Commissar SFLUFAN Posted May 19, 2023 Share Posted May 19, 2023 Looks like the Battle of Kadesh (fought between New Kingdom of Egypt under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II) is on the menu! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted May 20, 2023 Share Posted May 20, 2023 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted May 23, 2023 Author Share Posted May 23, 2023 Pre-purchase Total War: PHARAOH on Steam STORE.STEAMPOWERED.COM In Total War: PHARAOH, the newest entry in the award-winning grand strategy series, immerse yourself in ancient Egypt at the zenith of its power and experience the dramatic events that threaten its destruction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted June 2, 2023 Author Share Posted June 2, 2023 Total War: Pharaoh is making huge changes to battles, from dynamic weather and terrain to armour degradation | PC Gamer WWW.PCGAMER.COM Fights are slower paced, but promise more tactical nuance. Quote Where Pharaoh differs is in the relationship between weather and terrain, both of which are dynamic. "You can start with certain parts of the ground being completely dry, but the weather might change to rain, which will bring its own effects," says Vasilev. "But they're not going to be just stat effects and that sort of thing; they're going to actively impact the terrain itself and maybe create more patches of mud and so on. Or if the weather might turn into a sandstorm and actually dry out the patches of mud and turn them into sand, and so on. This whole thing offers a lot more variety in battles." In my first fight, where our forces collided amid large sand dunes, we ended up stuck in a nasty sandstorm. This obscures your vision, obviously, lowering the range of your troops, but it also makes them more fatigued and does a small amount of constant damage. Not conditions you really want to be fighting in. Heavy rain, meanwhile, also affects range and accuracy, as well as making everything a bit muddier. With Pharaoh, the impact of fire has also been enhanced. It's dynamic now, spreading across the battlefield, destroying buildings, burning trees to ash and, unsurprisingly, killing off soldiers. The effects of fire are further enhanced by the temperature. When you're fighting in sweltering conditions, fire is going to be a lot more common and dangerous. Total War Pharaoh: The First Hands-On Preview - IGN WWW.IGN.COM Quote As this campaign focuses on the Bronze Age Collapse, the world will grow darker and more dangerous as the turns tick by, partly based on how well you're doing at holding everything together. One of the main ways this manifests in battle is a dynamic weather system, in which you might start a fight under a baking desert sun only to be caught in a raging downpour moments later. This can change the terrain mid-battle, with large areas of ground turning into mud that slows down chariots and heavy infantry. Likewise, this marshy muck can dry up if the sun grows too brutal. Each culture is equipped to handle their native lands better than others. Egyptians are typically lightly armored, which makes them nimble and very capable at fighting in extreme heat. The Hittites are much more heavily-clad in bronze, shrugging off the cold and the rain and able to endure quite a bit more damage, but they will be more susceptible to the relentless desert sun. Total War: Pharaoh takes the series back to vanilla history WWW.EUROGAMER.NET Eurogamer's preview of Total War: Pharaoh, the new historical follow-up to Total War; Troy. Quote You'll play out this generally cataclysmic - but unlike Troy, decidedly non-mythical - scenario across three regions in Total War: Pharaoh. These are Ancient Egypt in the south, Canaan in the mid-east, and Anatolia in the north, with the Egyptians, Canaanites, and aforementioned Hittites making up the game's three factions, with a total of eight playable faction leaders across the trio. Coincidentally, it actually forms a remarkably similar idea to two concepts and their comments that popped up on the Total War subreddit just a couple of months ago, alongside mockups of delightfully weird mythical units for "Egypt" and "Mesopotamia" versions - although Nikolov and battle designer Bozhidar Staykov joked that they honestly hadn't seen those. These regions will come together on a campaign map that Nikolov reckons is about "one third" larger than the Total War: Troy one, covering the area between "modern Sudan in the south, and Turkey in the north, in Anatolia," albeit with fewer, more spread out settlements, a direct response to feedback from Troy players. "There are 180 settlements or so," Nikolov told me, and confirmed that agents and heroes won't return to the campaign. "We're relying on general characters, but we're giving them some new exciting things they can do under certain circumstances to replace the agents." As for the real-time battles, I played Total War: Pharaoh for a good few hours, getting some time with three specific scenarios all with Ramesses the soon-to-be-third as my commander, but against a few different enemies. The first, against the aggressive, expansionist Seti, a rival faction leader of some fellow Egyptians, was the easiest and smallest scale. The Egyptians in Total War: Pharoah are all about light armour, ranged units, and chariots, designed for quick hit-and-run harassment tactics and manoeuvrability, much the same as they have been when popping up in other Total War games, and this first battle was more or less a case of lining my units up along a big hill and letting them defend, but it made for a good showcase of one of the new battle mechanics. Total War: Pharaoh completely shifts gears after the series’ fantasy phase WWW.POLYGON.COM Weather effects and unit stances bring the series back down to Earth Quote Pharaoh will include three factions at launch, with eight playable leaders spread between them: four for Egypt, and two for the Hittites and Canaanites each. In every scenario I played, I took control of Egyptian forces as Rameses III, the famed monarch who defeated the mysterious Sea Peoples in the years during Egypt’s steep decline in power. These three encounters give me glimpses of Pharaoh’s biggest change to the Total War series’ battle system: weather effects. The first battle was a simple affair (a skirmish against the Egyptian forces of Seti, on a wide expanse of desert with groves of palm trees flanking the map) until a sandstorm struck, rendering my archers useless just as my forces were about to break the enemy. The second battle took place on a thin patch of sand next to a fetid swamp. By changing my units’ stances (a series feature that’s been greatly expanded upon here), I commanded my left flank of Medjay swordsmen to push the opposing flank of Šuppiluliuma’s Hittites backward into the bog. The enemy’s heavily armored greatax troopers were all but immobilized by their own weight. The last battle was a bit more complicated. Forced to defend Memphis from the aforementioned Sea Peoples, I lined the city walls with swordsmen (a tactic that, although inefficient in Total War: Warhammer 3, actually worked pretty well here) to halt enemy combatants scaling the fortifications. I also placed my own greatax defenders behind four sets of gates, anticipating the enemy breach. I then stationed my archers among the houses, shops, and religious structures of the city, the better to ward off invaders once they made it over the walls. This turned out to be a mistake. Enemy archers switched to fire ammunition not long into the battle, and their flaming projectiles turned patches of the city into a blaze. My archers, shaken by the sight of their own homes burning only yards away, retreated into the depths of the city. By the time they regained their composure, the Sea Peoples had nearly breached the gates and claimed the walls. Despite my best intentions, a simple ammunition swap had changed the course of the battle. Upon replaying the battle, I reacted in turn: My archers, closer to the walls and farther from any fires the enemy might spark, sent their fire arrows into the dry brush scattered throughout the opposing forces. Fires spread, and the confusion gave my soldiers enough time to establish control over the rest of the battle. Total