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 ZXC 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.
A Line in the Sand
The first Total War: Pharaoh battle that Game ZXC 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 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.
Bronze and Thunder
The second playable battle in the Total War: Pharaoh preview was called Bronze and Thunder. This battle was supposed to be a medium difficulty, but it felt like the hardest one. It pitted the forces of Ramesses against Suppiluliuma in a forest desert map. We once again took control of Ramesses, but this time his forces were a bit outnumbered. It seemed like the enemy had far more range units than we did, and that ultimately proved to be our downfall.
After strategically arranging the melee units in the front and the archers in the back, the enemy began to charge. It did not take them long to get close enough to start pelting our soldiers with arrows and spears. At the same time, the AI maneuvered its heavy spear chariots to break through our right flank and decimate most of our units. They would specifically go after the general, and once he died the rest of our soldiers would flee the battlefield.
This battle also highlighted another one of the dynamic weather events that can occur. During the battle, a thunderstorm would slowly build up and change the course of the fight. It became harder for ranged units to hit their targets, fire would not spread as well, and the Total War units had a small morale debuff. This caused them to route faster than normal while also adding a cool aesthetic to the battlefield.
After multiple tries, we were finally able to get the upper hand and win the battle. It was not easy, and it took a lot of patience as that defeat screen constantly appeared. However, once we figured out how to stop the chariots with the help of Total War: Pharaoh's creative director Todor Nikolov's advice, the battle was swiftly won.
Playing with Fire
The final playable battle in the Total War: Pharaoh preview was called Playing with Fire. This battle highlighted the classic Total War siege gameplay that fans have come to love over the years. We once again took control of Ramesses while the enemy AI controlled the armies of Barisone. While we had giant walls to protect our units, the enemy forces greatly outnumbered ours, and it seemed like it would be an impossible fight. Creative Assembly did say this battle was the hard one.
The battle itself took place in the city of Mennefer, better known as Memphis. There were three capture points within the city walls that the enemy had to control to win. The AI had an assortment of spearmen, axe wielders, and giant siege towers on the outskirts of the city. We had massive walls, dozens of archers, and an assortment of melee units ready to take out any enemy unit that made it through. While the enemies greatly outnumbered us, the worst part was probably that they were attacking the walls in four very different spots. This forced us to spread our thin army even thinner, and made it seem like it would be an impossible fight.
The enemy was able to breach the walls in multiple places and even took control of most of the points. However, we were still able to drive them from the city. The gates were locked down by our melee units, and many of the enemy units never got a chance to even climb up the siege towers. The units that did get through annoyingly ran around the city for a bit before our units were able to focus on them. Eventually, we were able to defeat them, even if we lost a lot in the process.
All three of these battles highlighted some of Total War: Pharaoh's core features, but it is only a small sample of what is to come. The preview did not show off any menus, the new Total War campaign, other factions, or the other types of dynamic weather. Creative Assembly will reveal all of that as the release date nears, and hopefully, it lives up to the fun of the preview. If it does, then the Total War franchise may have another hit on its hands.
Total War: Pharaoh will be available for PC in October 2023