Total War: Three Kingdoms was released for Mac on May 23, 2019, the same day as the Windows release (an impressive feat).
But more importantly, with some calling it the best Total War in years, is the Mac version good enough to earn a spot among the best strategy games for Mac?
In this review:
Total War: THREE KINGDOMS is the first in the award-winning series to recreate epic conflict across ancient China. Combining a gripping turn-based campaign of empire-building & conquest with stunning real-time battles, THREE KINGDOMS redefines the series in an age of heroes & legends.
Developed by Creative Assembly and ported by Feral Interactive, Three Kingdoms is the first Total War to be set in ancient China. It’s also the first Total War to truly innovate in a long time.
But what about Three Kingdoms on Mac? Is the Mac version as polished as the Windows version? Let’s see how it runs in the real world, on real Macs.
- Out now for macOS & Linux The Old World echoes to the clamour of ceaseless battle. In Total War: WARHAMMER, Creative Assembly’s Total War series joins with Games Workshop’s Warhammer Fantasy Battles.The result is a spellbinding game of grand strategy and high fantasy.
- May 31, 2019 Total War: Three Kingdoms was released for Mac on May 23, 2019, the same day as the Windows release (an impressive feat). But more importantly, with some calling it the best Total War in years, is the Mac version good enough to earn a spot among the best strategy games for Mac?
| Metascore | We believed Total War games couldn’t be improved any further. Until Three Kingdoms, the best Total War in a decade, proved us wrong. |
First things first, is the game any good?
Set in 190 AD, Three Kingdoms explores a beautiful but fractured China. The time for a new emperor has finally come, and as one of 11 legendary warlords, you’ll fight to unite the country under your rule and create the next great dynasty.
And as can be expected from a Total War game, Three Kingdoms combines a gripping turn-based campaign of empire-building with stunning real-time battles.
After so many Total War games released over the years, many thought they couldn’t be improved any further. Well, according to Vice:Three Kingdoms Is the Best Total War Game in a Decade.
And critics and gamers all seem to agree. Three Kingdom scored an impressive Metascore and received praise from Steam Users:
What sets Three Kingdoms apart is its perfect combination of realism and romance.
Total War fans rightfully expect a realistic strategy game that demands smart tactics to win and Three Kingdoms doesn’t disappoint. But on top of that, Three Kingdoms also features larger-than-life heroes capable of taking on dozens of “normal” soldiers.
And they can challenge opposing heroes in epic duels!
Three Kingdoms also has a “realistic mode”, in case you prefer your battles historically accurate, but those larger-than-life moments are exactly what makes Three Kingdoms great. No wonder the game has already sold over one million copies…
Ambitious and sometimes overwhelming, Three Kingdoms does a great job of capturing the complexity of China’s vivid past.
Chris Tapsell – Eurogamer
Total War: Three Kingdoms Mac requirements
These are Total War: Three Kingdoms Mac system requirements:
- OS: macOS 10.14.4
- Processor: 2GHz Intel Core i5
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: 2GB Nvidia 680MX, 2GB AMD R9 M290, 1.5GB Intel Iris Graphics 540 or better
- Storage: 52 GB available space
The game is officially supported on the following Macs:
- All 13″ MacBook Pros released since 2016
- All 15″ MacBook Pros released since late 2013 with a 2GB graphics card or better
- All 21.5″ iMacs released since 2017
- All 27″ iMacs released since late 2012 with a 2GB graphics card or better
- All 27″ iMac Pros released since 2017
- All Mac Pros released since late 2013
PS: To check your Mac model, select About This Mac from the Apple menu on your menu bar.
Into Strategy games? These are our favorites:
| Game | ★ Best Overall | Best for MacBook | Best Value |
| Genre | Turn-based | Turn-based | Real-time |
| Release date | 2016 | 2018 | 2015 |
| Metascore | |||
| Our rating | ★★★★☆ Full Review | ★★★★★ Full Review | ★★★★★ Full Review |
| Requirements | High | Low | Low |
| Check Price |
The Test: Can you play Three Kingdoms on Mac?
To see how Three Kingdoms really performs on Mac, we tested it on these four setups:
- iMac 27-Inch (5K, Late 2014): 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 16 GB RAM, AMD Radeon R9 M290X (2GB)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016): 2.0 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, Intel Iris Graphics 540 (1.5GB)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016) with eGPU: 2.0 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, Radeon Polaris RX 580 (8GB)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2013): 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5, 4 GB RAM, Intel Iris 5100 (1.5GB)
Be aware that neither our 2013 MBP nor eGPUs are officially supported. We still tested them just to see what was possible but you should not try this at home!
