When the clash loads, players can find themselves on a variety of landscapes, ranging from lush forests to hilly grasslands and damp marshes, all of which are wonderful sights to behold as two armies collide.
When players choose to battle their enemies, the camera zooms in on the location of engagement before fading to a loading screen that leads to the appropriate terrain. The imagery is further enhanced when players engage in a skirmish, the layout determined by the area in which the fight initiates. The Vortex is both intimidating and epic to behold, serving as the heart of beauty around which the rest of the map’s aesthetics form. At the heart of Ulthuan is an azure, whirling vortex over which the game’s factions battle for control. Elven gates overlooking mountain passes act as vigilant sentinels that block access to any unallied faction. Appearing alongside nature’s top-notch representations, sentient-made constructs bring the campaign map to life. From towering mountains with valleys jutting between them to dense forests full of vibrant foliage, TW: Warhammer II’s sizable continent-Ulthuan-is colorful and diverse. The campaign map is beautifully designed, depicting a large variety of terrain in great detail. Conversely, TW: Warhammer II manages to not only upgrade last year’s graphics from high-quality to magnificent, but also maintains a smooth performance threshold, assuming players have a high-end GPU to support the game’s ultra setting. However, while 2016’s prequel possessed high-quality visuals, they infrequently interfered with the game’s performance. Returning with the developer’s Total War Engine 3 and Warscape graphics engine, TW: Warhammer II sports stunning visuals that improve upon the previous game’s already-impressive graphics. As Creative Assembly projects go, the newest installment is a typical creation by the developer, epitomizing the skills and talents the team has honed over almost two decades. Released on September 28, 2017, the game is the second title in a planned trilogy, and the new release meshes well with OnlySP’s hands-on preview from E3 2017. Total War: Warhammer II is no exception to that general rule. Beginning in 1999 with Shogun: Total War, the franchise has improved with each iteration.
Creative Assembly’s Total War (TW) series consistently delivers an enthralling product.