Today, on August 23, 2022, the Realm of the Immortals (“Immortal Empires”) is released – the major DLC for Total War: Warhammer 3, which everyone has been waiting for. The best strategy game of 2022 is finally complete and a true celebration for multiplayer fans, whether in PvP or cooperative.
What kind of game is this? Total War: Warhammer 3 is a strategy game and the final part of the Warhammer trilogy. You control various races from the Warhammer universe, build cities, and lead armies in the struggle for power and dominance.
Today, on August 23, the free DLC Immortal Empires is released and it expands the game by more than three times. Many fans of the series have been waiting for this moment since the release.
What makes Immortal Empires so important? Total War: Warhammer 3 was released back in February 2022, however, it was more or less incomplete. Only with the Immortal Empires is it truly complete.
This is a new campaign that connects the maps and races from all three Warhammer games in the Total War series. Due to its immense scope, a single round can last dozens of hours before anyone even comes close to victory.
The Immortal Empires are essentially exactly what the Warhammer trilogy has been aiming for for years. Anyone interested in Warhammer, Total War, or strategy games should definitely take a look at this.
You can watch the teaser trailer for the Immortal Empires here:
Immortal Empires: Strategy game brings 287 factions and a massive campaign
How do I even play Total War? The Total War series is one of the most well-known giants of strategy games. It combines the two genres of turn-based and real-time strategy:
- Campaign map: You conquer cities, build buildings, research, and train troops in turns. Once all players have completed their turn, the AI’s moves are calculated and the game continues.
- Battlefield: If you choose to lead battles yourself rather than letting them be calculated, you take your armies into large real-time battles.
In the multiplayer campaign, you play simultaneously in Warhammer 3. This means you do not take turns; instead, you act simultaneously – one of the most significant changes from the predecessor. You finish the rounds together. This reduces waiting times, especially since Warhammer 3 as the first Total War supports up to 8 players in multiplayer.
You can play Immortal Empires, just like Total War itself, cooperatively or competitively with other players. Depending on how far apart you are on the map, wars or alliances are unlikely or even necessary for your expansion and victory.
This is what Immortal Empires brings: Basically, the DLC “only” offers the possibility to play the old parts of the Warhammer series in the new Total War. However, this brings several things that come along:
- all races from Warhammer 1 and Warhammer 2 are playable
- the map is significantly larger and now encompasses the entire world of the Warhammer series
- over 287 factions can be found and fight against each other in a balance of power
The new campaign is purely a domination campaign. You have no further goals than to capture or raze a certain number of cities and assemble armies. It is essentially a “sandbox” mode.
If you have played Warhammer 3 or the predecessors, you may notice changes such as new starting positions for some rulers. More about the Immortal Empires can be read in the detailed review on GameStar.
You can see the entire map here in the trailer:
Playing Immortal Empires – What you need for it
Generally, Immortal Empires is free. You can play the new campaign as long as you own Total War: Warhammer 3 and the two predecessors. However, you only have access to those races and commanders for which you have activated the base game and DLC on the same platform.
If you want to play the Skaven, you must own all 3 Warhammer games on the same platform – for example, Steam.
If you play Warhammer 3 through Xbox Game Pass, you do not have access to the other Warhammer games and DLCs that you purchased on Steam or in the Epic Games Store. In this case, you need to activate Warhammer 3 again in the store where you own the other Warhammer parts.
The predecessor parts are now officially available in the Microsoft Store. Immortal Empires should soon also be available for Game Pass. A barrier-free solution is being worked on, but whether and when it will come is still unclear.
Along with the Immortal Empires, the new “Champions of Chaos” DLC is also being released. This adds 4 additional playable commanders for the Chaos factions to the game. They even have special mechanics that allow them to manage their realm through vassals.
The DLC is, however, paid and must be purchased separately, as well as the DLCs of the predecessors if you do not already own them.
We have embedded the trailer for the new Tzeentch commander, Vilitch for you here:
The best strategy game of 2022 according to Metacritic
Who should consider Immortal Empires? Anyone who already owns Total War: Warhammer 3 should definitely try Immortal Empires – especially if you already own the predecessors. Most of you are probably eagerly waiting for the release anyway.
Total War is primarily aimed at fans of strategy games. The Warhammer series also brings a fantasy aspect into play, which can even excite role-players. If you are even slightly strategy-inclined, you should at least keep an eye on Immortal Empires.
If you have no experience with the game yet, you should check out the base game through Xbox Game Pass. This way, you save money and can first see if the game suits you.
Given the large franchise behind the game, you should also check out the series as a Warhammer fan. Seeing prominent characters like Karl Franz, Ikit Claw, and the Champions of Khorne, Slaanesh, and Co. in action can be exciting for fans.
Behind Warhammer lies a huge world that you can get to know better through Total War, wiki entries, and more:
I have been waiting for this all year
Even though I usually cover different topics on MeinMMO, I love real-time strategy. That’s why I never really liked Total War – I found it too slow and cumbersome.
However, when friends forced me to try Warhammer 3 – it’s in the Game Pass – I completely fell in love with the game and already spent hundreds of hours before Immortal Empires. I even caught up with the old parts and played just as much.
I have been waiting for exactly this DLC since the release of Total War: Warhammer 3 and already know that I will spend several hundred more hours in the game. Mainly because my favorite faction, the Skaven, can finally be played with the new mechanics like fast trade and – most importantly for me – with more than just one other player.
I have yet to try Immortal Empires, but the version of the predecessors shows: It will be huge. Strategy games with these gigantic scales, in which a match can easily take several hours, are perfect for a whole gaming weekend and more.
And that’s exactly what I will use Immortal Empires for throughout the rest of 2022 and certainly 2023. As a fan of the Warhammer franchise, this update is exactly what I need to keep sinking back into this brutal fantasy world.
Benedict Grothaus
Editor and Strategy Nerd at MeinMMO