War: Pharaoh may not have war hippos, but it has fire, shoving, and deep history WWW.ROCKPAPERSHOTGUN.COM We've got a hands on preview and interview with Creative Assembly about the newest Total War game, Total War: Pharaoh, which has a few new tricks up its sleeves Quote These battle changes begin with high level tweaks. Sofia have lowered the pace of battles so things become more reliant on decision making, and less on fast reaction time. Both flanking and stamina are now even more important, and the armour system from Troy has been expanded on. One brand new mechanic is armour degradation. Armour in Pharaoh has not just a value, but a quality which will determine how much fighting it can withstand before losing effectiveness. “This allows us, for example, to have heavily armoured troops in the lower unit tiers, which we couldn’t really do before,” says Vasilev. “Units with low quality armour that’s only effective against the first few hits. And now light troops can do more hit and run tactics.” Another big new feature is dynamic weather and terrain. In one of the battles I played, I was beset by a sandstorm, reducing the effectiveness of my ranged troops, increasing fatigue gain, and even causing gradual attrition damage. This new weather can manifest as anything from sweltering heat that knackers heavy troops rapidly, to rainfall that transforms dry terrain into mud. And then there’s the fire; fire that not only spreads depending on the weather, but can gut forests, and even sections of a settlement. “The forest burning is going to remove the forest terrain. Same goes for the tall grass. If you think there might be ambushing units, you can set it on fire, and of course, if there are units there, they will suffer damage,” Vasilev tells me. “It plays an especially huge role in terms of settlements.” In settlement battles, fire can block off choke points, or open others, and the damage it causes will translate to the campaign map, necessitating repair costs and quick measures to deal with an angry populace. Creative Assembly have “absolutely no plans” to bring ancient Egyptian mythology to Total War: Pharaoh WWW.ROCKPAPERSHOTGUN.COM The next Total War game Pharaoh is staying firmly in historical territory, as Creative Assembly Sofia tell us they have no plans to add mythological DLC Quote Speaking to me (Nic Reuben) for here (Rock Paper Shotgun), both creative director Maya Georgieva and lead battle designer Milcho Vasilev politely shot down the idea that the first Total War to focus on ancient Egypt might also offer the chance to field mythical units from that pantheon. “The tone of the game we’ve selected is history first and foremost,” said Georgieva. “With Troy, the game was based on a mythological period. Here, we want to show the real history of Egypt and the bronze age,” added Vasilev. I will admit feeling a pang of disappointment on learning that mythological expansions won’t become a mainstay of Sofia’s offerings, but I’m sure there’s many a Total War fan sighing in relief that not every title in the franchise feels compelled to drop a bucket of fantastic beasties all over their sword and board formations. And hey, Age Of Mythology might still be a thing again someday, right? Total War: Pharaoh Hands-On Preview - A Blast in the Past GAMERANT.COM With exciting new features and additions, Total War: Pharaoh may be exactly what new and veteran fans could want from the franchise. Quote The first Total War: Pharaoh battle that Game Rant was able to check out was called A Line in the Sand. It was the easiest of the three, and it pitted Ramesses against Seti. We took control of Ramesses and his army of mostly spearmen and archers. The battlefield was a simple desert with a few clusters of forest dotting it, and Seti's army sat on the far end. After arranging the spearmen in the front and the archers in the back, the war began. Originally, the plan was to wait for Seti's army to charge our defenses, but the AI had little interest in doing that. We tried to coax it with some of our spearmen, but it would not bite. Eventually, we just decided to move the entire army forward so that they were within the AI's range. As our army waited on the side of a hill for the advancing army, a sandstorm began to move in and coat the entire battlefield in an impenetrable layer of sand. This sandstorm is part of the brand-new dynamic weather system that Total War: Pharaoh is introducing, and it goes a long way in giving the battlefield more life. Once the storm rolled in, the archers no longer had the accuracy that they once did, units moved slower, and they even took a tiny bit of damage. Instead of waiting for the enemy to get into firing range, we were forced to move our melee units up to attack the enemy head-on. While the archers were still able to take a few units out, they had to do it at a much closer range. After much fighting, we were able to take down the enemy general, and the rest of the units began to flee the battlefield. Total War: Pharaoh Hands-on Preview - War Like An Egyptian - GameSpot WWW.GAMESPOT.COM Creative Assembly Sofia is exploring familiar territory but tweaking the Total War experience to be more grounded and provide more flexibility. Quote From what I saw, authenticity and immersion are key to Creative Assembly Sofia's vision of Pharaoh, and while some liberties have been taken with historical accuracy either for gameplay considerations or due simply to missing historical records, those considerations and liberties are being implemented and balanced to broaden player choice. But it's not just Egyptian rulers that make up the roster of Bronze Age leaders, with eight leaders hailing from three different cultures: the Egyptians, Canaanites, and Hittites. Each of these three has their own unique traits, units, identities, and varied faction leaders. While Egyptians may favor lightly armored units, utilizing chariots and archers with hit-and-run tactics, the Hittites are experts in metallurgy and can field slower but more robust armored units. The Canaanites, meanwhile, are a uniquely flexible combination of Hittite and Egyptian cultures, favoring stealth tactics and adaptable troops. Unit choice and variety was surprisingly in-depth, and while the battles I played were pre-made, I was left feeling that army composition is an even more impactful consideration than in previous games, with many of the new gameplay elements that Pharaoh introduces making your choice of army all that more impactful. First among these elements is the new dynamic weather system. Battles take place across three main geographical areas that will dictate the terrain and potentially the changing weather considerations in battle. Skirmishes in deserts may fall victim to violent sandstorms that chip away at unit health slowly while adding extreme penalties to your archer's range and accuracy. Thunderstorms may result in the landscape becoming muddy and slowing your units, with claps of thunder being seen as omens from the gods and reducing morale. Or extreme heat may sap units of their stamina, preventing fatigue recovery and drying out the surrounding flora, thus increasing the risk of fires spreading throughout the battle as embers are carried by the wind. Total War: Pharaoh preview — Pushing to triumph through the shroud of battle | Windows Central WWW.WINDOWSCENTRAL.COM See Egypt survive the great collapse, or ensure that it falls. Quote Running on the latest in-house technology at Creative Assembly, Total War: Pharaoh introduces a number of new features to shake up the flow of battle. Particularly notable are some new formation options, allowing you to have your troops retreat in an organized fashion, holding their weapons forward while slowly moving back. It's a simple but excellent ability, one that has been much needed in prior games. Gone are the horrible moments where you realize your troops are horribly outmatched in melee but you can't have them retreat without them being further slaughtered. Now, they can hold a defensive stance while getting out of the fray. Across all three battles, I even used this stance to lure heavy troops into a trap, opening up otherwise well-defended infantry for arrow volleys and chariot charges. The armor system has also been reworked, with