Recent reviews by Sharpnessism

Great combat focused game. Lots of unique spells and enemies giving rise to a lot of strategy.

A bit dry and samey after a short while. Voice acting is pretty mediocre.

Pretty good.

Great game. Refreshing change in the genre.

Good

Summary: Great strategy game but quite expensive. The real-time strategy genre has been bone dry for almost a decade, so for me the entertainment from the great game play has been worth the cost of the game. The main highlights are the large scale real-time battles, integrated RPG hero elements, and the varied factions in the fantasy setting.

Pros:
-Game play: Fun campaign and multiplayer with tons of replay value. The real-time battle elements are much more varied and complex than other games in the Total War series thanks to the fantasy elements. In exchange though, the campaign elements are more streamlined and reduced in complexity. If you buy this game it'll probably be for the real-time battles or because you really like WHFB.
-Graphics: Great.
-Mod support: Pretty good overall. Updates usually break them temporarily until the modders or CA fixes whatever is broken on their end.

Cons:
-Tech requirements: You need a decent computer to run this game while maintaining reasonable turn times and graphics. Even with a good computer, AI turn times are relatively long due to the sheer number of AI factions on the map.
-Cost: It's not so bad if you just want to play the base WH2 races on the new campaign map, The Vortex. But if you want to play on the massive Mortal Empires map with the original races, you will need WH1 as well. If you do purchase WH2+WH1 you'll have access to most of the main content. Certain races come as DLC.

Fun successor to DK.

The DLC basically adds a hard mode for the base game, plus an additional world stage to explore.

The death wish missions are challenging and requires strategy and mechanical skills to complete. I found that the difficulty added a new dimension to the base game's levels.

Regarding the negative reviews on this DLC, most of them are made because the posters didn't like the difficulty of the new optional missions. I'd say that even if you're not looking for a challenging experience, it's probably still worth buying on sale for the new world stage.

Decent buy for $5.

Pros:
- Good amount of diversity in terms of weapons and upgrades
- Unique upgrade system (for a SHUMP)
- Many difficulty levels for players of all types
- No severe/game stopping bugs

Cons:
- Tutorial/explanation for certain systems is lacking, so you'll have to figure some things out yourself
- Menu system is a bit clunky
- A few obvious spelling/grammar mistakes
- Graphics can make it difficult to know whether you're able to dodge a hit or not

Great game with the DLC.