Total War: Warhammer 2 in 2020? - REVIEW

[@haasgaming]

There was supposed to be an overlay at the end with a bit more of a summary and some of the DLC stuff, but it seems it didn't survive the render, so pretend there's some real flashy stuff there!

[@HadamacikTheProphet]

I have over 2k hours played in WH2 yet I watched it anyway and I was surprised how detailed this review is. Good job.

[@kraziel]

Thank you for giving quick thoughts on each and all of the DLC, that was actually really helpful! :)

[@haasgaming]

Glad it helped!

[@Guaccc]

The Multiplayer aspect of this game is also great fun, with a wonderful community built around it.

[@ThemChosenGamers]

u have to be good tho

[@ruskie8308]

@@ThemChosenGamers That probably can apply to most games though...

[@haasgaming]

Apologies about the slow content stream, rather busy this year - crazy times. Hope you're all dealing with the situation as best as possible! Not sure what the next video will be or when, but I'll try and get back into the flow of things as soon as possible. As always, feel free to ask me any questions or just to say hi on twitter @HaasGaming or in the Discord channel discord.gg/eBRrGqF

[@ietsbram]

siege overhaul has been confirmed for tww3

[@haasgaming]

@@ietsbram Oh has it? That'd be lovely, certainly.

[@Al3xtheMeh]

Was recommended this video because of Mandalore’s review. Played the game for months now but think you did a good job on your review. Hope you get more views!

[@haasgaming]

Thanks, much appreciated! (Is that an Avatar avatar btw?)

[@frontierebienne]

honestly, i watch every single review of the total warhammer franchise. dosen't matter if they're made by wide reaching channels or directed by smaller ones, i simply love it when people share their genuin thoughts and analyses for these games. so thanks @haasGaming -my man, my hombre - for this one. its a short and striking review and i really liked your description of a personal approach to the 2nd game!

[@haasgaming]

Thank you, that's great to hear!

[@boizman3042]

those reviews are top notch ! i can't believe u don't have more subscribers !!

[@haasgaming]

Thank you, I greatly appreciate it!

[@mattcampbell8939]

Yo glad to see you back!

[@haasgaming]

Thanks, been too long since a review for sure!

[@AzureRoxe]

Funny thing, about a month after this video came out, a new DLC came out, The Warden and The Paunch

[@bruva207]

Angry batman vs Immortan Gobbo

[@Undermine5]

proving ground: increase unit recrutement cost by double but remove upkeep increase from accumulating armies. most race : "bye bye doomstack" skaven : "under-city vermintide is-is my new doomstack, yes-yes" *end of time enter the chat*

[@haasgaming]

Skaven in proving grounds were downright intimidating. Actually fielding hordes of cannon fodder was lovely, can do without the food raiding cheese though! Almost as intimidating as roaming troll armies with Throgg.

[@jonny-b4954]

I just want them to bring back the ability from Empire to move SINGLE units around to reinforce armies. To scout the border. To leave a small garrison but take the actual army out to fight. I hate how you're limited to a certain number of armies now. Especially in like, Rome 2. Some mods make it a little better by having to recruit AOR units, but then your army slowly morphs to foreign troops as you get further from home. Unless you sacrifice an entire army just to run back and forth and switch out units for replenishment. I mean, at least make it so smaller armies move faster than larger armies or SOMETHING, to add some strategy to it.

[@judostar11]

Prophet and the Warlock dlc is the most important pack for Skaven. Also lizard Moses is pretty strong and he can get free upkeep on his armies through sacrificial offerings.

[@SzRobertF]

I find Nakai is a better horde faction because he leaves behind the Vassal Protectors of the Great Plan faction instead of just leaving ruins that the AI repopulates immediately. So you can feel a steady progress in campaign.

[@haasgaming]

I do think he's an improvement over other horde factions, but Nakai and horde factions in general still need a lot of work to feel as efficient and enjoyable as regular factions. Vassals aren't a great thing to rely on, but it's better than nothing. Still feels a lot more tedious than it should.

