Total War: WARHAMMER II Critic Reviews

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.

Total War: Warhammer 2 is a fantastic love letter to both Warhammer fans and strategy game players alike.

Total War Warhammer II is a step forward for the saga, with a bigger and more exciting campaign, and new game mechanics that bring a greater depth to each and every adventure. Creative Assembly has managed to exceed something that seemed unbeatable.

Total War: Warhammer II takes the fantasy setting to its next logical level. Bringing in completely unique factions, giving them all a personality of their own in the franchises most focused campaign ever has led to an incredibly compelling game. The only problem is that the old Total War issues of poor AI with diplomacy still prevails and that the economy is easy to game to your advantage. Still, altogether an outstanding release.

Ultimately, it once again comes down to the experience of playing your first campaign. The excitement, strategy, conflict, uncertainty, and fantasy spectacle. The first dragon you take into battle. Crossing a vast body of water to formally introduce yourself to the strange Lizardmen that live in equally strange forests. Total War Warhammer II is a milestone release, for the simple reason that the campaign is both one the most intricately detailed and most open we’ve seen so far in a Total War game. Proving that a sequel can take a very different perspective, showcase a new part of the world, and be all the better for it.

Total War: Warhammer 2 is a promising sequel: it shows those lore based mechanics that differentiate factions taking centre-stage. We also see issues from the first game being streamlined and resolved. This makes me incredibly hopeful for The Mortal Empires campaign, combining both the first and second game maps (which is being released in a month or so). It also makes me hopeful for future DLC and the third game in the series, because if the gameplay is this good right now… how good will it be then?

A maximalist sequel that improves on almost every aspect of the first game.

A worthy sequel, visually gorgeous and strategically engaging, that could have been even better if CA embraced a stronger drive to innovate.

Although one could argue that TWW II is more of an expansion than a full title, Creative Assembly’s commitment to furthering the campaign map and the sheer excitement provided by the main campaign “quests” for each race, elevate its status to "must buy" title.

Total War: Warhammer 2 is a couple of very large updates in a box, but anyone who loves the first game will have no regrets buying this. The new factions are great, the Campaign is more streamlined, interesting and clear, all the smaller adjustments increase the urge for yet another turn and the battles are incredibly spectacular. It would be an even greater accomplishment if more people could enjoy this, but for a game, this is very complex.

The story and objective-driven campaign is a league above anything we’ve seen in the entire Total War series before in both design and presentation.

Total War Warhammer 2 is the highest point in the series, a spectacle of strategy and tactics that makes the most of the wonderful Games Workshop brand while delighting Total War veterans with new, interesting and entertaining ideas.

There’s always something happening, constantly I have to decide, consider and proceed tactically – and sometimes even accept devastating defeat. A healthy mix of challenge, tension and reward is what makes a great game – Total War: Warhammer 2 is such a game.

This is a rich and thoughtful strategy game that is a joy to engage with at practically every level, and a new high-water mark of ambition and quality for Creative Assembly.

With Total War: Warhammer 2, Creative Assembly nurtures and carefully develops the winning scheme from last year's success. A slew of exciting additions and a new take on the campaign, mixed with four awesome new armies, make this strategy-sequel a must-play.

Total War: Warhammer 2 is the sublimation of both the Warhammer fans desires and the work in the previous game. With this second game Creative Assembly is expanding its universe to a major scale but we know that they can do it better (and they will with the subsequent DLCs).

An excellent follow-up that expands and improves on the original in unexpected and innovative ways. Plus, it has magic-wielding dinosaurs.

Creative Assembly has taken some risks with Total War: Warhammer II. This new game remains faithful to the first game, but at the same time lets us experience four new factions and an amazing new campaign.

Total War: Warhammer 2 offers many, many hours of fun thanks to the High Elves, Dark Elves, Skaven and Lizardman, plus the campaign being a lot more exciting than ever before.

With Warhammer II, Total War doesn't reinvent anything so much as it iterates on the ideas that made the first so special. At its heart there's still the marriage of Total War's big-scale strategy and Warhammer's precise tactical play. But, through a thousand tiny tweaks, they've refined the experience into one of the most intriguing and exciting strategy games ever.