2019-03-01_PC_Gamer

martial arts action. The fight goes
back and forth. One minute Lü Bu
has the upper hand, the next he’s sen
flying by a counter-kick to the
stomach. I suddenly realise I have a
battle to run, so I zoom the camera
back out and tell my trebuchets to
target their demoralising poop
buckets at the fight near the duel.
With a thrust of his weapon Lü B
finishes the fight and charges into th
archers. I don’t remember a part of
the Romance of the Three Kingdoms
where Lü Bu bests a hundred men in
a shower of shite, butTotal Waris all
about making your own stories.
The enemy morale breaks and
they flee the field, but not before my
strategist is mobbed and killed. The
heroes talk to one another
throughout, so I can tell the cocksure
Lü Bu didn’t especially like my
strategist. It may have seemed to him
that the strategist wasn’t working
hard, but with help from my
commander hero, he held the line in
the face of greater numbers while Lü

nt

u

e

s

n

l

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS Meet a few of your warlord rivals

ZHANG YAN

Class: Champion

Likes: Moving through

woods quickly

Dislikes: His poor

starting position

ZHENG JIANG

Class: Champion

Likes: Banditry

and extortion

Dislikes: That the Han

dynasty isn’t on fire yet

KONG RONG

Class: Strategist

Likes: Destroying you in a

battle of wits

Dislikes: Being destroyed

in a battle of swords

YUAN SHAO

Class: Commander

Likes: De-escalating

conflict with his gaze

Dislikes: The power of

Dong Zhou

with Dong Zhou, and another with

the oathsworn brothers Liu Bei,

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. I found that

your warlords affect your approach

to the entire campaign, not just

battles. Dong Zhou has the emperor,

which means he has a legitimate

claim to a lot of territory. He also has

his own resource: intimidation. When

you raze settlements and execute

heroes you earn intimidation points,

Bu was charging around breaking the

enemy. Before battles even start, as

the game loads, characters chat about

their chances in the fight ahead. I’m

sure the lines will eventually become

rote, but it demonstrates how much

CA want heroes to be more than a

series of stats pages.

With the battle done, I’m free to

face off against Cao Cao. I’ve played

three hours of two campaigns, one