[@dudeguybro]

These flaws you mentioned - thankfully there is a fantastic modding community that helps deal with things like doom stacks in the campaign and the like. But as a developer, you shouldn't have to rely on modifications to make up for drawbacks in your game.

[@c0mmanderKeen]

Great overview! I was looking for a more or less current review - given how much the game has increased in scale and variety since release - to show a friend, and ended up watching the whole thing despite having next to a thousand hours played. I am sure most people will be aware, but the Steam workshop has your back if you want to simply remove the supply line mechanic. I have not played a campaign with supply lines in ages, it's just so much more fun and allows you to forgo doomstacks but create whatever armies you like to see what happens. As a plus, using "weaker" armies in the view of the AI will net you more challenging, interesting battles and less benny hill chases.

[@harleydoge310]

Bro i bought this game after Mandalores review came out, after playing the 1st game for about 10 hours when it came out and getting bored (plus my PC did not run that game very well at the time) I have never really gotten into Total war games, despite being a fan of civ and other 4x games. yeah Manadores review was what 4 days ago and I have 56 hours so far. This is my life now.

[@haasgaming]

Ahaha, that sounds about right. Just one more turn. Got to feed the dinosaurs.

[@JP-dp3kt]

I’ve only recently started looking at the TW franchise. Would it be better to wait and start playing the new W3 when it comes out or do you think it’s still some time away before release? W3 is still in the$60 new game price and that’s without dlc.

[@Looneytokk]

Pic up wh2 base game. "No dlc" and see if you enjoy it. If you do buy dlc as you see fit until 3 comes out.

[@JP-dp3kt]

@@Looneytokk thank you. Ive taken this advice and run with it. So far I like WH2, I might buy one or two more armies depending on how long it takes to master my first. I am looking forward to the next installment whenever it releases.

[@LordGadwin]

I just finally got the last DLC for Warhammer one, was to broke to get 2 yet or a new PC to even play them. this PC is still Win 7 from like 2012, but lucky I have youtube vids of Warhammer to watch.

[@sumho7532]

Windows version has nothing to do with the power of a computer just saying

[@MrFearlesskiller]

@@sumho7532 But a 2012 pc is old as fuck no matter your components

[@rigormortis4768]

Î'm curious, are there any mods that address the issues shown in this review? (the section about doom stack units) What about SFO? I understand it overhauls a major part of the game

[@Grey9200]

SFO has features that you can choose so you get the same limited unit pool system as the tomb kings. honestly though, if you dont play something like legendary/very hard any unit combination basicly becomes a doomstack, at least in most cases where you fight 1vs1 army with for example dwars vs orcs. the best shit orcs can bring is just easily outclassed with the best stuff dwarfs can bring. and Lightning strike gets rid of waaahgs and other reinforcing armys. but that dosnt mean you should only play on legendary/VH. i personally play on normal since its the most "vanilla" difficulty there is in my opinion. you dont get any negatives or positives and AI the same, outside the campaign cheats but they are not as extreme and over the top as in higher difficulties.

[@west-vf7qj]

You should try it again after the dlc and updates this month

[@haasgaming]

Unless I end up being swamped, I definitely will! Excited we might see a proper Waagh!

[@ietsbram]

oooh and there is another game in the, multiplayer with a living amazing community

[@haasgaming]

Ah yes, I didn't mention it because it's essentially a whole additional review but there's definitely a whole world there to check out as well. Rather few people play it all things considered I think, based on the achievement numbers and such, but it's certainly a fun different way to play it.

[@jamesthrice2253]

You're alive!

[@haasgaming]

The Skaven haven't gotten me YET!

[@bjack1547]

Great video. Good overview and criticism.

[@haasgaming]

Much appreciated!

