comes across to me more like a real-time Fire Emblem. There's a weapons triangle to worry about, squad placement is extremely pivotal, and the ebb and flow of each battle carries a similar rhythm to that found in many of the FE missions. As stated above, in my demo, I took control of the Sun siblings as they made their way along a trail through the night before being ambushed by opposing factions. To give you a taste of how Total War: Three Kingdoms is in action, here is actual footage of me playing the mainlin??e franchise for the very first time?.

O??kay, I lied. That's the second time I played. The first was right before this when I was o??verwhelmed by the unexpected rear flank and failed to reach the exit point. But really, not bad for someone with approximately 20 minutes total of series playtime.

Total War: Three Kingdoms is scheduled for release next Spring, hopefully right around the time I receive my tax refund check so I can finally build or buy myself a proper gaming PC to play it on. If you'd like to show everyone how much better of a Total War player you are than I, the demo above will be on the floor at Gamesco??m next week.

The post Total War: Three Kingdoms is a more tactical take?? on the Chinese legend appeared first on Destructoid.

Pursue historical knowledge, but do not pursue not Lu Bu

If I haven't been clear before, I'm Asian. Filipino to be exact. I'm also an absolute dork when it comes to history. Why do you think I write about Timeless so much? Hand me a book about the Crusades, the Byzantine ??Empire, the Spanish Inquisition, or the Sengoku Jidai,?? and I'd probably devour them whilst ignoring the world.

It just so happens one particular story heavily influenced me in my youth, pushing me into more historical discoveries. The story? Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Sanguo yanyi and Sanguozhi

I was a kid when my dad bought Koei's Romance of the Three Kingdoms II for the SNES. I couldn't understand the strategy and management sim mechanics at first, but I grew to love the story and the characters. I found out it was based on a novel. I knew I had to get it so my mom and I roamed ?around Manila to look for a copy. We eventually found one in a dingy mall. It was an old copy complete with frayed edges and stained pages. It didn't ma??tter, 10-year-old me teared up when I got the book.

That book is called "Sanguo yanyi” (The Three Kingdoms Narrative / Romance of the Three Kingdoms), written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century. It became a cultural phenomenon, considered as one of the "Four Pillars of Chinese Literature" alongside Journey to the West, Dream of the Red Chamber, and Water Margin; the latter of which is rumored to be another of Luo Guanzhong's works.

I believe the reason why Three Kingdoms captured my imagination was because it blended historicity and fantasy. Characters did exist during that time period, but at the same time, Guanzhong gave some superhuman strength, preternatural senses, and awe-inspiring intellect. It's part history encyclopedia, part soap opera, part myth. It's like if the Odyssey and the Iliad were melded with the War of the Roses and was set in China. Mix in some comic book bravado, cartoonish humor, battle reports, traditional folklore, and moral lessons -- that’s the wildly imaginative result Three Kingdoms is.

In contrast to the fictional recounting of "Sanguo yanyi," the "Sanguozhi" (Records of the Three Kingdoms) has a more straightforward description of historical events and characters. It's more realistic and grounded, which means it cuts down the myths and legends of the time. "Sanguozhi" is highly different from Guanzhong's vision -- after all, the man was a known "Han Dynasty fanboy" which meant that he painted characters in a c??ertain shade due to his political leanings.

It's a prolific story, one that has been told time and time again in a variety of video games, most notably the aforementioned Romance of the Three Kingdoms series and Dynasty Warriors. Next year, for the first time, the Total War franchise wil?l take its turn at adapting Guanzhong's masterpiece, potentially opening it up to a new player base who have yet to experience the saga of Lu Bu, Cao Cao, and the rest of the figures who warred across China. So for those unfamiliar with this tale, I've put together a lore guide to help prepare you for what is to come.

The Story Begins

The novel’s central theme is “A land united must divide; a land divided must unite.” An empire which enjoyed centuries of prosperity will fragment into various fiefdoms ru??led by warlords and cl?ans until such time that only three kingdoms remained. From there, these three factions would experience their own internal and external strife until the land is united once more.

The story takes place in China from 169 to 280 AD. That aforementioned empire is the Han Dynasty whose power slowly waned. The "Mandate of Heaven," which the Chinese believe to be the divine right to rule by the emperor, wa??s in doubt. Storms, earthquakes and strange omens precipitated an impending doom. It was in the form of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, led by a mystic known as Zhang Jiao. He believed himself to be the bringer of a righteous and just rule for the people. The masses flocked to him due to his miracles and soon Zhang Jiao had an army.

