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806 people found this review helpful
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Not Recommended
12.8 hrs last two weeks / 248.4 hrs on record (5.5 hrs at review time)
Posted: 18 Feb, 2022 @ 9:25am
Updated: 9 May @ 2:47pm

Need to rewrite this review, a lot in it is factually incorrect. Long story short, a cautious recommendation but a recommendation nonetheless for now.

EDIT: Creative Assembly has clarified that the DRM was not the origin of the performance loss, and there seems to have been a performance update bundled in with the Champions of Chaos update. It's a good start, and I may be switching my thumbs down to a thumbs up after investigating the performance increase some more.

The game is very good, and I would wholeheartedly recommend if it weren't for the controversy surrounding the game's current performance. According to certain media outlets [www.pcinvasion.com] the review build ran significantly better than the current build, and in the case of the specific reviewer linked above, lost over 50% FPS on low settings on the current build of the game (and on a monstrous machine at that!). The community is speculating that it was a large patch uploaded moments before the game went live that tanked the performance of the game, possibly through the inclusion of Denuvo Anti-Temper(AKA Anti-Piracy software).

Regardless of the origins of this huge performance loss, many reviewers and insiders advertised the game as running with similar performance as the previous instalment of the series. Currently, if your PC was somewhat struggling to run Total War: Warhammer II , you may potentially find yourself almost incapable of running the game at even below decent framerates. Beefier machines do not seem to be spared the performance loss, although some may be able to "bruteforce" their way towards a better framerate. If performance is a big deal to you, or you possess a somewhat weaker machine, I'd advise you to wait until this issue is resolved.

Unfortunately, if the performance loss is indeed a result of Denuvo, current players of this game may find themselves in a similar situation as purchasers of DOOM Eternal did not so long ago. In DOOM's case, was only removed after significant backlash [www.eurogamer.net] from the community. Yes, the tech-savvy among you will no doubt mention that the Denuvo software packaged with DOOM Eternal was theoretically far more intrusive/worse than the Denuvo software bundled with Total War: Warhammer III and although you might (probably?) be right, the core argument still stands that CA or SEGA may not feel pressured to address this issue unless there is significant public backlash similar to DOOM Eternal . To the best of my knowledge, there has not yet been any communication from CA over this issue and the substantial performance loss in comparison to the review build, but perhaps it is simply too early to tell.

If you are mindful of performance or possess a weaker machine, I'd advise you not to purchase the game at the present moment. If you already own the game and happen to read this review, I urge you to write a similar review with a big thumbs down as long as performance isn't restored to review build levels. Considering the amount of people that based their performance expectations on pre-release videos, this is borderline false advertisement. If you are lazy but still wish to signal your disagreement, feel free to copy and paste this review if you so desire.

I eagerly await the moment I can change this review to a thumbs up, and promise to do so once CA takes action and resolves this issue.
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47 Comments
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Dobro 5 Jul, 2023 @ 9:37pm 
How is the current state of WH3?
bladeddragonknight 16 Aug, 2022 @ 12:09am 
Notice how Sleviron mentions his GF? Nah a person that literally replies to every negative comment with a troll reply that sounds like it came out of a snot-nosed 10 year old boy WILL NEVER ASCEND. Forever alone.
Diablowe 19 Apr, 2022 @ 5:33am 
@david Go ahead and make your own review then, you'll be able to whine about the things you care about.
Leijonamieli 18 Mar, 2022 @ 1:37am 
Denuvo is crashing and causing freezes on my computer even when i have not started warhammer 3 on same boot.
Hugh de Salle 25 Feb, 2022 @ 6:13am 
Sound advice and a considerate one thinking of others who don't have mummy and daddy's credit card to go out and buy a NASA rig.

You have enraged the fanbois of doom and the pitchforks are out in force how dare you have an opinion that disagrees with their own.
[GD]FrankBashtard 24 Feb, 2022 @ 3:15pm 
Do I understand correctly that you gave a negative review based on what you read others experience, and not because of anything you experienced yourself?
Sleviron 24 Feb, 2022 @ 1:19pm 
lol wh3 runs way better for both me and my gf than it did on wh2 and we both have over 2k playtime. maybe you should just plug in your gear correctly noob
madlarkin8 24 Feb, 2022 @ 1:05pm 
Which option do you pick if performance is good and you enjoy the game?
ocser_santos 24 Feb, 2022 @ 10:39am 
cringe as fuck
Diablowe 24 Feb, 2022 @ 10:10am 
All of you apes spamming the comments about Denuvo are completely missing the point of my review: what matters is the performance discrepancy between the versions, nothing else. The part about Denuvo was pure speculation from the community, and I treated it as such.