Why is Creative Assembly turning the Total War series in to a yearly-release franchise? Creative Assembly have officially unveiled the newest release in the Total War franchise in Total War: Pharaoh, which will see players explore Ancient Egypt during the infamous Bronze Age Collapse…in an extremely small campaign.
Maybe this game will set up a Total War: Scarab sequel?
In what has become a very worrying tradition, Creative Assembly have officially pumped out a new, small, and seemingly uninspired Total War game for 2023 as Total War: Pharaoh will have players explore Ancient Egypt and the surrounding lands during the beginning years of the historic Bronze Age Collapse with a campaign size and scope as small as a scarab.
I really want to like this game and get behind it as it’s not only taking place in one of the most famous, mysterious, and interesting time periods in human history, but it is also coming out of one of the best gaming studios in the world (in my humble opinion) on its best day.
In regard to the time period, there really isn’t a period in civilized human history (aka: when humans banded together and were able to form large civilizations) that is more mysterious, intriguing, and frankly underappreciated in the gaming world than the Bronze Age.
Great empires and kingdoms like Egypt, Mycenean Greece, Assyria, Babylonia, Hittie, Cyprus, Troy, Athens, etc., who formed some of the most interconnected, wealthy, and technologically advanced civilizations and societies through their advanced trade, language, agricultural developments, military tactics, and government types the world had seen up to that point, all fell practically at the same time through completely mysterious, unexplained events.
Of course, the great migration and conquests of the “Sea People” played a large part in their downfall, but even historians today don’t know why the mysterious “Sea People” migrated from Western Europe into the Mediterranean and the Middle East or how they were so successful in bringing down ancient empires. In other words, it’s a time in history that is asking for a Total War game to be set in.
The legendary real-time strategy, battle, and empire-building mechanics of the Total War games provides the best platform in all of the gaming world (as far as I’m aware) to properly tell compelling, interesting, historical, and interactive stories for us gamers to get invested in and want to build an insurmountable empire that not even the destructive factors of the Bronze Age Collapse could take down.
(Creative Assembly/Sega-Total War: Pharaoh-Announce Trailer)
However, said story requires time, effort, and a very complex, detailed map and campaign to be told. And that’s just not what this Total War game appears to be.
Putting aside the rather irrelevant scarab cinematic trailer that doesn’t hint to the story of Total War: Pharaoh at all (but it does have an awesome scrab battle), the blog post that CA posted with the trailer makes it clear this is a cash-grab title.
There’re only three cultures to choose from at the release date (Ancient Egypt, Ancient Caanan, and Ancient Hittie), there’s only 8 distinct factions/leaders to play as (Egypt: Ramesses, Seti, Tausret, Amenmesse; Caanan: Bay and Irsu; Hittie: Kurunta and Suppiluliuma), the game is only covering Egypt’s role in the Bronze Age Collapse and ignoring the dozens of other empire-sized civilizations, and at least four campaign/faction packs are already blocked behind paywalls and “deluxe” editions of the game.
Oh, and the prices of the Standard Edition, Deluxe Edition, and Dynasty Edition are as follows: 1. $59.99, 2. $72.87, 3. $91.46.
Seeing as how the Dynasty Edition of this game, which includes an additional three factions, a DLC campaign pack (whatever that is), and a digital soundtrack (does that mean the base game doesn’t have a soundtrack?), costs nearly $100, how are we not supposed to see this as just a cash grab?
I love everything about the era, concepts, and potential this game has, but I fear it’s just going to be another useless Total War game following in the tradition of Total War: Troy, Total War: Three Kingdoms, and Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia.
I hope I’m wrong.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Creative Assembly/Sega) (Total War: PHARAOH – Announce Trailer – YouTube)
In Text Image 1: (Creative Assembly/Sega) (Total War: PHARAOH – Announce Trailer – YouTube)
