The Best Total War Games, Ranked

On a hot June day in the year 2000, Creative Assembly released Shogun: Total War. This would launch a franchise of historical games that are still made to this day, spanning multiple millennia of violent human history. In this turn-based strategy game, you command your own kingdom, its armies, as well as conducting diplomacy, trade, and espionage. This is a game series truly meant for history buffs like myself.

On this list, we’ll be ranking the games in terms of their core gameplay and keystone features

6: Empire / Napoleon DLC (2009)

These games were largely a downgrade in terms of their gameplay, there were however two significant factors. First, this was the first Total War to feature proper naval battles instead of just possessing more ships and letting the AI just decide who “won”. The second key feature was its tech tree – where you can decide whether to research militarily or civilian reforms.

5: Medieval II (2006)

With the success of the Rome: Total War, it was inevitable that Creative Assembly would return to medieval times with the same format.

One interesting feature is you can visually change the look of your army if you improve your blacksmiths. From padded leather armor, light mail, and (towards the end) thick plate armor for your best troops. 

Spanning from William the Conqueror to the beginning of the renaissance era, you see how your medieval army slowly evolves from present levies with spears, to knights, to gunpowder cannons and firearms. When your shipping technology advances far enough, you can even sail west to discover America and conquer the Aztecs. This is the one game I want to see remade the most because of how far the technology and gameplay have come.

Today the closest thing we have that as of now is an extensive mod to Total War: Attila known as 1212 AD. Hopefully, Creative Assembly will notice their work and perhaps return to medieval times for real.

4: Thrones of Britannia (2018)

Using the same mechanics as Rome II, this time you can play as Alfred the Great’s Saxons the invading Vikings, the Celts, and (especially) the Welsh.

Another feature added is buildings are no longer relevant when recruiting new soldiers, instead it depends on unit availability. What’s more, when a unit is recruited it took them several turns for then to reach the maximum number. I like that feature because it is more realistic for your armies to build over time instead of just appearing out of thin air.

One particularly cool part of this game is that it forces you to be more focused on your general’s loyalty. If you don’t satisfy your nobility then they can raise their banners against you. This can be avoided by rewarding land estates to your most powerful allies, spreading feudalism throughout the land. If they ever make third medieval TW, I hope they bring back that feature. 

3: Three Kingdoms (2019)

For the first time the Total war franchise we are set in ancient China, specifically the three kingdoms period from 220 to 280 AD where numerous Chinese military leaders controlled their own fiefdoms.

Here you also have 2 options, romance and records one focusing where your generals are one-man armies, mid-battle you even have the option of one on one combat. Records are more of the traditional with your generals having bodyguards. Personally, I mostly stick to Records as I am a sucker for realism.

Another element I like is each general has his own personal retinue which is much closer to feudal armies back then. That means when you call upon your general, he/she already has troops assembled and ready.

I do however miss the game mechanics from Rome, that have stayed with the Franchise at their war some interpersonal about each soldier fighting each other one on one instead of making a few moves and he’s dead like the older games.

2: Rome/Rome II (2004/2013)

It’s safe to say that many of us, including myself, were both introduced to the series and learned a lot about ancient history because of this game. I first started playing in high school over Christmas and I was hooked from day one. For the first time, I got to command armies use diplomacy and manage your settlement and wage war with impunity.

9 years later, Creative Assembly revisited the time period again with Rome II. There were new graphics, combat mechanics, and more accurate-looking armies and maps. For example, Egyptian armies look more like Greeks, because they were made in that style at the time of the Romans. There are also more tribal factions to play compared to the first. Instead of just “the Gauls” you play as distinct Gallic tribes, such as the Arverni and Helvetia which is much more accurate.

Unfortunately, upon Rome 2’s release, it was subject to a lot of bugs and crashes which may have damaged R2’s potential. Here’s an angry Joe video review upon its initial release.

Subsequent patches have drastically improved the game, and mods have made this an even greater experience. Still, the popularity of the original Rome still struck such a core with fans that earlier this year they released a remastered version on Steam.

1: Shogun 2 / Fall of the Samurai DLC (2011/2012)

Technically two games in one – this pick is a remake to creative assemblies now over 10 years later this is still the best total war games period as the gameplay is perfectly balanced. This game became the first of many elements that have been brought up again and again in future titles

 This was when the armies began to look more 3 dimensional, meaning that individual soldiers now have different faces. This is also among the first games that you can extensively mode, giving your campaign mode so much creative freedom. From researching your tech in 1 turn so you can get the good stuff earlier, or decrease army upkeep so everything isn’t so expensive. My personal favorite modes are the ones that double the size of your units so you can increase your army limit from 3000 into up to 6000 which makes it inline for an individual warlord’s army. Another big first is this introduced the blood and gore DLC so users can experience a battle in all its glory.

In its spinoff expansion, Fall of the Samurai, this is the closest thing towards a modern total war game, and elements of mechanized warfare are presented. This includes Gatling guns, Steam-powered warships, the bombardment of land targets even torpedo boats. Perhaps the most important to consider in the future would be railways

Should there be another Empire TW, it is my hope it will be closer to this time period and weaponry. Perhaps the groundwork for Total War: WW1. If any of you desire to play a total war game, then I highly recommend starting with either Rome or Shogun 2.