Even if your exact Mac model wasn’t tested today, either our high-end iMac, our average 2016 MBP or our old 2013 MBP should have somewhat similar specs to yours.
Our standard tests were performed using the in-game benchmark tool and the following settings:
- 1280×800 or equivalent resolution
- Graphics Quality: Medium and Recommended
- V-sync: Off
- Anti-aliasing: FXAA
- macOS Mojave 10.14.5
By the way, as some of you have complained about 1280×800 being too low, we decided to also test the game at 1650×1050 (and not 1920×1080 because that resolution is not natively supported on MacBook).
The Results: Another fine port from Feral
This graph shows you how Three Kingdoms performed on our Macs:
We performed three different tests:
- At 1280×800 using the recommended settings
- At 1280×800 using Medium settings
- At 1650×1050 using the recommended settings
Notice how the difference between Medium and recommended settings is much bigger than 1280×800 and 1650×1050.
| Model | 1280x800 Recommended | 1280x800 Medium | 1650x1050 Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 iMac FPS | 93 FPS Smooth | 52.8 FPS Smooth | 63.1 FPS Smooth |
| 2016 MBP FPS | 37.9 FPS Playable | 17.2 FPS Unplayable | 22.4 FPS Borderline |
| 2013 MBP FPS | 15.2 FPS Unplayable | 8.3 FPS Unplayable |
Keep in mind that Feral literally performed hundreds of tests to define their “recommended” settings. While we always test games on Medium settings, you should follow Feral’s recommendations.
For your reference, this is how we describe the different levels of performance (in frames per second):
As a reminder, this is how we describe the different levels of performance:
- Below 20 FPS: Unplayable: Laggy gameplay, full of stutters and slowdowns.
- 20-30 FPS: Borderline: Can be OK in slow-paced games. Still, not optimal.
- 30-45 FPS: Playable: Acceptable for most (most gaming consoles do this).
- 45-60 FPS: Smooth: Fluid gameplay, with no perceivable stutters.
- 60+ FPS: Very Smooth: For hardcore and professional players, a luxury for most.
We usually aim for 30 FPS, because 30 FPS is enough to guarantee a smooth and fluid experience.
Can my Mac run Total War: Three Kingdoms?
As always, owners of high-end machines will be able to easily run Three Kingdoms on Mac. But what does high-end mean? To keep things simple, we’ll consider all Macs from 2016 onwards and with dedicated graphics to be high-end.
For example, our 2014 iMac runs the game smoothly at 52.8 frames per second (FPS) using a 12080×800 resolution and Medium settings. When using Feral Interactive’s tried and tested recommended settings, results jump to silky smooth 96 FPS.
You can expect similar results on any other modern Mac (from 2016 onwards) as long as it has a dedicated graphics card, including MacBook Pros.
Pro tip: For the best combination of performance and visuals, we recommend keeping settings to Medium and pushing the game’s resolution as high as possible.
Can you play Total War: Three Kingdoms on a MacBook Pro?
And what about MacBook Pros with only integrated graphics? The game officially supports some MBPs with integrated graphics. For example, our 2016 13-inch MBP is officially supported and can indeed run the game at 37.9 FPS at 1280×800 and using Feral’s recommended settings.
That said, if you try to run the game on Medium settings, performance drops to 17.2 FPS. Clearly, any MacBook Pro can run Total War: Three Kingdoms but some will have to settle with lower than Medium settings.
On the other hand, using the recommended settings with a higher resolution (1650×1050) results in 22.4 FPS, which is borderline playable and looks better.
Bottom line: Three Kingdoms is a demanding game but any modern Mac will be able to run it, including Macs with integrated graphics. Feral Interactive clearly did a great job optimizing the Mac version of this game.
But what if you have an older Mac?
For the record, our 2013 MacBook Pro doesn’t even meet the official system requirements and you should not try this at home. We still decided to test it and see how an older Mac can handle it.
As expected, our 2013 MacBook Pro could only run the game at 15.2 FPS using the recommended settings. Our conclusion: Make sure your Mac meets the minimum system requirements!
And what about eGPUs?
Three Kingdoms on Mac does not officially support eGPUs. If you have one, you can still use it and probably have better performance than without using it. That was our case when using an eGPU with our 2016 MBP (45.9 FPS VS. 17.2 FPS on Medium settings).
It works fine but the game is clearly not optimized for eGPUs, which is probably why Feral prefers to not officially support them.