This gathering storm also introduced us to the personalities who would shape the land in the decades to come. Arrayed against Zhang Jiao and thousands of frenzied peasants and vagabonds was the might of the Imperial Army and various commanders -- Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Jian, Dong Zhuo, and Lu Bu. Against the greatest people of the age, Zhang Jiao and his Yellow Turbans could do nothing but perish. Unfortunately, this great upheaval was but the first of many that would fo?llow.

Liu Bei: The Scion of the Han

When a sandal-maker saw innocents were suffering, he swore an oath with two other men to become brothers in fighting to give the people a better future. This man was Liu Bei, a descendant of the founder of the Han Dynasty. His two sworn brothers were the ferocious Zhang?? Fei and peerless Guan Yu.

Liu Bei’s journeys would take him across China fighting revolts and bandits, or leading the peasantry away from war-torn territories. He would eventually meet Zhuge Liang, the Sleeping Dragon, considered as the greatest mind in the land and an equal to strategists such as Sun Tzu -- the bloke who wrote The Art of War. Through trials and tribulations, Liu Bei finally found a lan?d of his own in the mountainous western regions of China.

This became known as the Kingdom of Shu-Han. Liu Bei's men believed him to be the continuation of the dying Han bloodline. For a time, the scion of the dynastic house was happy. His army had grown and his men were loyal. The mountains were almost impassable and guarded by crack hill troops. In previous decades, he was rarely a master of his domain, oftentimes just a subordinate or a minor lord serving his benefactor. One of those old benefactors wa?s Cao Cao, a good friend, and an even greater enemy.

Cao Cao: Ambition, Pragmatism, Progress

A son of a minor government official, Cao Cao could have been a paper-pusher all his life had it not been for a stroke of luck. He had distinguished himself during t???he Yellow Turban rebellion and many capable men joined his band. In the years that followed, the chaos of the land allowed him to practice his wily schemes and plots. He would gobble territory after territory, whittling down every lord he faced.

He had met Liu Bei on various occasions. At times th?e two were allies, even sharing a meal and a drink, despite knowing that they would become bitter rivals in the years to come. Cao Cao would earn the Han descendant’s ire when his boundless ambitions stepped on the interests of the faltering dynasty. This was seen as a manifestation of pride and ruthlessness. Pragmatism was more coldness and a lack of empathy, and progress meant crushing long-held traditions.

Those ambitions led to his control?????????????????????????? of northern and central China decades later. The vast plains, fertile fields, and deserts became his power base -- the Kingdom of Cao-Wei. Out of the remaining factions that still vied for control, Cao-Wei was the strongest, incorpora?ting heavy cavalry and armored troops in its near limitless armies. However, there remained a nagging problem, he was still unable to take over the Southlands.

The Sun Family: Lords of the Southlands

While Cao Cao and Liu Bei had humble beginnings, the Sun family main?tained? an important role governing the lands south of the Yangtze River. Their patriarch at the time, Sun Jian, managed to obtain The Imperial Seal after chaos erupted in the capital. The item was an important mark of rulership and a harbinger of destiny.

The Imperial Seal was bartered off by his son, Sun Ce, after Sun Jian's passing. This item was exchanged for a handful of s??oldiers which Sun Ce, now known as "The Tiger of Jiangdong," would lead to capture more territory. Although Sun Ce died just a few years later, his little brother Sun Quan would succeed him. Sun Quan would eventually lead the Southland in a long and prosperous reign, the mighty river defended by expert sailors and vile pirates.

This reign would see his beloved land of Eastern Wu compete in the three-way war for China. There were times when he fought alongside Liu Bei against Cao Cao, and ther??e were times when he was buddies with Cao-Wei while dicking around with Shu-Han. Eastern Wu was basically that best friend you had whom you were always wary of in case you messed up and they’d backstab you.

Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu: The Tyrant and his "Son"

Every story needs a good villain, and Dong Zhuo plays the role perfectly. He's cartoonishly obese, tyrannical and corrupt; a real pussy grabber of a human being. He ha?s no ?redeemable qualities and nobody likes him.

