For the first time in the series' history, Total War: Pharaoh will be putting the Bronze Age collapse of Egypt on full display. Creative Assembly is hoping to craft an in-depth depiction of this seldom-touched historical period, and so far, it seems to be succeeding at that. While the game is not in the hands of players yet, most of the pre-release content shows an experience that seems to have everything historical Total War fans could want. And the many new mechanics it is introducing should make the title even better.
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 ZXC 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. When asked about what players can expect from this new feature, Georgiev said,
"When it comes to effects, the pillars of civilization introduces more frequent disasters across the map during the periods of crisis and collapse, which is generally the reality of the time during those periods. The disasters and other types of negative events, such as plagues and droughts, were prevalent. The system also introduces this to the map. And finally, the system increases the potency and the power of the Sea Peoples and the normal peoples. So, the player experiencing this collapse of civilization faces ever greater challenges."
As society collapses in Total War: Pharaoh, players can expect the campaign's difficulty to spike a bit. All the disasters and dangers will increase tenfold and will only get worse as society falls even further apart. This should serve as a great representation of the actual collapse while also giving players a reason to actively work against it, unless they crave the challenge.
"... on the campaign map, we have the visual representation of the collapse. By introducing the pillars of civilization system, which describes the collapse of the Bronze Age, part of the system introduces visual changes in the world. So, when the world is in prosperity, it's bright and sunny. But once it goes into cultural collapse, it becomes much darker, sandy, gloomy. These are the things that we introduced in terms of visual representations on the map."
This system will not only affect the difficulty of Total War: Pharaoh but will also change the way the game looks in general. The world will get darker and gloomier as society further collapses before players' eyes. This will give them a feeling of dread during their playthrough that is only further cemented by the difficulty spike. Alternatively, as society heals, so do the colors and brightness of the world.
All of this makes the Pillars of Civilization feature sound like a fantastic addition to the formula. It should keep Total War: Pharaoh players on their toes as they are forced to work around this pivotal moment in history. And while it may sound impossible to manage, Georgiev has assured players that it will be doable, as long as they are willing to set their differences aside to work with other factions to keep the world together. That may be easier said than done, so players may want to prepare themselves for whatever the collapse throws at them.
Total War: Pharaoh will be available for PC in October 2023.