PS: These are our favorite accessories for playing/testing games on Mac!
| Game | ★ Best Mouse | Best Controller | Best eGPU |
| Why we love it? | The G502 is Logitech's most accurate gaming mouse yet. Plus, it has a plethora of buttons and a killer design. | The official PS4 controller just works on Mac. It's wireless, it's precise, it has an excellent grip and it's durable. | The Razer Core X turns your MacBook or Mac Mini into a killer gaming machine by adding external graphics support. |
| Mac compatible? | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| User Reviews | ★★★★☆ 326 Amazon reviews | ★★★★☆ 9,678 Amazon reviews | ★★★★☆ 74 Amazon reviews |
| Price | From $56 | From $39.99 | From $299.99 |
| Buy from |
Download Three Kingdoms for Mac
Three Kingdoms is available for download from all the major digital stores including Steam and Humble Bundle:
| Metascore | We believed Total War games couldn’t be improved any further. Until Three Kingdoms, the best Total War in a decade, proved us wrong. $29.99 |
Total War: Three Kingdoms Mac Review
Some are calling Total War: Three Kingdoms the best Total War in a decade and we tend to agree. What is certain, though, is that Total War: Three Kingdoms is another on Mac is another excellent port from Feral Interactive. The game runs smoothly on modern Macs, including those with integrated graphics.
4.5
Disclaimer: Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission (this is how we pay the bills). This commission comes at no additional cost to you.
Total War games are famous for the scale of their battles. Hundreds of soldiers on a single battlefield is certainly impressive.
Add to that a deep gameplay that requires smart tactics and strategies and you get some of the best Strategy games for Mac. Warhammer is all that plus orcs, heroes, and other fantasy creatures.
Plus, Total War: Warhammer’s Mac version is the newest Total War game available on MacOS.
In this review:
But all those units and great graphics must require a powerful Mac to run right? No need to jump to conclusions, we are here to figure it out together.
Ready? Let’s see if your Mac has what it takes.
On top of introducing a fantasy setting that makes it more appealing to casual gamers, Total War: Warhammer remains an excellent strategy game. Our score: ★★★★☆ |
First things first, is the game any good?
Released for Mac almost a year ago, there are more than enough reviews to give us an idea of the quality of this game.
With an impressive 86 Metascore (weighted average of scores given by critics), Warhammer can be considered a great game:
Reading what the big guns had to say, it certainly seems like this is a fun, satisfying and well-made game.
IGN, for example, gave it an 8.6/10 score and said:
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Total War: Warhammer brims with exciting ideas, awesome characters, and delightful units and faction mechanics.
Gamespot gave it a 9/10 entirely and praised the way the Warhammer Universe meshes naturally with Total War’s gameplay, it’s massive AI improvements and stellar audio design.
On the other hand (like it’s often the case) gamers were far more challenging than professional critics. The game has 75% positive reviews from over 21,000 total users. By Steam reviews standards, that’s a good score too.
My take?
Total War games are usually not for everyone. They feature campaigns full of accurate historical elements and battles that require a lot of thinking and strategy.
But with the introduction of a fantasy universe and monsters and griffons, Warhammer is a better Total War with more appeal to casual gamers.
Until Thrones of Britannia comes to MacOS, this is the Total War to have.
Total War: Warhammer Mac requirements
Remember, if you don’t pay attention to the system requirements, you risk buying a game you won’t be able to play!
These are Warhammer’s minimum system requirements:
- OS: Mac OS X 10.12.4
- Processor: Intel 2.0 GHz
- RAM: 8GB
- Hard Disk: 37GB
- Graphics: 1.5GB
The game is supported on the following graphics cards:
- All AMD graphics cards released from 2014 onwards
- All Nvidia cards with 2GB+ VRAM released from 2012 onwards
- Intel Iris Graphics 540 & 550 cards released from 2016 onwards
The following graphics cards are capable of running the game, but do not consistently meet the standards required for official support:
- All Nvidia cards with 1 GB VRAM released from 2012 onwards
- All Intel Iris and Iris Pro cards released from 2013 onwards
If you don’t have one of these, I’m afraid this game isn’t for you…
The Test: Can you play Total War: Warhammer on Mac?
I can confidently tell you this is a good game. But can your Mac run it? We went ahead and tested the game on the following Mac models:
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017): 3.1 GHz Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, Intel Radeon Pro 560 (4GB)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016): 2.0 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, Intel Iris Graphics 540 (1.5GB)
- iMac (5K, 27-inch, Late 2014): 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, AMD Radeon R9 M290X (2GB)
- Mac Mini (Late 2014): 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 4 GB RAM, Intel Iris 5100 (1.5GB)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012): 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 4 GB RAM, Intel HD Graphics 4000 (1.5GB)
As you can see, the purpose is to go wide and cover Macs that are as different from each other as possible. In this case, we have the:
- New high-end Macs (the 2017 MacBook Pro).
