Age of Wonders III vs Total War: WARHAMMER II
Age of Wonders III is an RPG strategy game from Triumph Studios (2014) while Total War: WARHAMMER II is a strategy game from CREATIVE ASSEMBLY (2017).
What each one is
Steam files Age of Wonders III under RPG and Strategy. In contrast, it files Total War: WARHAMMER II under Strategy.
Age of Wonders III is the long anticipated sequel to the award-winning strategy series. Delivering a unique mix of Empire Building, Role Playing and Warfare, Age of Wonders III offers the ultimate in turn-based fantasy strategy for veterans of the series and new players alike!
The forces of Lustria await your command. Choose your Legendary Lord, expand your armies, forge alliances in a strategic turn-based campaign, and unleash the might of your monstrous forces in fast-paced real-time battles.
At a glance
| Age of Wonders III | Total War: WARHAMMER II | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.2/10 | 8.4/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (80%, 12,811) | Very Positive (93%, 121,450) |
| Critic aggregate | 80/100 | 87/100 |
| Price | $29.99 | $59.99 |
| Install size | 10 GB | 60 GB |
| Steam Deck | playable | playable |
| Released | 2014 | 2017 |
| Developer | Triumph Studios | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Age of Wonders III vs Total War: WARHAMMER II, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Age of Wonders IIIRPG strategy gameTotal War: WARHAMMER IIStrategy gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Age of Wonders IIIStrategy, Turn-Based Strategy, FantasyTotal War: WARHAMMER IIStrategy, Fantasy, Turn-Based StrategyThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Age of Wonders IIIScore 7.2 · 80% on Steam · 80 criticTotal War: WARHAMMER II ✓Score 8.4 · 93% on Steam · 87 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Age of Wonders III12,811 reviews · 3 add-ons · 10 GBTotal War: WARHAMMER II121,450 reviews · 23 add-ons · 60 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Age of Wonders III ✓$29.99Total War: WARHAMMER II$59.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Age of Wonders IIIPlayableTotal War: WARHAMMER IIPlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Across the rounds a number can settle, it is level at 1 each. Which one is "better" is the part no figure decides, so we leave it to what you want from the two.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueAge of Wonders III and Total War: WARHAMMER II on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Total War: WARHAMMER II (GamingPickz Score 8.4)
- The cheaper right now: Age of Wonders III ($29.99)
- Lighter on storage: Age of Wonders III (10 GB)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Total War: WARHAMMER II (121,450 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
StrategyTurn-Based StrategyFantasyTurn-BasedMultiplayerSingleplayerTacticalDwarf
Where they differ
RPG4XHex GridAdventureClassicModdable
RTSWarGames WorkshopDark FantasyReal Time TacticsStory Rich
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Age of Wonders III is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Total War: WARHAMMER II is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Age of Wonders III | Total War: WARHAMMER II | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | NVIDIA GTX 460 1GB |
| Minimum CPU | — | Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 3.0Ghz |
| Minimum RAM | — | 5 GB |
| Install size | 10 GB | 60 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Age of Wonders III · Total War: WARHAMMER II.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Age of Wonders III and 8 for Total War: WARHAMMER II. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Age of Wonders III and Total War: WARHAMMER II in scope?
Age of Wonders III has drawn 12,811 Steam reviews, ships 3 add-ons and installs in 10 GB. Total War: WARHAMMER II has drawn 121,450 Steam reviews, ships 23 add-ons and installs in 60 GB.
Is Age of Wonders III or Total War: WARHAMMER II better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Total War: WARHAMMER II rates higher (8.4 to 7.2). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Age of Wonders III or Total War: WARHAMMER II?
Age of Wonders III is cheaper right now at $29.99, against $59.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.