Total War: Three Kingdoms - The Furious Wild

As an expansion for Total War: Three Kingdoms, The Furious Wild is a no brainer to pick up. Adding a ton of content and tens of hours of new gameplay for a mere snip, this DLC is definitely worth the asking price. The Nanman campaign is one that has plenty of drama attached with a host of faction specific missions and events and then best of all, once it is completed it is just the prologue of the adventure to come, with the rest of China to capture and a whole host of 'outsiders' to convert or conquer in the name of the Nanman. Visually impressive and with a lot of creative ideas in the mechanics used to keep the factions interesting -The Furious Wild is an excellent addition to the game.

With exotic locales and new ideas, The Furious Wild DLC reminds us why we fell in love with Total War: Three Kingdoms in the first place.

A creative expansion that adds enjoyable new mechanics and units, plus a unique two-stage campaign, without feeling disjointed from the core game.

A side-expansion of game mechanics and an interesting alternative experience full of indigenous Chinese and wild (but tamed) animals.

Total War: Three Kingdoms - The Furious Wild lets you run amok with the Nanman led by Meng Huo and others. The downside is that the campaign can turn into a slog and then a long waiting game. Replayability also suffers due to all leaders starting from the same region and having similar objectives and progression paths. Still, the unique perks, mechanics, and animal units offer refreshing dynamics in tactical battles.

The Furious Wild provides even more reason to return to Three Kingdoms and to lose yourself once again for a score of hours engaging in some of the most rewarding gameplay modern strategy games have to offer. But maybe wait a while, until the bugs are ironed out and some of the games rougher edges are smoothed over.

All in all, Total War: Three Kingdoms - The Furious Wild expansion was a better experiment than I expected it to be. I am never particularly excited about animal or nature-focused factions -- Air Force boy here -- but this DLC features such an interesting mix of units and mechanics that washed the bad taste of Troy away from my most recent TW palate. From angry kings with axes and fire-wielding melee units to giant elephants and devastating shock-heavy tiger units, The Furious Wild brings the full breadth of nature to bear on the Three Kingdoms period -- and China is better for it.