- Older high-end Macs (the 2014 iMac).
- New, but basic Macs (the 2016 MacBook Pro).
- Older and basic Macs (the Mac Mini and 2012 MacBook Pro).
Hopefully, your setup will closely match one of these.
Notice neither the 2012 MacBook Pro nor the 2014 Mac Mini are officially supported.
These are the settings we used to run the game’s internal benchmark :
- 1280×800 (or equivalent 1344×756) resolution
- Medium Preset
- Anti Aliasing: OFF
Why 1280×800 and not more? Because most Mac users have slightly old MacBook Pros. 1280×800 is a little better than basic High Definition (720p), but still low enough to give MacBook Pros a chance…
The Results: A pretty but demanding game
It goes without saying that this great looking game requires power to render those beautiful and chaotic battles.
We expected this game would be demanding. And we were not wrong:
Keeping in mind that we aim for 30 frames per second (FPS) or more, these results are discouraging for anyone but those with very powerful Macs.
Unlike turn-based games such as Civilization 6, Total War: Warhammer on Mac really shines during its huge real-time battles. Are 10-15 FPS enough to enjoy them?
We’ll have to take our tests a little further to answer that question. And the answer will obviously depend on your setup.
As a reminder, this is how we describe the different levels of performance:
- Below 20 FPS: Unplayable: Laggy gameplay, full of stutters and slowdowns.
- 20-30 FPS: Borderline: Can be OK in slow-paced games. Still, not optimal.
- 30-45 FPS: Playable: Acceptable for most (most gaming consoles do this).
- 45-60 FPS: Smooth: Fluid gameplay, with no perceivable stutters.
- 60+ FPS: Very Smooth: For hardcore and professional players, a luxury for most.
Can my Mac run Total War: Warhammer?
This one’s easy. If you have a high-end Mac (or a Mac with a dedicated graphics card and 2GB of Video RAM or more), TW: Warhammer will run beautifully on your machine.
In fact, you can confidently play the game at higher settings and resolutions and still have over 30FPS of smooth gameplay.
Can you play Total War: Warhammer on a MacBook Pro?
Play Medieval Total War Free
This is where it gets tricky. Looking only at the results, I’d be inclined to say you should not get this game. 15 FPS is much too low to enjoy a game.
But what if you’re prepared to compromise and play the game at lower settings?
Testing the game at the same resolution as before (1280×800), but using the Minimum settings, we got 23.0 FPS running the in-game benchmark.
Still low, but barely enough to enjoy it.
But before you run out to purchase a copy, keep in mind that compromises are needed. If you need to play your games at 60 FPS and 4K, don’t bother.
If you want to enjoy the game at lower settings but decent performance, you can go ahead and buy it.
Do you have an older and basic Mac?
If you have anything older than our 2016 MacBook Pro with integrated graphics, I advise you pass on this game. Unfortunately, performance will be too low.
Bottom line: If you get anything lower than 12 FPS (like the 2016 MacBook Pro we tested), I wouldn’t recommend it
PS: These are our favorite accessories for playing/testing games on Mac!
| Game | ★ Best Mouse | Best Controller | Best eGPU |
| Why we love it? | The G502 is Logitech's most accurate gaming mouse yet. Plus, it has a plethora of buttons and a killer design. | The official PS4 controller just works on Mac. It's wireless, it's precise, it has an excellent grip and it's durable. | The Razer Core X turns your MacBook or Mac Mini into a killer gaming machine by adding external graphics support. |
| Mac compatible? | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| User Reviews | ★★★★☆ 326 Amazon reviews | ★★★★☆ 9,678 Amazon reviews | ★★★★☆ 74 Amazon reviews |
| Price | From $56 | From $39.99 | From $299.99 |
| Buy from |
Download Total War: Warhammer for Mac
Total War: Warhammer is available from most digital stores and prices are stable across the board. You can really get it from your store of choice:
On top of introducing a fantasy setting that makes it more appealing to casual gamers, Total War: Warhammer remains an excellent strategy game. Our score: ★★★★☆ |
Total War: Warhammer Mac Review
With the introduction of a fantasy universe filled with monsters and griffons, Warhammer is the Total War for casual gamers who are usually intimidated by the series. And on top of the fantasy setting, this remains an excellent strategy game. That said, you will need a powerful Mac to run it.
4
Disclaimer: Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission (this is how we pay the bills). This commission comes at no additional cost to you.