Total War is a game series renowned for its unique real-time battles and turn-based campaign mixture. It is a game franchise that has consistently captured the imaginations of armchair generals with its empire management and spectacular tactical battles. There have been 16 mainline additions to the Total War game series. These are the best Total War games based on aggregated Metascore ratings.
Rome: Total War (Metascore: 92)
Rome: Total War remains the most definitive TW game in history. This game was a revelation because of how it dragged the Total War series into glorious 3D graphics. It brought the Roman world to life, like few other games, with breathtaking real-time battles that incorporated 3D modelled soldiers.
Beyond its 3D wow factor, Rome: Total War is a game with perfect campaign pacing. It features an intimate yet sprawling campaign for balancing border expansion with domestic politics. Rome: Total War completely changed how the campaign map worked with its individual models and siege warfare. Its innovations set a foundation and benchmark for all Total War games that followed.
Total War: Shogun 2 (Metascore: 90)
Total War: Shogun 2 returned TW to its historic Feudal Japan roots, which gave it a more focused scope. This is one of the best Total War games because of its masterful campaign design, for which more genuine tactical mastery is required. It also incorporates fast and brutal real-time battles, breathtaking audio, and a great cinematic art style.
Medieval II: Total War (Metascore: 88)
The 2006 Medieval II: Total War game perfectly refined the robust Rome game engine for a campaign set in the Middle Ages. It features a rich campaign in which players must navigate a volatile mix of Mongol invasions, Papacy demands, feudal politics, and dynamic events. The Medieval II campaign offers unmatched depth with its decentralized city/castle system.
The Middle Ages era of warfare also carries a lot of consequence and weight in this Total War game. Medieval II’s multi-walled siege castle battles are among some of the more memorable in the franchise for tactical manoeuvring. The distinct faction rosters in Medieval II give its armies very different playstyles.
Total War: Warhammer II (Metascore: 87)
Total War: Warhammer II raised the high-fantasy bar of the Warhammer universe slightly higher than its predecessor. This is among the best Total War games because of the deep tactical gameplay, unmatched faction variety, and considerable replay value it offers. With its fantasy setting, Warhammer II incorporates radically distinct factions that play entirely differently on the campaign map and battlefields.
The Mortal Empires Mega-Campaign was another unique feature of Warhammer II for players who had the original game. It merges the Warhammer I and II maps together for a colossal sandbox campaign. In Mortal Empires, players can wage war across the Old and New Worlds with cross-game mechanics.
Total War: Warhammer III (Metascore: 86)
Total War: Warhammer III delivered a chaotic and creative conclusion to the fantasy trilogy of TW games. This is rated one of the best Total War games because of how it significantly revamped the core campaign mechanics of TW for the better. It overhauled diplomacy, streamlined settlement defences, and introduced an Output system for establishing outposts in friendly territory. Major faction overhauls also enhanced the campaign gameplay in Warhammer III.
Aside from that, Warhammer III took things to a new level with its Immortal Empires sandbox. Immortal Empires merged all three Warhammer maps and factions into one staggering sandbox campaign. That’s the largest strategy map in Total War’s history for an open-ended paint-the-map campaign romp.
Total War: Warhammer (Metascore: 86)
The original Total War: Warhammer was the first to delve into Games Workshop’s fantasy universe. Some were sceptical that the Total War and Games Workshop marriage would work. However, this Warhammer game shattered all doubts by brilliantly fusing the lore-rich fantasy universe with Total War’s real-time battles. It incorporated spectacular fantasy combat mechanics with massive monsters, flying units, and lords that redefined tactical battles in the TW series.
Total War: Three Kingdoms (Metascore: 85)
Total War: Three Kingdoms took the TW series to the land of China, set during the fall of the Han Dynasty. This is another of the best Total War games because of the compelling mix of deep strategy, character storytelling, and RPG mechanics it offers. It redefined Total War games with its character-based gameplay, robust diplomacy system, and dual Romance (mythological) and Records (historically grounded) play modes.
However, some things let Total War: Three Kingdoms down. A baffling DLC strategy failed to significantly expand the game. The developers also prematurely ended support for Three Kingdoms, with some AI issues and late-game bugs unresolved. Thus, Three Kingdoms isn’t quite as polished as some of the other best Total War games.
So, check out those best Total War games for some of the most enthralling real-time and turn-based strategy gaming in history. You can battle it out across a variety of historical eras and fantasy settings by playing those games. Few other games can match them for warmongering fun.
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