hello and welcome to my review of total
war 3 kingdoms
latest dlc the furious wild in this dlc
we gain
four new playable warlords of the nanman
starting in southern china
it also introduces a range of 25 new
units including elephants
tigers and much more these factions are
playable in the 190
and 194 start dates and follow the same
goal
to unite the tribes for this review i'm
going to be playing as lady zurong
the goddess of fire mainly because she
seems totally awesome
and has access to tigers right off the
bat which is what i'm all about in this
dlc
to be honest they could have named this
the tiger dlc and i would still buy it
first and foremost this is a dlc
expansion so the main things i'm going
to be looking for
here are do the warlords give new and
interesting play style do these new
factions feel
integrated into the larger game and is
this dlc worth getting at its increased
price tag
the new factions in the furious world
don't stray too far from what's already
practiced in three kingdoms
each faction type having a unique goal
for example here
with the tribes they have the gold to
unite and then each warlord has a
different playstyle
so here we have the goddess of fire
ability which allows us to get buffs
from our armies when it's active
these change depending on when you
activate it in the ear
so in winter it's worse and in the
summer it's at its best
it's fairly simple and doesn't seem to
have much cohesion in the campaign map
so far i haven't seen anything that can
directly impact on how many points you
get each turn
it's very much its own thing while
trying to unite the tribes there's a
new uniting the tribe screen which gives
information about each tribes and the
benefits of having united them
will bring mainly research and prestige
with all of them
and then unique bonuses like access to
their special units
or way of life bonuses like income
boosts with the new tribal factions
comes a new building tree
or branch the initial decision to build
is the only one you'll get with no
branching out
except in the copper and iron
settlements which branch out at levels
four and five respectively
this makes it a rather plain and lacking
build tree
for example the military tree grants
bonuses to all the emitted unit types
which seems rather simple where you
could have instead gone for specializing
in one unit or another
which makes the game much more
interesting later on
the tech tree is a welcome change to
three kingdoms as branching tree
and instead replaces it with a beautiful
wall of reforms
which can be worked on as and when you
see fit giving much more flexibility to
go after something you need right now
to give more immediate effects there are
however several steps
that are decisions whereby selecting the
one
you lock yourself out of the other which
i felt was not clear enough on my first
playthrough
there are sections that are directly
locked until you unite all the tribes
so there's a significant amount you can
do after the main objective of the
campaign
moving into battles we see an entirely
new roster
with the tribal factions and have a
multitude of different units
to choose from which makes for a welcome
change there is one
notable difference there doesn't appear
to be any horse cavalry
instead you have access to tigers and
elephants which makes battle play unique
especially with the variety of units
subclasses you can find within these
for example tigers are hybrid units as
the tigers are much the same throughout
either unit armored or not but the
handlers
are either fighters or ranged units
making them useful once the tigers are
let loose
elephants can be either fighters or
support fighters can come in different
styles
ranged light combat heavy combat much
like you'd expect with cavalry and then
there's support
these beasts can give useful and varied
buffs on the battlefield
with the rhythm of the drum from fatigue
resistance to dealing more damage
elephants are crucial in winning a
battle and they can be thrown into
combat
but are surprisingly easy to lose there
are also
new battle maps whereas being in dense
jungle you'd expect these battle maps to
become
covered in jungle thick foliage and
undergrowth but ca have managed to
strike a balance between making these
maps visually appealing
and actually being able to play them and
with the new siege maps
they are great the real change between
the formulaic grid cities of civilized
china
instead here we have a more natural feel
with the use of natural formations
of hills outcrops and forests creating
engaging and strategically interesting
maps
in conclusion the furious wild is a
great dlc with a wide variety
of changes and new additions to answer
my questions
do the warlord's given you an
interesting playstyle well
they feel very much their own faction
with a distinct flavour and style
but on the campaign map they feel very
similar to what we've already had
but being able to shape leaders to be
what you want rather than having fixed
classes is a great change
and having a different campaign goal is
great instead of fighting to lead all of
china
do these factions feel integrated into
the larger game
yes they adhere to the rules already in
place and feel like they can go
toe-to-toe with the civilized warlords
and finally
is the dlc worth its increased price tag
at 1499
the furious wild is nearly double the
price of previous dlcs
which is alarming but once you take a
look at how much effort has gone into
creating a dlc
that works with the main 3k narrative
rather than just retelling it
it's an easy purchase to make and as a
person who wasn't too much of a fan of
any of the dlc's that three kingdoms has
had thus far
i think it's safe to say that this one
i'm finally
excited about
foreign
