Looking for the best Total War Games?

Strategy games are huge in 2016! None can be said to be bigger than Creative Assembly’s latest game Total War: Warhammer.

The Total War franchise and the great minds at Creative Assembly consistently prove that they deserve to be at the top of the list when you talk about the strategy genre of PC gaming. Spanning nearly every bloody age of warfare in world history and now expanding even further into fantasy themed war games like Total War: Warhammer, the Total War franchise offers nearly unlimited playability, satisfaction for your dreams of ruling empires and fulfilling your battlefield slaughter wants and desires.

Want to conquer Rome as Julius Caesar? How about Japan with an army of samurai? Maybe even the continent of Europe as Napoleon? Or conquer a continent on the back of a dragon? All can be achieved within the world of Total War.

To help you on this quest to conquer most of the known world over multiple centuries we’ve decided to make a list of the Best Total War Games To Play in 2016 – a list that will count backward by chronological order of release date.

10. Shogun: Total War (2000)

The samurai warriors will rise...

And there will be blood...

In a revolutionary strategy game, Shogun: Total War gives players the opportunity to go to war during one of the most violent and legendary periods in Japanese Samurai history. With a brilliant effort in stunning gameplay design the people at Creative Assembly constructed a game that consists of two gameplay parts which they will continue to use for each game in their franchise – a turn-based 2D campaign map where the player can recruit and move their armies to attack or defend, as well as execute diplomatic missions to declare war, trade

 And Ninjas!with, or assassinate rivals! The other (and most fun) part of the game is the real-time 3D battle events that occur when 2 opposing armies clash on the 2D campaign map. In battle events you control an army made up of individual regiments that you yourself have recruited.

Control of each army goes to an RPG-like General who leads your forces and whose skills and abilities rise and fall after each victory or defeat. Your clan (7 playable) also has a leader (daimyo). Your daimyo is your ruler and your primary general, so treat him well.

9. Medieval: Total War (2002)

They're about to go Medieval on someone! Sorry, had to do it.

CHARGE!!!

Medieval: Total War takes you away from the Age of the Samurai and puts you squarely into the violent, and most likely very smelly, European medieval period of 1087-1453 A.D. Here, you can take command of massive armies of knights and archers to crush peasant armies like flies! Sorry, I got carried away for a moment.

In this game Creative Assembly has continued their turn-based strategy franchise with the addition of siege warfare and castles! The gameplay is very similar to Shogun: Total War but the scope of the game has been seriously expanded. Now, in addition to castles, you can also build ports and play as one of 12 medieval factions. The new battlefield maps are now dependent upon the climate, nation, and region where the battle is to take place. If you’re fighting in the Middle East on a crusade, then it’ll most likely be hot and sandy. 

8. Rome: Total War (2004)

Massive battles!

THIS IS SPARTA!!!

In the 3rd installment of the turn-based Total War franchise, Creative Assembly has given us the opportunity to play as the head of one of 3 ancient Roman families in order to attempt to conquer all and become the emperor of Rome! In addition to ramping up the graphics they have added even more factions as well as adding 10 historical battles which can be played separately from the game’s main campaign. The battles are extremely historically accurate and range from 279 BC-9 AD.

7. Medieval II: Total War (2006)

Back in the saddle again

Fire at will!

The highly anticipated sequel to Medieval: Total War did not disappoint. Revisiting the same period, this game has added some serious bang to its arsenal of wow. Along with upgraded graphics, Creative Assembly has added castles as standalone settlements, whereas before they were a part of another city or settlement. Castles don’t earn you very much income, but cities do and are harder to defend. This makes the strategic building of castles and towns very important to the development of your empire.

Now, you can play as the King of any major European kingdom in the medieval period. Take over the day to day rule of your kingdom and attempt to ensure the inheritance of your family through marriage and fathering children. Guide your country’s economic policies and growth, and decide which nations will suffer under your sword and which will benefit from having you as a powerful ally!

6. Empire: Total War (2009)

U-S-A!!! U-S-A!!! U-S-A!!!

Load, fire, repeat…

This game was highly anticipated by many American gamers because it is the first time that you can actually lead armies of the United States into battle for their War of Independence in the Total War franchise! Also, with the huge addition of naval battles you can control land as well as sea to further defend or expand your country. Play as any major western world power from the beginning of the 1700’s up to the early 1800’s and learn what warfare with early muskets was like.

Creative Assembly did a full re-write for their Total War franchise AI system for this game, making both the campaigns and battles much more difficult. Which, for us, just means more fun and playability! The streamlined UI for this game gives it another level of simplicity and comfort, making your line battles that much more common and fulfilling.

5. Napoleon: Total War (2010)

Vive la France!

England expects that every man will do his duty!

Following up on the massive gunpowder warfare success of Empire: Total War, Creative Assembly takes us back to the Age of Enlightenment. However, this time, instead of trying to conquer the New World, you’re trying to conquer the Old World! This game is much more narrative based and linear than the older sandbox-type Total War game campaigns. Now, you will play your campaigns almost exclusively through the eyes of Napoleon Bonaparte as he attempts to fulfill his vision of a French dominated Europe. The narrative starts with Napoleon as a child and progresses until you become Emperor of France and beyond! Only then can you unlock playability as any other major European power.

