The chaos, violence and catastrophe we know today as the Bronze Age Collapse shook the Mediterranean 3200 years ago. That’s about how long it feels like since you last played the main series’ historic Total War game. But just as Ramesses III ushered Egypt out of this dark age, Creative Assembly’s Sofia studio (who most recently released the semi-mythical Total War saga: Troy) is making Total War: Pharaohs. brought Mysterious sea people are coming. The different leaders of Egyptian, Hittite and Canaanite cultures will compete and it’s up to us to weather the storm.
I haven’t been able to see the campaign map yet, but I was able to get some details about it. We will fight over the Nile Valley all the way south to Nubia and Kush, now Sudan. Head north to explore Canaan, the region we usually call the Levant today. It would also fight for Anatolia, the peninsula that occupies most of today’s Turkey, on the other side of the sea from Egypt.
We don’t go as far east as Mesopotamia, so don’t expect to get involved with Assyrians or Babylonians. However, the developers were quick to point out that this was a “real” main series total wargame and not a saga. So you should expect sandbox gameplay and scope similar to Rome II or Three Kingdoms.
born to be king
Pharaoh’s marketing is centered around Egypt, but there is no faction called “Egypt” in the first place. Similar to the Three Kingdoms and Troy, each faction is organized around a specific historical or semi-historical figure who may be able to unite the culture under one rule. For Egyptians, this clearly represents their ambition to become pharaohs, including the historical winner Ramesses III. The Hittians of Anatolia have an equivalent office called Great King. And the Canaanites are stuck in the midst of it all, just trying to survive.
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Beyond these three cultures, there is also considerable variety in terms of available units. Egypt itself has his four different regions with their own local “Native” units to recruit, in addition to the base roster associated with the starting characters that are always available. To the far south are Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, Nubia, and Kush, and on the outskirts is the Western Desert, home to the toughest and toughest warriors. The Hittites were able to recruit from other Anatolians, such as the Phrygians, and the Canaanites had a unique population representing the settled city-state dwellers near the sea and the peoples of the idyllic hills of the East. There are two subcultures with units.
wrath of the gods
This campaign focuses on the fall of the Bronze Age, so the world gets darker and more dangerous as the turns pass, but this is partly based on how well it all wraps up. One of the main ways this shows up in combat is the dynamic weather system. You may start the battle under the scorching desert sun, but you may soon be hit by a torrential downpour. This can cause the terrain to change during combat, turning large areas of the ground into mud, slowing tanks and heavy infantry. Likewise, if the sun gets too harsh, the mud in this swamp can dry out.
Each culture has the ability to treat its homeland better than others. Egyptians are usually lightly armored, which makes them agile and very good at fighting in extreme heat. The Hittites are much thicker in their bronze robes and can shrug off cold and rain and withstand considerable damage, but are more susceptible to the unrelenting desert sun.
fear from the depths
Next we go to the mysterious Sea Peoples who seem to have overrun many ancient and powerful cities in this era. Few concrete facts are known about them, so their portrayal in Total War: Pharaoh is assembled from pieces of art and documentation, along with some historical “best guesses”. Their main role is to serve as the main endgame challenge like the game. Total War: Huns of Attila.
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They were ruthless raiders, clearly highly talented sailors, and visually realized as a multi-ethnic coalition with eclectic combat gear, recruiting warriors from all over the ancient Mediterranean Sea. suggests that Some of their armies clearly imitate Total War: Troy’s Mycenaens. They have multiple units with “Aegean” in their names. Some have borrowed ancient depictions of islanders from Corsica, Sardinia, or Crete. They won’t be playable at launch, but the DLC roadmap promises multiple “faction packs”, and that’s likely to change.
war never changes
Coming back to the combat side, the siege AI seems to be very capable for once, but in the city defense I played, it broke through the ramparts and still outnumbered us, but still It was seen that the entire enemy army withdrew almost the moment the general died. However, Total War: Pharaoh promises greater customization of campaign and combat difficulty settings than ever before.
Another addition is the ability to damage enemy armor in close combat, and units like the Clubman are particularly good at this. Since we are still living in a time when cavalry does not exist on the battlefield like Troy, tanks are the fastest and most powerful unit. We’ve also added some new “stances” that make infantry a little less micromanaging. Some of them can be commanded to simply advance until they encounter an enemy and then attack.
sand sea
From what I’ve got so far, Total War: Pharaoh doesn’t feel like a revolutionary step forward for the series. Anyway, not yet. We look forward to more campaigns. This is a particularly fascinating time for me, and the fact that we know so little about what really happened is both a challenge and an opportunity for creative assembly. The road ahead for us to claim the title of Pharaoh this October is clear.