units now having a set amount of armor that slowly degrades as they take damage throughout a fight. More heavily-armored units will retain armor for a longer period of time, but they can still eventually have their defenses shattered, meaning that choosing where to place heavy infantry and which units to target with archers is now even more important than in past games. Total War: Pharaoh is maybe not a huge evolution in the series WWW.DESTRUCTOID.COM Destructoid goes hands-on with Total War: Pharaoh. But do the design changes have a noteworthy impact on the gameplay? No, but that's okay. Quote Having conquered the battlefield, I can tell you that this is the same Total War experience, at least when it comes to battles. Neat little rows of dudes with different strengths and weaknesses and a lot of micromanaging on the field. That’s not exactly a condemnation. The added features are noticeable and integrate so well with the established mechanics that it’s hard to believe they weren’t there in the same form before. Total War: Pharaoh's battles made me rethink everything I thought I knew about Total War | GamesRadar+ WWW.GAMESRADAR.COM Hands-on | Total War's gone to ancient Egypt for something new Quote The big takeaway is that, at least in battle, the team at Creative Assembly Sofia has aimed to slow the pacing of Total War: Pharaoh. While that might sound counterintuitive at first, the idea is that there are fewer, more meaningful decisions to make during the thick of things, as opposed to having to constantly micromanage a dozen different sets of units whenever possible. That doesn't mean things are actually slower, granted, just that the expectation Pharaoh has of its players is less directly intense. Dynamic weather and terrain in Total War: Pharaoh means the initial choice of where to fight, when, and how is much more important. There are still stances and explicit instructions – like whether or not to fire at will, for example – that can be given to individual units, but whether you're fighting in the rain, or mud, or on a clear day on a hill, is ultimately going to have much more say in the battle's outcome. Total War: Pharaoh Interview: Director and Designer Talk About Making A Historically Authentic Ancient Egypt WWW.GAMERBRAVES.COM We got the chance to interview two of the leads on the upcoming historical strategy game Total War: Pharaoh, Game Director Todor Nikolov, and Battle Designer Hristo Enev. As you can imagine from the makers of Total Wars, the two were very much into history. Many of their answers to our interview questions for Total… Quote It’s not just Ancient Egypt who are playable in the game, Todor also told us more about the other two factions that are playable in the game: The Hittites and The Canaanites. Starting with the former he explained that the Hittites were an enigmatic group with a long history in the region. “The Hittite Empire of Ancient Anatolia (Turkey) is a very enigmatic civilization. One of the things I find particularly interesting is that we got to learn that they existed relatively late. Like everyone knows about the Ancient Egyptians but Hittites were discovered somewhere in the 20th century so it’s very late. Before that, they were mentioned in the Bible and all of a sudden scientists discovered, yes these were actual people, they lived in Anatolia and they built magnificent stone settlements and worshiped their specific gods”. “They were pretty influential, at some point, they aggressively expanded and clashed with Egypt, there is a very famous battle near the city of Kadesh where the forces of Ramses II and the Hittites went into a battle, and both sides claimed victory”. Total War Pharaoh ditches fantasy for a more thrilling reality | PCGamesN WWW.PCGAMESN.COM The next Total War game is a return to the series' historical roots, but our preview session highlighted Pharaoh's many innovations. Quote For the design team at Creative Assembly Sofia, it’s also presented an opportunity, as well as a challenge: to create a game that harkens back to Total War’s more grounded, historical roots while simultaneously offering a fresh experience. The answer the team has settled on has been to add a new sense of dynamism to every level of Total War: Pharaoh. On the strategic map, decisions players make can push the world closer to the calamity of the Bronze Age collapse, or bring it back from the brink. In tactical battles, changing weather and terrain conditions present new moment-to-moment considerations for positioning and timing of attacks. Total War: Pharaoh's Dynamic Weather is a Game-Changer GAMERANT.COM During an interview with Game Rant, Total War: Pharaoh's battle designer Hristo Enev discusses the brand-new dynamic weather feature. Quote Dynamic weather will give Total War: Pharaoh's battles a whole new level of difficulty. While the combat will share many similarities with classic Total War titles, this addition will force even veteran players to create brand-new strategies. After experiencing this addition first-hand, Game Rant was able to speak with Total War: Pharaoh's battle designer Hristo Enev about just how much this new mechanic will shake up that core Total War experience. The hands-on preview that Game Rant was able to check out showed off two forms of Total War: Pharaoh's new dynamic weather system. One battle highlighted thick sandstorms while another featured a devastating thunderstorm. Both storms forced us to rethink our strategy, maneuver units to take advantage of the situation, and hope to avoid any major losses. It can make battles unpredictable, not always to the benefit of the player. Total War: Pharaoh Hands-On Preview - A Blast in the Past GAMERANT.COM With exciting new features and additions, Total War: Pharaoh may be exactly what new and veteran fans could want from the franchise. Quote After a brief stint in the fantasy genre with Total War: Warhammer 3, the Total War franchise is set to return to history later this year. Instead of going for one of the many periods the franchise has already explored, Creative Assembly is taking a trip to a brand-new period with Total War: Pharaoh. The game will whisk players away to the Bronze Age of Egypt for a high-stakes adventure that only Total War can deliver, and it looks great so far Total War: Pharaoh will be exploring uncharted territory, and it will be bringing a slew of new features along with it. Players will not only engage in classic Total War gameplay, but they will also have to pay attention to brand-new features like dynamic weather if they want to win. While the extent of these new features is yet to be seen, Game Rant was able to check out some of them during a recent hands-on preview event. Over the course of three different battles of varying difficulty, we were able to get a better picture of what Total War: Pharaoh has to offer, and it feels like a game-changer. Why Creative Assembly Wanted to Set the Next Total War Game in Egypt GAMERANT.COM During an interview with Game Rant, Total War: Pharaoh's creative director Todor Nikolov discusses the exciting setting of Egypt. Quote After checking out the preview, Game Rant was able to speak with Total War: Pharaoh's creative director Todor Nikolov about this new period. While the focus of the discussion was more on the dynamic weather and strategic aspect of the game, we also discussed the setting in great detail. When asked about the decision process behind Total War: Pharaoh's premise, Nikolov said, "Well, we wanted to be focused on a portion of the history of Egypt that represents the Egyptians that are not Greek, like from a later period. We opted to go for the New Kingdom, because at that time Egypt was maybe kind of different from what most people imagine." Total War: Pharaoh Preview: Ancient Egyptian Warfare Brought To Life WWW.GAMERBRAVES.COM Creative Assembly has announced Total War: Pharaoh the latest historical game in the series which will take place in Ancient Egypt. The game will be released later this year. We were invited to play a preview of the game where the developers told us more about what to expect and even let us play through… Quote The battle system of Total War: Pharaohs is aimed to immerse the player in the cold, hard reality of bronze-age warfare. Even in