After the Imperial victory against the Yellow Turban rebels, a regent attempted to cleanse the corruption in the court by eliminating the eunuchs. He enlisted the help of Dong Zhuo. Unfortunately, before the plan could come to fruition, the regent was assassinated by his would-be victims. Dong Zhuo happily marched in with his army. He took part in the saving of the capital by killing men without balls. Dong Zhuo managed to "rescue" t??he emperor, only to depose him with a puppet of his choosing years later. The madman knew no bounds, slaying entire families and abusing the emperor and his family.

Standing beside him was his adopted son, Lu Bu, considered the mightiest warrior in all of China. I??t was said that Lu Bu was equal to thousands of warriors, and he was gifted the finest steed, Red Hare -- "Among men, Lu Bu; among horses, Red Hare." Dong Zhuo consolidated his power base by placating Lu Bu and having him do the dirty work. No one could match Lu ?Bu in combat, not even those sent out by Liu Bei and the others. Since Lu Bu was nigh unbeatable, Dong Zhuo had the land in a vice grip.

Cultural significance

As a pillar of Chinese literature, and by extension, East Asia’s, Three Kingdoms lore has become ingrained in socio-cultural consciousness. The ideals of serving the dyn??astic house, being in-tune with the needs of the people, the right to rule, views on foreign barbarians, the flaws of indecision, the dangers of ambition and pride, and the sense of wonder at every turn captured hearts, minds, and imaginations of countless folk throughout the centuries. Remember, the Chinese are known as “People of the Han” and the events that transpired during the time of the Han Dynasty are held in high regard even today.

Certain personalities were larger-than-life. They influenced common sayings and tropes. For instance, in the novel when characters were talking about Cao Cao and he walked in on them, the phrase "Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives" was coined. It's the Chinese version of "Speak of the devil." Oh, and if someone were to display sheer genius, he would probably be called a "Kongming" -- the style name ??of Zhuge Liang, the Sleeping Dragon?? and Shu-Han's great strategist and minister.

However, no other figure casts quite a shadow more than Guan Yu, one of the three sworn brothers along with Liu Bei and Zhang Fei. Guan Yu's exploits in the novel -- killing mighty enemy generals, refusing Cao Cao's entreaties, going through a pass and facing commanders just to return to his bros, accepting death rather than surrender, etc. -- made him a paragon of loyalty and righteousness.

He was deified centuries later and became China's God of War, revered by millions. Because he was an exemplary model character, there were monuments were erected in his honor. It was also common to find statues of "Emperor/Lord Guan" in police stations and government offices. The Triad and other gangs also worshipped him as a symbol of brotherhood and not snitching out your gangmates. Oh, and if people were protesting on the streets, they offered obeisance so he can lend his martial might and bravery. That's pretty much why he's also one of the gods in the MOBA game SMITE, and why his name is one you should remember for Total War: Three Kingdoms.

Total War: Three Kingdoms

When Creative Assembly announced Total War: Three Kingdoms earlier this year, I basically called and messaged my friends to tell them how happy I was. They did not share in my enthusiasm as I mostly got "eye-roll" and "new phone, hu dis?" replies. As someone who's a fan of the Total War franchise and Three Kingdoms, ?thi??s was a dream come true. It's as if the two most beautiful women in the world got it on, had a baby, and they both said I'm the father.

The Total War franchise, known for its historical depiction of various events and time periods before it delved into the world of fantasy with Total War: Warhammer is the perfect playground for exploring Three Kingdoms. History fans need not worry. While the game, by default, has a "Romanticised mode" where generals can take out thousands of lowly soldiers on their own, it still has a "Classic mode." This mode is reminiscent of previous Total War titles like Rome and Medieval where generals are flanked by bodyguards and can die if left defenseless. Although there might be some who worry that the franchise is taking a more "historically inaccurate take," the counterpoint is simply that Total War's sandbox gameplay has been approaching "historically inaccurate territory" since its inception. Plus, I don't think we'll see Three Kingdoms generals juggling two dozen spearmen in mid-air. That would be silly.

The video below depicting the Battle of Xiapi -- pronounced as "CRP" for some reason by the Total War dev trying hard to sound Chinese -- might seem like another regular RTS foray. It isn't. There's some Game of Thrones-level shit going on before that? battle ev??en took place!

Why the lore matters

Dong Zhuo was already dead by then, betrayed by Lu Bu who then went on to capture one of Liu Bei's cities that the latter ended up serving him. Cao Cao had to get rid of that mighty thorn on his side so he plotted with Liu Bei. Around this time, another warlord -- the guy w??hom Sun Ce bartered The Imperial Seal with in exchange for soldiers -- declared himself emperor. That meant Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Lu Bu, and Sun Ce had to ally against the usurper despite having their own grand designs an?d internal rivalries.

