Review of Total War Pharaoh.

Here is a review on the title, hope it helps players decide better on whether to purchase or not.

First, thanks to Creative Assembly for granting me early access so that I could play the title and have the opportunity to test it out a bit.

I have to be honest that I have not played nearly as much as I would like. And I will continue playing, trust me. Not easy with 2 kids and still playing Warhammer 3 and moderating here;P I was able to, however, check other content creators, chat with them, as well as chat with people on social media about the game.

The game is set in the Bronze Age period. It has been a requested era for an Historical Total War, although not the most requested (Medieval 3 and Empire 2 leading by a lot). But I believe in judging a game for what it is, not for what it is not. So, what do we have?

There are 8 playable factions/leaders, 4 from Egypt, 2 from Canaanites, 2 from Hittites. There are at least 3 faction packs and one campaign pack coming as DLC, but details are unknown at this time (this to me feels a big, massive, humongous point of change for the overall opinion of the game too).

Every faction feels rather unique in their playstyle, but not limited to it. You are incentived to play into a specific strength, but you are welcome to change your mind during the campaign.

The Bronze Age period unfortunately does not have a lot of unit variety. For the most part, you will have tons of different melee and ranged infantry options (tons, really) and chariots... and that is it. There is no cavalry in this period, even. Then again, that is indeed historical.

Campaign customization is where you will find a ton of variety, as you can customize most of the important aspects of the game. Similarly, when wondering about the mechanics and specifics of the game, you can check the wonderful Encyclopaedia, with tons of information, worthy of the Library of Alexandria... or close enough.

Overall, the campaing offers a nice playthrough of your attempts to overcome every obstacle to become Pharaoh, or King, and to defeat the impending doom that fell over the real life counterparts on what is known as the Bronze Age Collapse.

I am limited to what I can review at this point, but straight to the point:

Rating: 8/10. You should acquire the title if:

• You have a particular interest in the Bronze Age period;
• You enjoy infantry combat and like to see massive armies fight while you relax and observe your minions.
• You were waiting for a return to a more historical based playstyle in battles, with formations, weather, terrain, and lacking the fantasy elements of recent titles.
• You have a top of the line PC and you would like to enjoy the very good performance of the game and visuals (it still works well on lower end PCs, btw).
• You are interested on a Total War title which gives you a challenge and decision making choices well into the lategame, which is one of the key points in favor of this title.
• Price is not an issue for you at the current time, or, if it is the point of contention, you are eager to obtain if on the first sale.

Allow me a final remark: I mentioned that I would like to judge the game for what it is, not what it is not. The game runs well, it does a good job of giving you precisely a Bronze Age Total War experience.

Often we, gamers, speak about how we have to provide feedback to the gaming companies about what we like and dislike that they do. I am concerned of seeing CA Sofia actually delivering a decent title, the response to it, and what it will entail for the future of my preferred genre of gaming, Total War. What type of response, is now up to us. For my part, I thank them for a title that would always need to be produced at one point... so why not now? There have always been mods trying to get this title, so it feels a good moment to do it.