the demo, my armies survived by the skin of their teeth against the oncoming hoards, making for tense but exciting battles. For those who want a change from the more fantastical Total War outings, this is very much a return to the classic historical style gameplay and presentation but with a more updated battle experience. This includes more realistic and detailed character models that really stand out even with multiple characters fighting on screen. The overall pace of battle is slower which means that there’s more opportunity to think through more tactical decisions on the battlefield even as the fighting rages on. You have to keep track of the different units from foot soldiers to archers to more armored warriors, each with different responses to certain terrain as well as the weight and exhaustion that you have to keep in mind. I quickly found out that sending the wrong type of unit into a certain area or enemy could spell a quick defeat or desertion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted June 2, 2023 Author Share Posted June 2, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzzzle Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 Does focusing on the bronze age collapse mean you can play as the "sea people?" That would be dope. You couldn't play as the Mongols in Medieval 2 without a mod or unlocking it in the ini file. I think I tried it once. It was kind of cool because it made playing as the Egyptians, Turks, or Byzantines a lot harder. The Mongol horde is basically unstoppable for a while without cheating. Sometimes they would go north to Russia instead, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted June 2, 2023 Author Share Posted June 2, 2023 4 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said: Does focusing on the bronze age collapse mean you can play as the "sea people?" That would be dope. You couldn't play as the Mongols in Medieval 2 without a mod or unlocking it in the ini file. I think I tried it once. The current playable civilizations are Egyptians, Hittites, and Canaanites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzzzle Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 2 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: The current playable civilizations are Egyptians, Hittites, and Canaanites. As cool as I think the bronze age collapse is and I wish we had more media covering it, the thing is that the bronze age collapse was economical. It wasn't military. The states controlled every resource and every state was interconnected. No one had both copper and tin because those elements are never found in the same place, so everyone traded with each other out of necessity (not that they wouldn't have anyway, but they HAD to). The whole bronze age economy was robust, but rigid. All it took was a drought in Turkey or whatever and the whole thing collapsed. The "sea people" who invaded Egypt were probably just refugees fleeing another place whose economy collapsed. Actually, that could be a fun gameplay mechanic. The Hittites are in a drought, so you're fucked because they control all the tin, but their people are in revolt because they're starving, which means they can't trade until the drought is over, which means YOU can't recruit new units because you can't make bronze. And also you'll get a rebel army marching to your doorstep. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Commissar SFLUFAN Posted September 15, 2023 Author Share Posted September 15, 2023 Recent hands-on previews with the campaign: Total War: Pharaoh Campaign Preview – Ramesses what you did last Shemsu Hor WWW.THESIXTHAXIS.COM We go hands on with the campaign in Total War: Pharaoh, starting off as the military wonder kid Ramesses III and tilting at the throne of Egypt. Quote Death always caused problems in the ancient world. If a long-lived and competent ruler died, you could bet that after a few generations you’d end up with someone either incredibly incompetent, an insane tyrant, or a contested lineage and power vacuum. Needless to say, that would pretty much inevitably lead to out and out civil war. That’s roughly what happens in Total War: Pharaoh, with the campaign starting off in 1200 BCE with the Egyptian New Kingdom era set to come to a close during the Bronze Age collapse. As Pharaoh Mernephta breathes his last breaths, it leads to a power struggle between his children – the rightful heir Seti II and his sister Tausret – rival king Amenmesse, and an upcoming military wonder kid Ramesses III. Even as they squabble over who gets to be the next Pharaoh, the world around them is changing, the Hittites to the north looking to grow and challenge Egyptian supremacy, the Canaanite city states looking to show their own collective might, and the mysterious Sea People arriving at the shores to raid and tear down everything in sight. The campaign starts a little before all of this kicks off, giving you a chance to find your feet before the old Pharaoh dies and the real battle for supremacy occurs. As will be familiar from other Total War games, that means Ramesses starts off with a fairly small region under his control and some weaker neighbours that should be relatively easy to dominate within the opening few turns. Total War: Pharaoh Preview - A Feature-Rich Foundation - GameSpot WWW.GAMESPOT.COM Pharaoh has you duking it out against pretenders in the sands of Egypt. Quote I'd also draw a comparison with another game--Total War: Attila--given that you'll be up against the Sea Peoples. Essentially, it's like watching the fall of the Western Roman Empire, as numerous barbarian hordes battered down the gates. The invasion of the Sea Peoples is tied to the Pillars of Civilization mechanic, which represents the overall development of your realm (consisting of provincial capitals and other factors). If your civilization is prosperous, you'll only need to deal with a few raids, often from weaker armies. As it stagnates, you'll find yourself looking on as the terrors from across the seas bring doom and destruction. Since you can neither reason nor bargain with the Sea Peoples, you'll have to be ready when they sail down the Nile, lest they raze and pillage your lands. As of the time of this writing, I can't say if this mechanic is also affected by the actions of other Egyptian lords. I don't think it is, which, coincidentally, made it seem like I was the lone beacon of hope against the coming collapse. That might sound heroic, until you realize that I also had to deal with numerous pretenders, all while playing Whac-a-Mole with raiders. Overall, I stand by what I said earlier in that Total War: Pharaoh might be the most feature-rich historical title in the franchise. From the start, I was overwhelmed by all the options that I could toggle and tweak, as well as the mechanics that I had to learn. This, too, meant that a Ramesses campaign where I choose a certain path would be vastly different had I gone a different route, such as becoming the Great King of the Hittites or picking the Khufu Ancient Legacy where I have to build wonders. Total War: Pharaoh is a historical Total War for the modern crowd | PC Gamer WWW.PCGAMER.COM 50 turns with Creative Assembly Sofia's Egyptian war. Quote The first thing I realized is that Pharaoh is learning lessons from modern Total War while still making its own way. It's certainly taking a lot from the framework of Total War: Warhammer, with unit stats that are tweaked by the level and specialization of the person commanding the army. Playing as the young Ramesses III, for example, I found that his early access to elite Medjay units made a focus on a strong core vital. As Ramesses leveled up I leaned in to that, boosting his stats, as well as those of his elite archers. It felt like a natural blend of game mechanics and historical traits where, based in the desert Sinai, Ramesses may have relied on these tough locals as the core of his forces. Whether that feeling sticks over the course of a whole campaign is a different question. A few 50 turn campaigns didn't give me an answer to my real question: Will becoming Pharaoh feel like an exercise in historical empire-building or will it ultimately become a numbers game of optimizing unit bonuses to make unstoppable super-armies? What is a numbers