Total War: WARHAMMER vs Total War: WARHAMMER II
Total War: WARHAMMER is an open-world RPG game from CREATIVE ASSEMBLY (2016) while Total War: WARHAMMER II is a strategy game from CREATIVE ASSEMBLY (2017).
What each one is
Steam files Total War: WARHAMMER under Open-World and RPG. In contrast, it files Total War: WARHAMMER II under Strategy.
The Old World is yours to command. Lead Legendary Lords in a combination of turn-based campaign and magically charged, strategic real-time battles, and decide the fate of your chosen race in a fight against Chaos.
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
| Total War: WARHAMMER | Total War: WARHAMMER II | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.5/10 | 8.4/10 |
| Steam rating | Mostly Positive (79%, 52,323) | Very Positive (93%, 121,450) |
| Critic aggregate | 86/100 | 87/100 |
| Price | $59.99 | $59.99 |
| Install size | 35 GB | 60 GB |
| Steam Deck | playable | playable |
| Released | 2016 | 2017 |
| Developer | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Total War: WARHAMMER 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
Total War: WARHAMMEROpen-world RPG 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
Total War: WARHAMMERStrategy, Fantasy, RTSTotal War: WARHAMMER IIStrategy, Fantasy, Turn-Based StrategyThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Total War: WARHAMMERScore 7.5 · 79% on Steam · 86 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
Total War: WARHAMMER52,323 reviews · 14 add-ons · 35 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
Total War: WARHAMMER$59.99Total War: WARHAMMER II$59.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Total War: WARHAMMERPlayableTotal War: WARHAMMER IIPlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Total War: WARHAMMER II takes 1 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: WARHAMMER 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)
- Lighter on storage: Total War: WARHAMMER (35 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:
StrategyFantasyRTSWarTurn-Based StrategyGames WorkshopGrand StrategyMultiplayer
Where they differ
Open WorldRPGGore
Real Time TacticsDinosaursGreat Soundtrack
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Total War: WARHAMMER is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Total War: WARHAMMER II is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Total War: WARHAMMER | Total War: WARHAMMER II | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | NVIDIA GTX 460 1GB |
| Minimum CPU | Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 3.0Ghz | Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 3.0Ghz |
| Minimum RAM | 3 GB | 5 GB |
| Install size | 35 GB | 60 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Total War: WARHAMMER · Total War: WARHAMMER II.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 7 accessibility features for Total War: WARHAMMER and 8 for Total War: WARHAMMER II. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
If you like one, also try
Common questions
How different are Total War: WARHAMMER and Total War: WARHAMMER II in scope?
Total War: WARHAMMER has drawn 52,323 Steam reviews, ships 14 add-ons and installs in 35 GB. Total War: WARHAMMER II has drawn 121,450 Steam reviews, ships 23 add-ons and installs in 60 GB.
Is Total War: WARHAMMER or Total War: WARHAMMER II better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Total War: WARHAMMER II rates higher (8.4 to 7.5). 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: WARHAMMER or Total War: WARHAMMER II?
Total War: WARHAMMER is cheaper right now at $59.99, 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.