Total War: Three Kingdoms faces the sins of its fathers with today's A World Betrayed DLC
Daddy issues
Total War: Three Kingdoms is rolling the clock forward. The old warlords are dead - leaving behind a brand new generation of bloodthirsty scamps looking to make the most of China's power vacuum. Dropping today, the new A World Betrayed Chapter Pack adds two new factions, a new time period and some brand new units - but really, it's all about those rascals Sun Ce and Lü Bu stepping out of their fathers' respective shadows.
One's a world-class warrior with long-term commitment issues. The other's a reckless power-grabber who's running outta luck. Together, they're leading Three Kingdom's two new factions into a whole lotta bloodshed.
Kicking off in the year 194, A World Betrayed's new scenario lets you try out two new perspectives. Lü Bu puts you in the eyes of the legendary warrior - he's just pissed the hell outta Cao Cao, and needs to get outta Chen as soon as possible. His faction revolves around taking on the toughest fighters in China, unlocking permanent bonuses by scratching names out of a faction-specific legendary warriors list.
He's pretty naff at politicking, mind, surrounding himself with backstabbing generals I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw 'em (and I have pathetic upper body strength).
Sun Ce, meanwhile, inherits an awkward situation with his dear and dead ol' dad. Starting under the vassalage of Yuan Shu, he's got a great need to break off and take back his ancestral homelands in the south of China. Playing as Sun Ce gives you a laundry list of ambitions to achieve, granting permanent bonuses once checked off.
You'll want to pace those ambitions well, too. See, lucky ol' Sun Ce can expand and conquer new grounds rapidly, but only as long as his luck holds. Achieving ambitions will push that luck a little further - but once it runs out, Sun Ce takes a permanent trip six feet under.
A World Betrayed can be played through with 13 playable factions, mind, with new challenges and story events bringing these plots into your own game regardless of who's banner you're waving.
Update 1.5.0 has launched alongside the DLC. It added White Tiger Yan as a playable character, 17 new characters to recruit, and overhaul of bandits, a refresh of spies, and balance changes and bug fixes. See the patch notes for more.
Total War: Three Kingdoms - A World Betrayed is out now on Steam for £8/€10/$10.