game, in a good way, is the strategic-level campaign map. Moving units to and fro requires keen awareness of not just the often-harsh desert terrain but where you chose to build up your infrastructure. The coolest bit of this is various outposts you build in your territory, each of which gives a bonus of some kind and a movement speed refund to armies that reach it. Setting up Egyptian waystations, for example, creates a supply cache that lets your armies march further and ignore desert attrition. It's the first time I can remember a Total War game feeling like I had to really plan defense in advance—which is awesome to see. A big part of the Pharaoh campaign is that the world is falling apart. Total War Pharaoh: Hands-On Campaign Preview - IGN WWW.IGN.COM Quote Even as the Nile gleams beneath monumental pyramids and the looming chaos of the Late Bronze Age Collapse nears the shimmering shores of the New Kingdom in Total War: Pharaoh's grand campaign, there's still a certain pesky scarab in the sand. Total War fatigue is real. I've been playing this series since the original Shogun over 20 years ago and seen so many permutations of the formula that it's hard for me to get excited about it again. Especially when I could be playing Total War: Warhammer, which has dragons, hydras, and wizards… …which is why the couple dozen turns I put into Total War: Pharaoh were so surprising. This ancient sandbox really has gotten me excited about a classic swords-and-sandals Total War again. It's a familiar formula, but Creative Assembly's Sophia studio has proven once again that they can craft an interesting vessel to pour that formula into. Thank the gods, Total War: Pharaoh will have a dedicated tutorial campaign WWW.ROCKPAPERSHOTGUN.COM RPS give their thoughts on Total War: Pharaoh after playing a 50-turn campaign preview with starting character Ramesses. Quote "Usually, when a player is going through a strategy game, they figure out how things work by trial and error," Total War: Pharaoh's game director Todor Nikolov tells me at this year's Gamescom. "And once they do, they feel the urge to start a brand-new campaign because they've already figured out that portion of the gameplay." Sitting across the table, these words ring frighteningly true for me. Unbeknownst to Nikolov, he has just described the exact experience I had playing the 50-turn campaign preview for Pharaoh a week earlier to an absolute tee. Unlike the far more knowledgeable brain of frequent RPS contributor Nic Reuben, I am a complete babe in arms when it comes to the Total War juggernaut machine, and it took me attempting to play two other games in the series (Three Kingdoms and Troy) and several restarts in Pharaoh itself before I felt just about confident that I (very vaguely) knew what I was doing. At the time, I thought, 'Man alive, how is Total War still so rubbish at teaching players how it works?' But when I speak to Nikolov a week later, he has some very welcome news for me: there's going to be a dedicated tutorial campaign where players can (hopefully) find their feet. Music to my ears. "For Pharaoh, we're introducing a separate tutorial campaign, where you get to play with Ramesses, and the whole thing is story-driven," Nikolov explains. He assures me despite essentially being the same set-up as the main campaign, "it's quite different" to what I struggled through in the preview build, which essentially encourages you to take part in a couple of fights before letting you loose in the plains of Sinai and letting you have at it. Instead, the tutorial campaign will acquaint you with its various systems "in more of an on-rails fashion" with unique voice lines, interactions and specific events that players will need to complete before proceeding. Nikolov knows full well that most players "don't have the patience" to read the extensive in-game encyclopaedia or, indeed, the tool tips and overlays that appear with a tap of F1, so they'll also be including a suite of customisation options that change the way Pharaoh behaves. Total War: Pharaoh’s politics and subterfuge are more exciting than its battles WWW.POLYGON.COM Maneuver your way through the New Kingdom’s court Quote Ramesses II, who was born a civilian, inherited Egypt’s throne as a teenager, fought several prolonged conflicts with the Hittite empire, warded off pirate incursions along the Mediterranean coast, and navigated a political court marred by betrayals and petty grievances. He was also the victim of the first recorded military ambush ever. Basically, his job sucked! I find myself in this very crucible when I load up Ramesses II’s campaign in Total War: Pharaoh. Throughout the course of a 50-turn demo, I battle the Hittites, reclaim land taken by the Canaanites, hatch plots against court members, and secure my place in the history books. And although Pharaoh’s real-time battles certainly aren’t the most exciting of the long-running Total War series, once Creative Assembly Sofia’s campaign builds momentum, combat is one of the last things on my mind. That’s not to say that Pharaoh’s AI enemies aren’t testing my borders whenever they get the chance, though; the series is called Total War, after all. I sent Ramesses II and my strongest army north to capture the province of Sukkot at one point, and two minor Egyptian factions — presumably unhappy with my reign — invaded from the south. It took most of my available food, stone, and wood to field a backup army from my capital province of Neb-Gehes, but once I did, we made quick work of the would-be usurpers. Total War: Pharaoh preview — Clashing swords and courting disaster | Windows Central WWW.WINDOWSCENTRAL.COM A number of changes suit this sword-and-sandal strategy title, but some things still need fixing. Quote The sands of time come for all, but maybe you can stave off the collapse. That's the pitch behind Total War: Pharaoh, the next mainline strategy game from developer Creative Assembly and publisher Sega. I recently had the chance to play up through the first 50 turns of a campaign with Ramesses as a leader. This large chunk of gameplay provided a fun, in-depth look at how the changes to battles and new mechanics on the campaign map are all coming together. There's a lot to love in this epic about the crash of civilization, as well as a fair bit that needs more work. I Played A Preview Build Of Total War: Pharaoh And It's Amazing WWW.THEGAMER.COM Total War: Pharaoh looks to be the deepest and most polished entry in the series to date. Quote The newest entry in the long-running strategy franchise combines the best elements of the recent hits to create the Total War experience I’ve wanted for the last decade-and-a-half. Combined with added systems that immerse the player in the setting - this time New Kingdom Egypt and its surroundings - next month’s Bronze Age battler will be a hard act for Creative Assembly to follow. The first thing that struck me upon starting a new campaign in Pharaoh was the updated economy system. Rather than just tracking the number of coins in your treasury like earlier titles, Total War: Pharaoh requires players to manage several key resources; Food, Stone, Wood, Bronze, and Gold. Total War: Pharaoh's Campaign Hands-On Preview: FIght to Survive the Bronze Age Collapse GAMERANT.COM Creative Assembly hopes to immerse players in the turbulent Bronze Age collapse, and so far, Total War: Pharaoh's campaign seems to do just that. Quote The battles themselves also feel like past Total War games, albeit with a few exciting additions that help shake it up a bit. For starters, each battle starts with a weather forecast. Creative Assembly has introduced new weather effects that help make battles a bit more exciting. Each battle begins with a notice of the positive and negative effects of the current weather conditions and how that weather will change over the course of the battle. One battle saw us fighting in a rainstorm which impacted our archers' accuracy, and then the battlefield was eventually coated in a thick layer of fog that hurt everyone's visibility. While there is a chance these storms will get annoying after a while, so far, they feel like great additions to the formula. Almost everything else about Total War: Pharaoh's battles feel pretty standard for the franchise. Players place down their troops however they want, the battle begins, and chaos ensues. Creative Assembly did give the units more weight and gave players a bit more control over their movements, but that may not be noticeable to many players. The leaders also do not seem to have any special abilities like they did in Total War: Warhammer 3, which makes sense since this game is rooted in history. After clearing the enemy out of the North Sinai region using our starting army, we were granted a couple of victory points. One of the primary goals of Total War: Pharaoh's campaign is to earn victory points by completing various tasks. Players can earn them by capturing entire regions, holding great cities, accomplishing various feats, and being an ambitious person. 