With a revamp in the way that armies replenish casualties, suffering attrition casualties in inclement weather, and the always lurking threat of revolution within your nation, Napoleon: Total War takes you deeper into the action of warfare during the Napoleonic Era than any other game before or since! The map is admittedly not as large in scope as that of Empire: Total War, but it is very much more detailed, making it easier to choose battlegrounds to your liking and deciding which cities you wish to besiege and conquer.

The new physics system also takes the Total War franchise to a heightened sense of reality in strategy gaming. Now, cannonballs from your artillery will make furrows in the ground where they strike, while smoke from muskets hanging in the air during a firefight can obscure your vision on the battlefield, making your tactical decisions much more difficult. Also, the heightened chance of muskets to misfire in the rain makes your decision to fight in inclement weather much more significant to your chances of victory or defeat.

4. Total War: Shogun 2 (2011)

Wicked…

Ride or die…

Missing the ninja’s yet? Well, Total War was thinking of you when they released the sequel to their original, groundbreaking hit Shogun: Total War. With new, advanced AI inspired by Sun Tzu’s Art of War this game becomes much more complex and very difficult to win, as it requires far more tactical skill than any of its Total War predecessors. 

Raising the number of playable factions from 7 (in the original) to 9, and giving each faction unique RPG-like skills and traits has made the playability level of this game go through the roof; Making it more interesting to attempt to conquer Japan with each different faction, playing with a mind to their particular strengths or weaknesses.

The multiplayer experience is another outstanding feature of this game. Now, you can create your own online avatar to conquer an online Japan with your very own customizable army and navy. Victory in online campaigns allows you to gain experience and upgrade your military forces for the next online campaign!

3. Total War: Rome 2 (2013)

Hail Caesar!

Free advice, don’t charge a phalanx from the front…

Romans, again! Man, I sure do like these guys. The new addition to this game from the previous Rome: Total War is the introduction of party politics. Now, you must juggle political and economic decisions within the senate of Rome in order to try to achieve balance within your empire. Without this balance, revolution is much more likely and destructive to the prosperity of Rome.

The coolest addition, to me, is the introduction of new camera angles which focus on individual soldiers. Creative Assembly has stated that they wish to bring out the more human side of war with these new angles. Now, soldiers will react with horror while their fellow soldiers are cut down beside them. Also, the new pre-battle speeches by your general adds another level of depth and inspiration to your battle, and you will be right beside them throughout it all.

2. Total War: Attila (2015)

Fear the Hun…

Hold the walls!!!

It is up to you to determine how Rome shall fall. You are Attila the Hun, and you have a serious beef with the Romans. Raise massive armies of horsemen and desolate everything you come into contact with. You are the scourge of God. Or, you can try to play as one of 2 Roman emperors trying to stave off destruction and resurrect the once great Roman Empire to its former glory.

The new additions to the Total War turn-based franchise in this installment include the abilities for your civilization to become a horde, untethering you from the need to hold cities or castles. As a horde, you can raze or utterly destroy settlements instead of having to occupy them with a part of your army as in all the previous Total War games. This allows you to truly live as a migrating Hun and destroy every city and kill every citizen you come into contact with, then move onto the next potential plunder.

A boosted number of 56 factions (16 playable) gives the game a depth and difficulty unknown in previous Total War games. Also, the numerous DLC packs make the playability of this game virtually unlimited.

1. Total War: Warhammer (2016)

Flying and fighting, just what I’ve been waiting for

Angmar? No, this is WARHAMMER!!!

If you’ve been paying attention to this list, then you’ll understand that Total War: Warhammer is a hard left turn for Creative Assembly from where the Total War franchise had been going. In their first ever non-historical, fantasy based game Creative Assembly has simply outdone itself. This game is pleasing to both hardcore Total War fans as well as Warhammer fans. By introducing a fantasy game, Total War has almost completely redefined itself as a franchise. With new abilities such as magic and flying fighting units, this game takes us to a whole different level of Total War.

In Total War: Warhammer you can take control of one of 4 playable factions: Empire (men), Vampires, Dwarves, and Greenskins (orcs). Each of these factions have different skills and abilities to suit your style of play. If you like playing defensively, then the dwarves will defend your holdings. If you like to attack with highly effective melee units, then the Vampires of Sylvania will take you to glory. The specialized units in this game are particularly pleasing, ranging from the fascinating tanks and cannons to the purely fantastical wizards and dragons. Each faction requires a different style of play for them to be the most effective, but the leadership of your hero (general) is much more crucial to the morale of your troops in this game than in any Total War game before it.

 

And now we come to the end of our list of the Best Total War Games To Play in 2016. Now we’d like to hear your thoughts! Which Total War game is your favorite? Which mods do you love? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments section below