With that campaign over, Lu Bu retired to Xiapi. Cao Cao then sprung his trap along with Liu Bei. Lu Bu was hemmed in and he tried to renew his friendship with that aforementioned usurper only to get thwarted at every turn. Oh, and one of Cao Cao's generals lost an eye so the guy ate his own optic organ before spearing his opponent in the face! In the end, a strategic plan?? allowed for the invading army to flood the city. The “Sanguo yanyi” says it's one of Cao Cao's tricks; meanwhile, the “Sanguozhi” mentions that it's actually an act of nature. Whatever the case, Lu Bu, dazed and conf??used, was finally defeated. In the end, he begged for his life but Cao Cao and Liu Bei were both done suffering his betrayals. The strongest warrior in China was strangled.

Another casualty of the battle was Lu Bu's strategist, Chen Gong, who was one of Cao Cao's old friends who helped him escape from his failed assassination of Dong Zhuo many years ago. They found refuge in the home of a sworn brother of Cao Cao's dad. While resting, they overheard people talking about "killing" and "getting the knife ready" so they rushed in and murdered the entire household only to discover that they were getting a pig ready for the feast! Chen Gong was maddened by grief, but Cao Cao simply said that "he would rather betray the world, that let the world betray him." Chen Gong left Cao Cao in abject horror, knowing that he would become a great villain. Ironically, he end??ed up serving Lu Bu. After the warlord's defeat, Chen Gong asked to be executed and Cao Cao was left in tears since he wanted to spare the life of his dear friend.

Whoa, it looks like I nerded out a bit there with too much information! As you can see, Three Kingdoms helped me fall in love with history when I was younger. I still recall grabbing several games that were based on the setting such as Dynasty Warriors and Kessen just so I could learn more about the time period. I freely admit, to my shame, that I even downloaded some shoddy Three Kingdoms freemium MMO games just because of the name. I also remember checking out various Three Kingdoms fan pages and "debate forums" such as The Scholars of Shen Zhou. Like I said, history dork.

Apart from checking out games, forums, and novels, I also delved into Three Kingdoms depictions in other media such as films and TV shows. For instance, Red Cliff is probably one of the best films I've watched. If you're a fan of history, you'd want to watch the two-part international version which is superior to the US cut. There's also the middling Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon flick which isn't as good but does scratch the itch. There are also several TV series based on the Three Kingdoms which have been uploaded on YouTube.  They range from classic versions to more modern remakes. There are even cartoons and anime such as a Gundam adaptation.

If you're interested in reading more about the wonderful and imaginative lore that’s near and dear to me, here's a free online version of “Sanguo ya??nyi." If you'd like to compare and contrast it with the purely historical narrative, the "Sanguozhi" has got you covered as well. Oh, and if you prefer to listen rather than read stuff, there's also a podcast that get?s regularly updat?ed and has over 150 episodes.

Total War: Three Kingdoms is still months away, delayed until Spring 2019. I don't know if it will be amazing. I don't know if it'll be as bad as Rome II during launch or Dynasty Warriors 9 in its entirety. All I know that the?? little kid in me who's been a fan for over two decades is extremely excited.

_{[Image source: Guan Yu statue courtesy of CCTV News China]}

The post Bre??aking down the lore of Total War: Three Kingdoms appeared first on Destructoid.

Delayed to Spring 2019

Cao Cao is a central figure in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so I'd be seriously surprised if anyone didn't expect him to show up in Creative Assembly's upcoming Total War: Three Kingdoms. In case you had your doubts, though, this new trailer has introduced the general with an in-engine cinematic trailer. The graphics are solid enough for a strategy game, but you just cannot beat that art style. This setting looks wonderful for Total War's massive scale battles.

Sadly, we won't be getting our hands on the game until Spring 2019 at the earliest. While originally expected to launch in the fall, Total War: Three Kingdoms has suffered a delay according to its Steam storefront page. I would rather Sega and Creative Assembly take ??their time in making sure this is the best possible game instead of incurring the wr?ath of Lu Bu. That would be a battle they could never win.

Total War: THREE KINGDOMS – Cao Cao In-Engine Trailer [Total War via YouTube]

The post Total War: Three Ki?ngdom introduces Cao Cao to ??the battle appeared first on Destructoid.