Total War: Three Kingdoms
Linux Format|September 2019

Management are worried about an impending Chinese takeover, but really it’s just Jody Macgregor using the new diplomacy system.

Jody Macgregor
Total War: Three Kingdoms

Two of our generals dismount in the middle of a field to duel with their opposite numbers. The rest of the battle continues in the distance, but we’ve zoomed in to watch the flashy moves as the generals kick and stab each other. Occasionally a flurry of arrows or a riderless horse passes in the background, but we’re intently focused on something that looks more like a game of Tekken.

Total War: Three Kingdoms embraces the story it’s inspired by, Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, rather than strict historical accuracy. Soldiers can run around the battlefield seemingly forever without getting tired. Their leaders are larger-than-life figures with complicated backstories and rivalries, who carry legendary spears and are able to defeat entire units single-handed. Characters like Cao Cao are cast as devious opera villain masterminds able to manipulate wars into existence at the drop of a hat, when the history books suggest he was a decent ruler and quite the poet.

There’s an option to turn some of these things off by engaging Records Mode, if you want stamina to play a more important role in unit repositioning or to get rid of the duels and get generals’ bodyguards to do most of their fighting instead. The alternative, Romance Mode, feels like an honest embrace of what Total War has really been all along, though. It’s a version of history that’s closer to an epic movie.

That said, it’s still the kind of epic where you’ll also have to increase three different types of income by small percentages. The systems that were simplified for the Warhammer games or the trimmed-down Thrones of Britannia have returned and brought some new friends. Espionage has its own menu full of options, so that embedded spies can mess with trade or sabotage cities.

This story is from the September 2019 edition of Linux Format.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the September 2019 edition of Linux Format.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM LINUX FORMATView All
Create your first WebSocket service
Linux Format

Create your first WebSocket service

Mihalis Tsoukalos explains how to use the Go programming language to work with the WebSocket protocol.

time-read
9 mins  |
April 2023
Fantastic Mr Firefox
Linux Format

Fantastic Mr Firefox

Nick Peers takes a trip down memory lane to reveal the story behind the rise - and slight fall - of Mozilla's popular web browser.

time-read
9 mins  |
April 2023
Set up your terminal and email like it's 1983
Linux Format

Set up your terminal and email like it's 1983

Jump in the hot terminal time machine with Mats Tage Axelsson who emails from the command line using the latest technology.

time-read
8 mins  |
April 2023
Universal layer text effects with GIMP
Linux Format

Universal layer text effects with GIMP

Posters use them, films and presentations are hard to imagine without them: text effects. Attract attention with Karsten Günther and GIMP.

time-read
8 mins  |
April 2023
Jump to a federated social network
Linux Format

Jump to a federated social network

Nick Peers reveals how you can get up and running with this free, decentralised and non-profit alternative to Twitter.

time-read
9 mins  |
April 2023
Free our SOFTWARE!
Linux Format

Free our SOFTWARE!

Taking anything for granted is dangerous, so Jonni Bidwell and Mike Saunders revisit how the free software movement got started to help free us from proprietary tyranny!

time-read
4 mins  |
April 2023
Master RPI.GPIO
Linux Format

Master RPI.GPIO

Les Pounder goes back to the early days of the Raspberry Pi - and his career with this classic library! -

time-read
5 mins  |
April 2023
Waveshare Zero to Pi3
Linux Format

Waveshare Zero to Pi3

Transform your Pi Zero into a Pi 3, they promised Les Pounder, but it's more like adding on go-faster stripes.

time-read
2 mins  |
April 2023
The Best OPEN SOURCE Software Ever!
Linux Format

The Best OPEN SOURCE Software Ever!

In an attempt to trigger controversy, Michael Reed and Neil Mohr unequivocally state these are the greatest free software apps ever. Probably. We’re just trying to be helpful.

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 2023
Linux-Mandrake 7
Linux Format

Linux-Mandrake 7

Simplicity and a wide range of applications make this a great distribution for all Linux users.

time-read
2 mins  |
April 2023