[@Youllpayforthat]

can you get the DLC for Warhammer 1 even if you dont own it? I started playing Warhammer 2 and would love some of the DLC that the first game offers but dont want to spend 60$ just for the DLC lol

[@Schizm1]

So I DON'T have to rush while playing the campaign?! Thank God cause I was hoping for more chilled out experience but when I started recently Warhammer 2 I felt like I need to rush with blocking enemies with their rituals rather than explore the map and do sidequests etc.

[@haasgaming]

Not at all! Feel free to take your time, the rituals are poorly relayed to the player. It implies a huge sense of urgency but it's not really there, you can quite easily stop them if they do reach a final ritual (just make sure to save before the battle -- it's an easy battle but you can always make a huge mistake I suppose).

[@Schizm1]

@@haasgaming Thx for the info mate:) Yeah It was the only thing that got me really annoyned about the game. "Here are all the awesome things you can do! BUT DON'T! You have a ritual to stop! Now!" ;P Thx again and awesome video btw!

[@henchgamer6996]

Thanks for this. It convinced me to buy the game

[@orange_fella2073]

Only 267 hours? those are rookie numbers.

[@haasgaming]

My hands aren't big enough to hold all these turns

[@fikra2194]

I love how you avoided all the difficult names to pronounce like tehenhauin, alarielle and snikch.

[@haasgaming]

Alarielle: Ah-lah-ree-el. Tehenhauin: Lizardnonsense.

[@fikra2194]

@@haasgaming agreed, i could never pronounce tehenhauin, now i can, but before i could pronounce it a friend of mine called him 'teeny weeny' so i used to call him that.

[@fikra2194]

@@haasgaming also, you said only norsca was an enjoyable dlc from WH 1. but volkmar the grim and helman ghorst are still my favorite vampire and empire lords. how come you didn't like them? i'm curious.

[@haasgaming]

@@fikra2194 It's not so much that I don't like those, it's more so that they're outdated and don't offer a lot right now for anyone looking to pick up DLC. Obviously if you enjoy Empire or Counts a lot, they're a good consideration. But I don't think they're more interesting than what you get baseline, especially since they don't have unique starting positions which others now do. I don't think their unique bonuses are that elaborate or interesting either. They're fine, but they're not that unique compared to what else you can get these days.

[@fikra2194]

@@haasgaming true, compared to packs like 'the prophet and the warlock' and 'the hunter and the beast', 'the grim and the grave' is probably outdated. since ikit claw is really fun and if you dont own WH1, markus wulfhart gives you an entire new faction (and nakai's dread saurian).

[@ShiftySheriff2]

Its funny that you do know what you are doing and you are not bad at the game but you haven't barely even scratched on the surface with 200+ game hours

[@haasgaming]

Oh there's so much for sure! Let alone figuring out every faction to a perfect degree. Trying to decide what footage I'd show for this was tricky. For instance, I have an entire folders of 30+ GBs of Vampire Count footage, a faction that I know how to play fairly optimally which is way different from any other faction, that I couldn't find room for in this video. Or rites. Or more about sieges. Or undercities. Definitely a breadth of little strategic elements to optimize and master. If Lustria had a roof, I'd slap it and say that this game can fit so many campaigns in it.

[@ShiftySheriff2]

@@haasgaming I personally would have criticized the game more considering sieges are often boring and basically the same and that there is no naval combat for example but it was a pretty good review :)

[@haasgaming]

@@ShiftySheriff2 I can see that. I'm personally quite neutral towards naval combat, I don't think it's something they did that well in older Total War games so not having it here doesn't matter a lot to me. But I can see why people would like them (especially with Naval-centric mechanics like Black Arks and the whole of Vampire Coast). Regarding sieges, they definitely need a lot of work and I hope that's something they focus on in Warhammer 3. That said, I do still like defending them most of the time and if I'm not playing a faction that can cheese them with ranged firepower they can be quite amusing too. But certainly, all valid points.

