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Total War Pharoah is a familiar, but ambitious grand strategy game
10.10.2023 - 14:07 / videogameschronicle.com
There are only so many ways you can conquer the ancient world before it gets a bit predictable, but if you’re thinking Total War Pharaoh is just more of the same, Creative Assembly Sofia has a few surprises for you. Sure, it leaves most of the long-running strategy series’ key tenets unchanged. However, it builds on them in smart ways and makes the best use of any Total War game’s historical setting.
Assuming you get past the tutorials, that is. These are a confusing, overwhelming mess of information that sometimes repeats ideas, often have little to do with your current objective, and still manage to leave out key tips, such as how not to lose your cities to angry peasants.
What isn’t a mess is Creative Assembly’s approach to history. Take the Habiru, for example. They’re your basic units in Pharoah and a nomadic people that archaeologists argue over whether they were the biblical Hebrews or a loose coalition of Canaanite mercenaries.
Creative Assembly Sofia’s solution is to stick with the most basic facts – that the Habiru existed across Canaan and enjoyed watching empires fall, regardless of who happened to be in charge. It’s an elegant approach to history that adds a touch of fun to unit recruitment without sacrificing accuracy or getting lost in murky details.
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CA Sofia did an admirable job of weaving historical fact into the game in other ways. Building graveyards to boost happiness, for example, seems like an odd touch, until you realize most commoners didn’t have access to proper graveyards. The Nile’s rise and fall determine your farm’s prosperity and how willing other factions are to trade, just as it was in actual ancient Egypt, and the annual Shemsu Hor celebration a vital part of your strategic calendar.
Underneath all that history, Pharaoh is still Total War, though. Your goal is picking a faction and leading it to victory through a mix of conquest, peaceful expansion, and careful negotiation across a massive part of the ancient world, although Pharaoh’s conception of victory is rather different from Troy’s.
You only get three factions this time – the Egyptians, the Canannites, and the Hittites – with two ultimate end states: becoming the Pharaoh or the King of the Hittites. While that may sound limiting, Total War Pharaoh gives you more ways to experiment on the path to the top.
One of those is the court, which offers a solid roleplaying element and lets you influence the people closest to the current Pharaoh. Your actions at court can augment your chosen victory path and Ancient Legacy – more on that in a bit – or make up for shortcomings in other areas.
You could buddy up to the Treasurer and spend
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