Creative Assembly, the developers of the Total War series of games, announced a release date for Mandate of Heaven, the latest DLC for Total War: Three Kingdoms. The new DLC takes place prior to the events of the base-game campaign where discontent surrounds Emperor Liang as he deals with an administrative power-struggle as well as the ravaging Yellow Turban tribes who threaten his dynasty.
In case you couldn’t tell from the description of the DLC and the video, Total War: Three Kingdoms brings the Total War formula to the historical setting of ancient China. That formula of a turn-based strategic layer coupled with real-time tactical battles was reinvigorated by the new setting in Total War: Three Kingdoms, making it one of the best entries in the series to date. Some other recent entries in the series had fallen a bit flat with fans and critics due to lack of innovation. Three Kingdoms added new mechanics like dueling generals which aided the new setting in freshening up the series.
Mandate of Heaven grants players the ability to play through the prequel campaign then tie it directly into the base game setting. Meaning the empire players start in the DLC will carry over into a base game playthrough. Given that the events of the campaign of Mandate of Heaven directly precede those of the base game, it makes sense that you’d need to start a new playthrough. This does mean original progress on the base game won’t transfer to the DLC though.
Mandate of Heaven includes:
6 new playable factions, including the Han Empire.
New origin stories and starting positions for the 5 pre-existing factions.
9 new characters, featuring the Zhang brothers and Emperor Ling.
40 new units, including siege machinery and faction-specific elites.
Mandate of Heaven will release on January 16, 2020, for $10 and a 10% discount is being offered on Preorders.