60 points gives players a minor victory, 80 gives them a major one, and 100 is the ultimate victory. Each task rewards different amounts of victory points, so players may want to plan accordingly. Preview - Total War: Pharaoh Looks At The World Before The Bronze Age Collapse | MMORPG.com WWW.MMORPG.COM Total War: Pharaoh arrives in October, and Creative Assembly invited MMORPG to preview the first 50 turns of the Ramesses campaign. Kevin had the chance to explore some of the features in the upcoming release. Check out his initial thoughts on how it feels to play one of the leaders in Ancient Egypt during the Bronze Age collapse. Quote My initial experience with Total War: Pharaoh was fun. It felt too short to get a complete feel for the game but I did want to finish my quest for power. By the end of 50 turns, The Sea Peoples were invading, and Tausret had made a move to become the new Pharaoh. My Ramesses had managed to gain some Legitimacy through battle and building monuments. But any chance to seize power was still only a distant dream. I didn’t even get to the point where I could play with improving my regalia since Tausret had made their move to take control first a lot earlier than I expected. While some of the systems are not particularly engaging, the overall package is enjoyable and I could see myself immediately trying at least two of the other leaders at release. Total War: Pharaoh Campaign Preview: We attempt to conquer Egypt WWW.GAMEREACTOR.EU We've been able to experience a selection of Creative Assembly's upcoming strategy game, in a preview session that allowed us to play 60 uninterrupted turns of the campaign. Quote My first impressions of the campaign map are that it looks and feels much like it's predecessor, A Total War Saga: Troy. That's a good thing. Instead of just gold from older TW titles, there are multiple resources to balance throughout your regions: food, wood, bronze, stone and gold. Buildings mostly cost stone and wood, while an army requires food, bronze and gold. Different regions have different resources, meaning you might have a lot of food but no access to stone, unless you barter with other factions. Additionally, you now need idle workers in your cities to start construction. In all, it's a good system that encourages diplomacy to trade resources and forces you to pick your targets for conquest strategically. The campaign map stretches all the way from the Nubian lands south of Egypt to the Sinai Peninsula, the Levant and to a large part of Anatolia. This corresponds to the main factions in the game: there's the Egyptian factions in the South, Canaanite factions in the centre and Hittite factions in the North. Besides Ramesses III, there's the Canaanite Irsu or the Hittite Suppiluliuma II to choose from, among others. Additionally, there are two courts that players can aim their ambitions towards: you can try to conquer either the Egyptian or Hittite thrones. Once you've picked one, you enter that court and will need to conquer regions central to the court to become either Pharaoh or Hittite King. Total War: Pharaoh Lead Campaign Designer Talks Bringing the Bronze Age Collapse to Total War GAMERANT.COM Game Rant was able to sit down with Total War: Pharaoh Lead Campaign Designer Aleksandar Georgiev to discuss the newest Total War campaign. Quote After playing through 50 turns of Total War: Pharaoh's campaign, Game Rant had the chance to talk to Lead Campaign Designer Aleksandar Georgiev to discuss everything the mode will offer. We discussed how the studio translated the Bronze Age collapse to Total War, the new game-changing features that are being introduced, and how the studio is ensuring it is truly a historical sandbox. Total War: Pharaoh's Campaign Customization Gives Players the Tools to Rewrite History GAMERANT.COM In a recent interview with Game Rant, Total War: Pharaoh's lead campaign designer Aleksandar Georgiev discussed the brand-new customization features. Quote Campaigns have always played a role in the Total War franchise. They often work similarly to games like Sid Meier's Civilization where players assume control of a faction and attempt to take over the world. While that series brings players through history, Total War often sticks to one specific period and lets players run wild within it. Total War: Pharaoh is no different, yet Creative Assembly is throwing a couple of new things into the mix that will surely shake the formula up a bit. One of the biggest things that Creative Assembly seems to be focused on is the new campaign customization features that it will be introducing with Total War: Pharaoh. The studio wants to give players a sandbox of possibility that they will keep coming back to time and time again, which these features aim to accomplish. Total War: Pharaoh's Pillars of Civilization is a Game-Changer GAMERANT.COM In am interview with Game Rant, Total War: Pharaoh's lead campaign designer Aleksandar Georgiev talked about the new Pillars of Civilization mechanic. Quote One mechanic that Total War: Pharaoh is introducing comes in the form of the Pillars of Civilization feature. This feature is a core part of the game's campaign mode and aims to capture the actual feeling of the Bronze Age collapse. It will not only change the way the game is played but is also supposed to change the game's visuals immensely. It will be up to the player to keep civilization together or suffer the consequences of society's collapse. After checking out Total War: Pharaoh's campaign preview, Game Rant had the chance to sit down with the lead campaign designer Aleksandar Georgiev. We talked about everything that this new campaign has to offer, including the new Pillars of Civilization feature. Total War: Pharaoh Hands-On Campaign Preview | GameWatcher WWW.GAMEWATCHER.COM Total War: Pharaoh has enough moving parts to make it an accomplished grand strategy game, but may end up lacking that wow factor which grabs players who might not be avid fans of the time period it explores. Quote Moonlight bathes Egypt’s open desert as I prepare to siege a nearby settlement that produces much-needed food. Ramesses becoming Pharaoh remains a distant dream if my economy cannot properly support a growing army and, having secured bronze for gear and stone for construction, I need to make sure that my troops stay fed. Then, my unfortunate Canaanite neighbors will help cement Ramesses’ legacy as a potent conqueror. The initial 50 turns of Ramesses’ Total War: Pharaoh campaign evoke a sense of familiarity, even for those who haven’t extensively delved into Creative Assembly Sofia’s previous Bronze Age game, Troy. The essence of the broader series is unmistakably present in its renewed focus on pure historical gameplay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted September 22, 2023 Author Share Posted September 22, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted September 23, 2023 Author Share Posted September 23, 2023 Apologies to the three people who intended to purchase this game on EGS: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted September 23, 2023 Author Share Posted September 23, 2023 Total War: Pharaoh Suppiluliuma Faction Preview [EXCLUSIVE] GAMERANT.COM Game Rant takes an exclusive look at Total War: Pharaoh's Suppiluliuma Faction in an exclusive preview. Quote Unlike the last Total War: Pharaoh campaign hands-on preview, this one put us in control of the powerful Suppiluliuma. This new faction meant a whole new area of the world