In Creative Assembly’s latest promotional video for the upcoming Total War: Three Kingdoms, the studio offers fan a look at what the campaign will look like in its mid-game stage. It’s at this stage that the Three Kingdoms themselves take shape, shaped by the player’s actions to that point. Until now, fans have mostly seen only the earlier parts of the game, so this will be a first for many.
The Latest Total War: Three Kingdoms Video Showcases the Mid-Game
As with every Total War game, the focus in Total War: Three Kingdoms is on its grand campaign. Whether in Romance mode or Records mode, players will be setting out with one of the twelve playable faction leaders to conquer ancient China. In the actual history, and in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, this period of conflict saw the collapse of the Han Empire. From that collapse emerged the namesake ‘Three Kingdoms’ of Shu, Wu, and Wei. Two of these were led by Cao Cao and Liu Bei, both playable faction leaders in Total War: Three Kingdoms. The third was led by Sun Quan, the son of Sun Jian, who is also playable.
However, in Total War: Three Kingdoms, different factions may well grow to power while others may be destroyed. As such, the ‘Three Kingdoms’ which the player is left with could be very different. This occurs when the player reaches the rank of ‘King’ with their faction leader. When a player declares themselves king (or indeed, one of the AI factions, as they can reach this stage first), the campaign map undergoes a radical change as two other kingdoms emerge out of the two other most powerful factions. Certain factions must actually wait until the AI activates this stage; they are too loyal to the Han Empire to declare themselves an independent king. These factions can then seek to claim one of the newly-formed three seats of power.
In the video, Gongsun Zan’s faction becomes the Kingdom of Yan. Meanwhile, Liu Bei and Sun Jian declare the foundation of the Kingdoms of Shu-Han and Wu. In the video, this stage is reached shortly after turn 100, though this could be different in other campaigns. Just like the history, once this stage is reached, the war becomes much more focused between the three kingdom factions, rather than between multiple smaller groups. To finish the game, players must acquire all three ruling seats of the three kingdoms and conquer 95 counties.