[@michaelcarver5994]

@rockn roll Maybe too busy developing all the other, more confusing parts of the game? Like how every single faction and legendary lord plays slightly differently, doesn't that make sieges pretty hard to balance or make fun? I've personally only experienced WH2 and Shogun 2, but I feel that WH2's sieges are better. That might be due to Shogun 2's sieges being trash, but nonetheless, I'm having enough fun with the sieges, although that might just be me not getting bored of them yet. Currently, I am already finding some ways of cheesing the sieges, even when at huge numbers disadvantages, so maybe that's a slight testament to the poor design. Really not trying to full out defend a game I don't really care much for anyway, but was just suggesting a reason that they might've reverted in quality for the sieges.

[@R3GARnator]

Great review.

[@TheRingoism]

The fact we have to wait for a 3rd and final? Game In the trilogy to make the slightest changes and a few more factions and the Total War fanbase are accepting It like It's normal Is strange.

[@rockkiller124]

Should I get this game despite being newcomer to RTS genre?

[@haasgaming]

Sure! There's a lot to learn, but there's no pressure if you're playing on the normal difficulties. Definitely won't find a lot of strategy experiences as flavorful as this one right now.

[@someone1949]

Whats your PC specs?

[@judostar11]

Rattling guns go brrrr

[@dumlepumle]

nice review

[@haasgaming]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@FullmetalDeveloper]

Cool video👍

[@kasvoeten6224]

FInally a dutch youtuber that doesn't sound like he just finished his last english lesson last week.

[@kaladin9128]

I bought warhammer 2 but was to overvelmet by all de negative buffs you get when entering an otjer area like skaven or vampires..and the map is for me wayy to huge. I like to conquer the hole map and in this game its just impossible. I neeed 20 turns just to get over the sea..thats why i stoppet playing it. Is this maybe because i startet as high elves in the middle? Is it better to start somewhere else?

[@haasgaming]

Hmm taking over the entire map will take a long, long time. It's certainly not designed with that in mind. I'd settle for smaller goals, like taking over a particular continent. Granted, if you do that you can always continue playing after despite that you'll likely already have won so you can still get the whole map then. Some factions, like Vampire Coast, have an easier time traveling across the seas so if that's your concern you might want to check that option (if you have them). Ultian is not a bad place to start if you want to quickly get terrain, because you should be able to ally with all the other elves quite easily. Otherwise I'd say perhaps starting on Teclis instead, or anyone who starts in Lustria (bottom left) might make for a more interesting experience as you'll have a lot of different enemies there (but you will have a lot of Skaven corruption there too). If you have Warhammer 1, playing Mortal Empires as the Empire is also a pretty good pick if your main goal is taking over areas. Their whole old world section feels quite isolated and is fun to take over (and they have specific confederation mechanics with that in mind).

[@ZeNex74]

whos here coz twh 3 announce? i refunded warhammer 2. looked great just so much to learn and work out and no time... but wanna.. maybe try again

[@haasgaming]

As a wise man called Palpatine once said: "Do it."

[@SuperDoggy99]

People complain about the diplomacy system, but it is a much better system than the random nonsense you see in games like Civilization, Age of Wonders, etc. Honestly, you can use quite a bit of strategy in the diplomacy system, as you work toward achieving particular agreements with your neighbors. I've never felt hamstrung or powerless in diplomatically coercing factions into doing my bidding. And, because you always know where you stand, there really isn't any mystery about what you did or didn't do to make another faction like or despise you--unlike other games, where the numbers are completely hidden. There are specific things you can do (i.e , shared enemies, agent actions, gifts, trade, declarations of war, etc.) that will always lead to alliances or confederation (again, despite what some players say). I find that most people don't really understand how the diplomacy system works, and then they blame their mistakes on the game.