to explore, new neighbors to conquer, new enemies to kill, and a few new mechanics to play with. While one would think the game would start off calmer since it is separated from the Pharaoh, Suppiluliuma is apparently one of the harder factions to play, and that became apparent extremely fast. From the very beginning of our playthrough, we were at war. It was not with one of our many neighbors, but with some annoying Kaska raiders instead. After selecting our first Royal Decree and building a couple of buildings with our starting funds, we went out to beat those raiders from our land. Our leader charged a small group of them led by Kuwadar sitting just outside our capital city, and a classic Total War battle ensued. Total War: Pharaoh Suppiluliuma Faction Breakdown GAMERANT.COM Total War: Pharaoh fans that are looking for a challenging campaign may want to take Suppiluliuma for a spin when the game launches next month. Quote Suppiluliuma is one of the Hittite factions represented in Total War: Pharaoh. In history, he was the son of Tudhaliya IV. He was known as the last king of the Hittite Empire and would be there when everything fell apart. Not much is known about his reign as there are only a few inscriptions that mention him. However, he was allegedly there during the Bronze Age Collapse and tried to hold things together. As forces began encroaching on all sides, the Hittite Empire was in a state of peril, and he would make the decision to abandon the capital city of Hattusa. This would mark the end of the empire, the end of his reign, and he would vanish without a trace. Some say he died in the city, but no one quite knows what happened to him. In Total War: Pharaoh, he serves as the Great King of the Hittites. As the Bronze Age collapses, enemies begin to encroach on all sides, and it is up to the player to stop them. While he may lack powerful ranged units, he makes up for it with a strong defensive line that can tear through its enemies. Players who take on the challenge will have to be ready for a tough game of diplomatic plays, constant war, and maybe even a food shortage or two along the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Commissar SFLUFAN Posted October 10, 2023 Author Share Posted October 10, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted October 10, 2023 Author Share Posted October 10, 2023 Game Information Game Title: Total War: PHARAOH Platforms: PC (Oct 31, 2023) Developer: CREATIVE ASSEMBLY Publisher: SEGA Review Aggregator: OpenCritic - 77 average - 66% recommended Critic Reviews Spoiler But Why Tho? - Kyle Foley - 9 / 10 Total War: PHARAOH is a smashing success as a grand strategy game and brings the hit franchise to a new historical era. Fascinating leaders and subplots with mechanics to match help make each play session fresh and enjoyable. COGconnected - Jaina Hill - 90 / 100 Total War games spent so much time trying to do more. There are countless clever strategy games out there, but this series always prided itself on having a massive scale. Pharaoh totally changes that formula as it scales down and rethinks the gameplay flow of the series. Everyone has their favorite Total War game (mine for the record is the original Rome Total War). I’m sure that someone out there will be quite unhappy with some of the Total War changes. But from where I sit as a long-time player, Pharaoh is a total blast, and has me more excited for the future of the series than ever before. Gameblog - Camille Allard - French - 9 / 10 Like its predecessors, Total War Pharaoh is extremely time-consuming. It delivers a truly colossal punch. In addition to being visually very pleasing, it has the luxury of offering numerous new features in terms of gameplay, which fit perfectly into the setting of Ancient Egypt. Wccftech - Chris Wray - 9 / 10 Total War: Pharaoh is a successful return to pure history for the series. While some may not like aspects, such as a limited unit variety and a map that can feel a little narrow in areas, the gameplay is enhanced across the board thanks to a variety of features, increased tactical options in combat, and more. Everyeye.it - Alessandro Preziosi - Italian - 8.7 / 10 Total War: Pharaoh is truly a return in style for the famous saga of real-time strategy games. GAMES.CH - Olaf Bleich - German - 87% When playing Total War: Pharaoh, time simply goes by easily. Creative Assembly delivers another outstanding strategy-game, that connects all its aspects well and motivates with constant progression. Despite some minor flaws in the user-guidance-department, Total War: Pharaoh is a must-have-game for every RTS-fan. The Games Machine - Nicolò Paschetto - Italian - 8.7 / 10 A splendid campaign mode with many systems working in conjunction to offer a varied experience without losing the focus on the military conquest. Few cavalry units are partly compensated by a renewed attention to different types of infantry, but to be honest I do miss a good old cataphract charge. GameBlast - Alan Murilo Pereira Duque - Portuguese - 8.5 / 10 Total War: PHARAOH confirms expectations and delivers one of the best titles in the Total War series in recent years. Although its battles are logically slower and less spectacular compared to the great fantasies of the WARHAMMER trilogy, at no point do they prove less exciting or addictive. To top it off, we still have one of the most interesting campaigns in the series, with several branches and customization options capable of extending the game's lifespan for months and years on end. Becoming pharaoh (or king of the Hittites) is only half the battle; The story of Egypt's reconstruction is more complex than it seems. We, the players, benefit from this. The Nerd Stash - Ryan Clouse - 8.5 / 10 Once you master the complexities of its systems, pulling off your master plans in Total War Pharaoh is immensely satisfying! Destructoid - Steven Mills - 8 / 10 In the end, Total War: Pharaoh stands atop the pyramids of grand-scale RTS. It takes the franchise in a bold new direction, adding a slew of new systems and features that enhance the gameplay. Despite choosing to play it safe with battles, the new systems are a big step forward. And while it has its flaws, Pharaoh features one of the best campaigns yet in an exciting and beautiful setting. Game Rant - Max Borman - 4 / 5 From a brand-new campaign with exciting new features to a battle system that has been shaken up with new mechanics, Total War: Pharaoh has a lot to offer players looking for a new strategy experience to sink their teeth into. Some of its unique features may feel a bit bland, but it makes up for it by offering players unprecedented freedom to shape game and history how they see fit. And even though it may be smaller than Total War: Warhammer 3, it is still a worthy entry in this iconic franchise. God is a Geek - Chris Hyde - 8 / 10 Total War: Pharaoh lets you play your way, and throws a lot at you to deal with. Fans will lap it up once they get to grips with its new mechanics. IGN - Leana Hafer - 8 / 10 Total War: Pharaoh's interesting battles complement an impressively rich campaign centered on the Late Bronze Age Collapse. PC Gamer - Rick Lane - 80 / 100 Total War: Pharaoh's battles may be limited by history, but Creative Assembly compensates for this with a complex, thematic, and highly dynamic campaign. PCGamesN - Ian Boudreau - 8 / 10 Old issues return and some of its new ideas are less effective than others, but Total War: Pharaoh remains a strong and exciting addition to the series' historical catalog. Saving Content - Lucas Moura - 4 / 5 Is Total War Pharaoh a worthy successor to the historical franchise? Yes. Total War: Pharaoh takes more steps forwards than back, and I can live with that. At least, it didn’t crash and burn like so many civilizations it portrays, so that’s something. TheGamer - Harry Alston - 4 / 5 Overall, despite its shortcomings with performance and AI pathing, Total War: Pharaoh has been one of the most enjoyable Total War games I’ve played for quite some time. Its refined focus on a smaller period of history has allowed for experimentation elsewhere, with dynamic weather and terrain, resource generation on the campaign map, and a wave-based invasion system with the Sea Peoples that constantly keeps