Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition vs Total War: THREE KINGDOMS
Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition is a strategy game from CREATIVE ASSEMBLY (2009) while Total War: THREE KINGDOMS is a sandbox simulation game from CREATIVE ASSEMBLY (2019).
What each one is
Steam files Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition under Strategy. In contrast, it files Total War: THREE KINGDOMS under Sandbox and Simulation.
Command the seas, control the land, forge a new nation, and conquer the globe.
Unite Ancient China under your rule through a thrilling blend of turn-based empire building and real-time battles. Use the Guanxi System and diplomacy to forge alliances, and build powerful armies with hundreds of unique infantry, cavalry and war machine units.
At a glance
| Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition | Total War: THREE KINGDOMS | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 8.1/10 | 7.7/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (91%, 38,055) | Very Positive (82%, 93,602) |
| Critic aggregate | 90/100 | 85/100 |
| Price | $24.99 | $39.99 |
| Install size | — | 60 GB |
| Steam Deck | playable | playable |
| Released | 2009 | 2019 |
| Developer | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition vs Total War: THREE KINGDOMS, 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
Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive EditionStrategy gameTotal War: THREE KINGDOMSSandbox simulation gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive EditionStrategy, Historical, MilitaryTotal War: THREE KINGDOMSStrategy, Historical, WarThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition ✓Score 8.1 · 91% on Steam · 90 criticTotal War: THREE KINGDOMSScore 7.7 · 82% on Steam · 85 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition38,055 reviewsTotal War: THREE KINGDOMS93,602 reviews · 12 add-ons · 60 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition ✓$24.99Total War: THREE KINGDOMS$39.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive EditionPlayableTotal War: THREE KINGDOMSPlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition takes 2 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueTotal War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition and Total War: THREE KINGDOMS 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: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition (GamingPickz Score 8.1)
- The cheaper right now: Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition ($24.99)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Total War: THREE KINGDOMS (93,602 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
StrategyHistoricalMilitaryGrand StrategyTurn-Based StrategyWarTacticalRTS
Where they differ
NavalAmericaTurn-Based TacticsAtmosphericClassicAdventure
Co-opSimulationSandboxViolentFantasyDestruction
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Total War: THREE KINGDOMS is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition | Total War: THREE KINGDOMS | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | 100% | GTX 650 Ti 1GB |
| Minimum CPU | 2.4 GHz Intel® Pentium® | Intel Core 2 Duo 3.00Ghz |
| Minimum RAM | 1 GB | 4 GB |
| Install size | — | 60 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition · Total War: THREE KINGDOMS.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 6 accessibility features for Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition and 8 for Total War: THREE KINGDOMS. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition and Total War: THREE KINGDOMS in scope?
Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition has drawn 38,055 Steam reviews. Total War: THREE KINGDOMS has drawn 93,602 Steam reviews, ships 12 add-ons and installs in 60 GB.
Is Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition or Total War: THREE KINGDOMS better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition rates higher (8.1 to 7.7). 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, Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition or Total War: THREE KINGDOMS?
Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition is cheaper right now at $24.99, against $39.99. 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.