Total War: Pharaoh

Being both an interesting and complex historical period, Ancient Egypt seems like an obvious choice for a Total War game. It might seem odd that the franchise hasn't yet made the trip to the Nile, but here we are, 23 years in, and Creative Assembly showcase its expertise in creating a historical strategy fitting of the period.

Despite the title, you're not just diving into Total War here. You will find that resource management can be somewhat strategic as well, meaning that if you want gold - and you do as it's required to make essential upgrades - you will need to own a province that has a gold mine.

For the Egypt's leaders, there are all the expected contenders to the title of Pharaoh, as well as some of the more forgettable characters of the age, in combination with the Hittites, the civilisation that the Ancient Egyptians fought with all the time over a 200-year period. A culture in the Canaanites, are also included, and while the others struggle to reign supreme, the Canaanites' main goal is basically to just lay waste to all of Egypt.

On a historical note, the Egyptians were actually the aggressors in the conflict between Hittites and Egyptians, with Ramesses II pushing towards Hittite lands. While the ruler of Egypt was to be seen as a God among men, the Hittite culture was much more akin to the Vikings, with a king that was not a god, but instead first among equals and they even developed the first constitutional monarchy, a government form still used by many first world countries today. On the Egyptian side, the level of civil war seems over the top, but is relatively historically correct. The Canaanite experience is best figured out the hard way.

There are a lot of different warring factions, but some do share a goal, like Tausret, the wife of Seti, who has been given her own faction to rule and deploy. Some of the chosen faction leaders are, well, not that well-known to modern day historians, and the game therefore is able to take some liberties, and so are you as the player.

It's worth noting that while we were playing on a review build, I didn't suffer any technical problems, other than the game being pretty taxing on my computer, so, forget running this on an entry level machine.

Just like most story campaigns in Total War games, Total War: Pharaoh has a unique currency that you worry about, in this case it's Legitimacy. The overall goal is as always to become the ultimate and sovereign ruler, but there are powers to be unlocked along the way, so it's not only about completing the game, but also about unlocking powerful buffs. The worship of gods follow a similar route. You can earn some great boons from the deities of Egypt, and having an angry god breathing down your neck isn't going to help you.

As usual, there are two sides of the game, the overall campaign where you rule your cities, ensure the gods are happy, research new technologies, ensure your population is fed and happy, and do treaties and trade agreements. Here the developers have taken the dependency of the seasons into account, which is a really nice touch, and even allowed for the building of outposts in the middle of nowhere, a mechanic lifted from the Warhammer version of the Total War series, and honestly one that is elevated a lot in Total War: Pharaoh to actually have some strategic value as it grants your troops some respite, and allows for the construction of some buildings you might be in dire need of. As the economy isn't just based on money, but also raw resources, the management of your finances and general administration isn't to be neglected, and having a love for old city builder games like Sim City doesn't go amiss here.

For some strange reason, the overlay and entire graphical interface of the campaign map feels very chunky and clumsy, especially compared with the Warhammer version, which is sleek and polished in comparison. I still don't get why they insist on having an interface that looks like an old city-builder game, also called Pharaoh.
One of the things that Creative Assembly has been proud of is the Dynamic Weather system in the battles, such as rain, that is carried over to the campaign map, using a Pillars of Civilisation mechanic. In short, happy societies with high level of control and peace will see boons of nature boosting your economy and food production. On the other hand, when the campaign map becomes darker, natural disasters occur, and angry neighbours will invade. It makes for an extremely compelling argument in regards to using more energy on managing your empire. Civil unrest does have serious consequences and may start an unending spiral to end all of society.

Then there is the Otto Von Bismark kind of diplomacy - the battles. Being Egyptian, chariots are naturally a huge part of waging war, and while there - from a historical viewpoint - are a lot more chariots and horse mounted troops available to bring in some nuances, it does add to the already very hefty flow of the battles. Actually, the entire battle system has been elevated, and while some changes are more of a quirk, like sandstorms and other environmental effects, others make more of an impact. Creative Assembly has always been very fond of depth, and with Total War: Pharaoh, there is no exception. The weather effects are mostly debuffs, but a really skilled general can use the wind in combination with fire arrows to trap and further damage the enemy. This sort of tactical usage of terrain is something that is very hardcore, and honestly, a realism level that requires a lot of attention from the player - but it's also fantastic when it works.

One of my main gripes with the historical titles has always been the lack of diversity amongst infantry, but I think we are getting to a much more integrated system of troops now, where you get a much bigger tactical difference between the different types of weapons you bring to battle. You get more tactical depth than just having heavy troops at the front, archers on an elevated hill, and light troops trying to flank your opponent. And while there are only a few choices for dealing with shielded and heavily armoured troops, the new armour sundering concept where armour is broken over time if you just throw enough men at it works well. I also like the way that the traditional Egyptian weapons have been integrated into the combat system of the game. In general, you also get to specialise more in a specific playstyle, and generally just have more options, but beware, some factions offer different kinds of weaponry, so you're not always getting the same tools.

Sieges have also been upgraded to a much more contemporary level, and while I was able to cheese my way out as the defender, the new siege mechanics makes for much more dynamic and entertaining battles, where some previous titles honestly felt like any other land battle, just with a few walls added.

Overall Total War: Pharaoh is a really nice upgrade almost on all fronts, and the ability to customise your campaign has also been preserved. If they could just update the interface. To me Pharaoh is one of the best historical Total War titles in a long time.