you guessing. I hope that some of these mechanics can be taken and expanded on for future, main series releases for Total War. VGC - Josh Broadwell - 4 / 5 Total War Pharoah doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does introduce a handful of promising and sometimes deep new ways to approach the familiar formula. Combat is still hit-and-miss, but the approach to history and empire-building are among the best in the Total War series. Windows Central - Samuel Tolbert - 4 / 5 Total War: Pharaoh introduces a number of great new systems and mechanics for the long-running strategy franchise, and there's plenty of fun to be had staving off an ancient apocalypse, but a large number of bugs bring down the experience. IGN Italy - Stefano Castagnola - Italian - 7.6 / 10 Pharaoh is a solid new entry in the Total War series, although it lacks some ambition. If all you wanted was some fun playing as a general in a Bronze Age setting, you'd probably be satisfied here, but if you were waiting for the next big thing, you'd have to wait a bit more. CGMagazine - Steven Green - 7.5 / 10 Total War: PHARAOH will be another must-play for fans of the series or those who can’t get enough of Ancient Egypt, but hopefully you have a top-notch PC, because at least for now, the game chugs pretty badly, crashes are frequent, and load times are atrocious. SECTOR.sk - Jaroslav Otčenáš - Slovak - 7.5 / 10 Placing the next Total War game in Egypt was probably not the best decision. The Bronze Age simply tied the creators' hands too much, and you can see it especially during the fights. A small variety of units and battles that lack real juice drag the rating down. On the contrary, dynasty management is fun and last a long time. GGRecon - Tarran Stockton - 3.5 / 5 Total War: PHARAOH presents an interesting window into the time and place of a tumultuous historical period while handing you the reigns to make your own story out of it. While learning the ropes takes some work to get into due to poor use of tutorials and the overwhelming amount of extra mechanics in the campaign layer, buried underneath is an excellent gameplay formula that continues to stand the test of time. GameWatcher - Fran J. Ruiz - 7 / 10 Total War: Pharaoh will surely benefit from the shortage of AAA strategy games with real-time battles, but it may play things too safe for the most demanding fans of the series, and given it's a full-price release, the overall scope lands dangerously close to that of the Total War Saga entries. Spaziogames - Daniele Spelta - Italian - 7 / 10 There are some design (and marketing) choices about Total War: Pharaoh that are still unexplainable, but some of the innovations that the game introduces are what we hope to see more in the future of this glorious saga. Eurogamer - Tom Senior - 3 / 5 Dull warfare mars a fascinating battle for supremacy during the late Bronze Age collapse. Metro GameCentral - GameCentral - 6 / 10 A Total War game proves not to be the best way to explore one of the most fascinating periods in ancient history, with boring real-time battles dragging down positive changes to the grand strategy elements. NoobFeed - Sarwar Ron - 60 / 100 Total War: PHARAOH just doesn't impress as much as it should have. The flaw lies only with the magnitude and scope of the game and not with the game's choice of a Bronze Age or ancient Near Eastern setting. The game's atmosphere is what you'll remember most. Still, its mechanics are shallow, the level of replayability is low, the artificial intelligence is useless, and there's no opportunity for strategy in the fights. If a top-notch total war game is what you seek, you've come to the wrong place. VideoGamer - Finlay Cattanach - 4 / 10 Total War Pharaoh is a fun game, but one that lacks ambition. It squanders its potential with meagre gameplay, story, soundtrack, and performance, and fails to add anything of note to the Total War series, or leave an impression of its identity. Polygon - Alice D. Newcome-Beill - Unscored Ultimately, Total War: Pharaoh is an attempt to provide an accessible experience that delivers what feels like an abridged version of a world history course. Most of the systems in Pharaoh offer glimpses of greatness, but aren’t deep or refined enough to deliver a memorable grand strategy experience. Creative Assembly’s take on the Bronze Age is not thematic enough to engage a novice, but not accurate or expansive enough to appeal to Total War veterans, leaving us with a Total War title that’s unlikely to stand the test of time. Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Nic Reuben - Unscored Every single change Pharaoh makes to Troy is for the better, and some changes are so good that it's going to be difficult to play any Total War without them going forward. But the fundamental issues of Total War - mainly enemy battle AI - are far too entrenched to fix in a few years, and the bronze age setting doesn't allow for enough unit variation to make up for them. 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Spork3245 Posted October 10, 2023 Share Posted October 10, 2023 Just now, Commissar SFLUFAN said: Game Information Game Title: Total War: PHARAOH Platforms: PC (Oct 31, 2023) Developer: CREATIVE ASSEMBLY Publisher: SEGA Review Aggregator: OpenCritic - 72 average - 71% recommended Critic Reviews But Why Tho? - Kyle Foley - 9 / 10 Gameblog - French - [url=" https://www.gameblog.fr/jeu-video/jeux/tests/test-total-war-pharaoh-claque-historique-476849"]9 / 10[/url] PC Gamer - Rick Lane - 80 / 100 Saving Content - Lucas Moura - 4 / 5 VGC - Josh Broadwell - 4 / 5 Spaziogames - Italian - 7 / 10 VideoGamer - Finlay Cattanach - 4 / 10 Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Nic Reuben - Unscored About what I expected, the game seems kinda half-hearted tbh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted October 10, 2023 Author Share Posted October 10, 2023 Just now, Spork3245 said: About what I expected, the game seems kinda half-hearted tbh It is one of "Saga" titles (like Troy and Thrones of Britannia) which are supposed to be smaller-scale than the main games, but they're still charging full price for it which is ludicrous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted October 10, 2023 Share Posted October 10, 2023 27 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: It is one of "Saga" titles (like Troy and Thrones of Britannia) which are supposed to be smaller-scale than the main games, but they're still charging full price for it which is ludicrous. Probably wasn't their decision. Now if the game fails SEGA can lay the rest of Creative Assembly off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spork3245 Posted October 10, 2023 Share Posted October 10, 2023 32 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said: Probably wasn't their decision. Now if the game fails SEGA can lay the rest of Creative Assembly off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted October 15, 2023 Author Share Posted October 15, 2023 Yeeeeaaaaahhh - I don't think this game's apparent commercial reception bodes well for Creative Assembly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rc0101 Posted October 16, 2023 Share Posted October 16, 2023 Release Medieval 3 you bastards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted October 20, 2023 Author Share Posted October 20, 2023 On 10/16/2023 at 12:11 AM, rc0101 said: Release Medieval 3 you bastards At this point, that might be the only announcement they could make that would possibly "save" Creative Assembly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted October 20, 2023 Author Share Posted October 20, 2023 12 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said: And that video is actually sponsored by Total War: Pharaoh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted October 21, 2023 Share Posted October 21, 2023 4 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: And that video is actually sponsored by Total War: Pharaoh They needed someone to talk nice about the game. Strange they'd sponsor a video that says "hey half of your settings don't do anything except drop the framerate" though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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