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If you just buy one Total War: Warhammer 3 Thrones Of Decay lord, make it Malakai MakaissonWhat the Dawi can do for you
What the Dawi can do for you
Image credit:Creative Assembly
Image credit:Creative Assembly
Well, this was unexpected. Malakai Makaisson is the single best campaign experience I’ve had sincestrategy gameTotal War: Warhammer 3launched, and might just be up there with some of the best in the series’ history. That’s over ninety lords he’s given both barrels to getting here and, honestly, I wasn’t sure Creative Assembly still had it in them. Not the talent, mind, just the passion. And nothing says passion like the amber mohawk of a furious dwarf quivering in the wake of a shakily-built zeppelin’s explosive payload. Warhammer!
That last bit is key. Like Mr. Burns’ diseases, Warhammer is all about scores of characters, each of which would be the brickiest of shithouses in any other setting, keeping each other in check. I reckon the trick with ‘if everyone is overpowered, no-one is’ design is giving individual factions enough personality and verve to make their own brand of brokenness still feel rewarding, but still keeping the challenge there. No easy feat! But it’s this well-tuned balanced imbalance that makes Malakai’s campaign so special.
Image credit:Creative Assembly
Malakai starts with Gotrek and Felix (broken) in his army, and immediately has access to his summonable airship that can bomb entire armies to dirt and drippings (broken). A few dozen turns in, and he’s able to field an army of disgustingly buffed slayer units for basically no money (broken), with so much replenishment you’ll never have to worry about it again (broken). I made plans to do other stuff with my evenings. I made promises! (broken) This stupid dwarf is just too much fun.
Image credit:Creative Assembly
This isn’t to say Thrones Of Decay’s other campaigns aren’t worth playing though, but that’s beyond the scope of this piece. What’s also a bit beyond the scope of this piece, but I’m going to jam in anyway, is a bit of complaining about theNurgle plague rework. The system itself is great, no problems there. But I absolutely cannot keep silent about the following art crime. Below is the old UI (left), and the new UI (right).
Image credit:Creative Assembly
I’m not talking about the big picture of Ku’gath, although that is rad. But, if you look at the left side of the left image, you’ll see dozens of unique, incredibly good icons, one for each symptom. I would buy a t-shirt with any of these on. I would get one of them tattooed, although you’ll have to guess which.
Total War: WARHAMMER III - Thrones of Decay Announce TrailerWatch on YouTube
Total War: WARHAMMER III - Thrones of Decay Announce Trailer
They are closer to the classic Blanche and Miller Warhammer spirit than anything else in the game, which is to say they look like something you might see stuck on a toilet wall in a venue so sticky you are forced to pogo or become one with the building. Unfortunately they’ve now been relegated to being picked at random once you create your plague, and given a tiny slot. I don’t like it! There’s loads of lovely detail that’s now being missed, and I’d love to see them given pride of place again. At the very least, make them available to modders to make banners out of. Cheers. Great DLC btw, really liked it. ‘Specially the dwarf.
Also, I think they made Ku’gath’s boobs smaller. Gamers, rise up!