[@haasgaming]

And yet it's far more hidden than say, Stellaris, which features a more clear and rigorous diplomacy system. The main issue with Total War's is that it feels incredibly gamified, and very obviously disposed towards being unfriendly towards the player. It's also the cause of a bit of imbalance, since "order" factions inherently like one another (at least it's lore friendly to a point) which leads to issues such as the Empire/Dwarves usually stomping across all of the Old World in Mortal Empires for instance. Plus taking diplomacy beyond a defensive alliance is entirely pointless if not actively harmful as the AI will drag you into fights all the time for seemingly little reason (obviously the reason is they reached a negative threshold with one another which you can see but it makes little strategic sense). And yet if you don't agree to a military alliance, they'll bug you about this every couple of turns. I think it's an unfortunate situation where the best interaction is usually shooting for trade agreements and ignoring the system almost entirely besides that on harder difficulties, as it's usually inevitable they'll slowly decline further and further. Stemming the tide with gifts only gets you so far, plus the requirement for actually being a reasonable gift get incredibly high too. At late game I can often offer tens of thousands of gold for peace or trying to get smaller factions to go to war, but at that point the system is so entrenched in past transgressions it does practically nothing. It's not pointless, but it's a system that has shown very few advancements and improvements and within context of the rest of the game feels far more flawed to me than most other turn-based/4X titles. You also mention Civ, and although I haven't played that in a bit, it's worth pointing out that Civ has far more expansive interaction possible with the Casus belli, trading cities, granting diplomatic favors which work towards other goals than simply extermination etc.

[@balthasargelt4075]

Naggavierkant, heel nice xD

[@haasgaming]

Deceiving the Dark Elves with my elusive naming schemes.

[@balthasargelt4075]

@@haasgaming Btw, I completely agree with your opinion on Nakai, first time he was pretty fun but he has no replayability at all. Also, there still is a bug which hinders replenishment if you confederate him. I just started playing a 'good' faction: The Golden Order as I usually prefer evil factions or at least the TWWH2 base factions. Wood Elves and especially Bretonnia bore me to death. What are your favorite faction(s)? (P.S. if you need any advice regarding TWWH2 I can help you out as I've got over 800 hours in the game)

[@haasgaming]

@@balthasargelt4075 Favorite factions, hmm. I think in general Tomb Kings are very high on my list, I think they're easily one of the best designed factions in general (flavor second to none really). I really like Vampire Counts but their optimal playstyle is very cheesy so they get dull a bit too quick for my tastes. Vampire Coast's lore of the deep is fantastic and they feature some of the better artillery which I really enjoy. Empire's always fun if just because of Hellstorm rockets. Beastmen used to be one of my favourites, but those aged very poorly. Other than that I think it comes down to specific LLs more than entire races. The only races I don't enjoy playing are Wood Elves and High Elves (which we all know are simply inferior to the true rulers of Ulthuan, the kind and peaceful Dark Elves).

[@Scrilian]

Arkahan? D:

[@haasgaming]

More like.. Arkhan't.. eh? EH?

[@vigen222]

Nice review though i think the 9/10 is way too generous, especially considering all the problems the game currently has, would personally say it's more of an 7/10. Especially with the endgame still being mind bogling borring, unless you are a 12 year old trying to live out your own power fantasy. My main problem though is CA's inabillity to balance their AI in both campaign and combat leading to a very frustrating overall experience.

[@DashyDoggo2]

If you want the full game be careful cuz it’s gonna cost u 250 aus dollars

[@tearius3657]

Takes the first 2 minutes to finally stop talking about warhammer 1 and start talking about the game we are actually looking for a review on

[@ЭльфКрови-о7к]

High elves va greenskins?

[@haasgaming]

Good chance that's the next DLC!

[@marveyzing1495]

oof this game strayed way to far away from its roots the reason am addicted to Rome 2 total war because it could actually happened tactics and units that actually exist and its fun to recreate historical battles this is my problem with this game

[@benlubbers4943]

Look matey that's a perfectly valid reason to play Total War games, I hope you have a ton of fun with the historical ones. Now I'm off to get this game, as using a giant egyptian magic statue with eyelasers on mutant rat monsters doped up on radioactive drugs sounds extremely fun.

[@marveyzing1495]

@@benlubbers4943 a didn't say a hate the game a like it but a didn't get the same feeling when a play rome 2 when am playing warhammer