Total War: Pharaoh Review (Helix)
I've been playing Total War since Shogun 1 in 2000. Seen it all at this point. This is a pretty good game. Not the best TW, but not as bad as the brigaders and bandwagon haters with 0.9 hours of gameplay are saying.
The game shares a lot of DNA with Troy, but it's tremendously expanded from Troy, mechanically. Think...Napoleon to Empire. Or Atilla to Rome 2. The core is there, and you'll feel it. But this is bigger and better in every way. The campaign strategy mechanics are robust and deep, layering on with each successive year of game time passing. The number of 'plates to spin' as you balance your strategies is exciting, and MUCH more than Total WARHAMMER, TROY, or most other recent games....although Three Kingdoms still has it beat there.
Each faction feels distinct, each culture feels very distinct. There's lots of unit variety. People who complain about 'floaty' and 'light' units in battle are only commenting on early game, because 'light' tier 1 units do move fast and shift positions quickly. Once you get to the slower, heavier, more orderly Tier 2 and Tier 3 troops the weight changes significantly. Battles are a tad too fast for my taste, but that's been a problem with every TW since Shogun 2. At least battle maps are VERY interesting--terrain and topography vary greatly. The battlefields are far more technically complex and interesting to fight on than Warhammer, and the changing battlefield states (weather, etc) are very cool.
Presentation of the game is top-notch. It's a beautiful and crisp game, the art and UI are top notch, the audio design is fantastic, and the music is enthralling. In battles you hear the thrum and stampede of your troops moreso than any other recent title. Things have weight and bass to them. On the campaign map the hissing cicadas, squawking flamingos, creaking fishing boats, and tinking sounds of blacksmiths at work on Bronze is so crisp and immersive.
The setting is super well-explored too. As a fan of ancient Egypt, the land of Pharaohs and the story of their flashpoint at the end of the Bronze Age is super flavorful, and CA Sophia did a spot-on job representing the era and getting the flavor rounded out!
The game's biggest drawbacks, IMO: Battles are too fast, the resource/trade system is a bit cumbersome (but still a nice evolution on generic 'trade agreements'), the battle graphics don't do a whole lot to help you distinguish between masses of fleshy shirtless dudes (so you can't see battle lines clearly or tell who is who), and the campaign is linked to immortal hero characters who can only ever be 'wounded'. I don't love that. Shogun 2 focused on a tight and specific period of time (the rise of Tokugawa) but it let people die, and it let alternate stories get told....
Overall I agree with IGN's 80/100 score, personally. This is a very good TW game and a very good strategy game. It's not the greatest and it's a far cry from Three Kingdoms, Medieval 2, or Atilla / Rome 2 (after 3 years of patching lol). But it's still worth playing for Total War fans. A lot of people are conditioned by their favorite youtuber/streamer to hate this game, and the typical talking points are mostly hollow. A lot of criticism just comes from people angry about Warhammer 3's DLC pricing, or people upset that this game wasn't Medieval 3 / Empire 2. Or they think this is a SAGA title, despite this game being far larger and more varied than Shogun 2.
This game won't redefine TW for you, but it's a robust strategy game with fantastic mechanics, good pacing, great presentation, and plenty of reasons to come back. It's immersive, it'll get you interested in ancient Egyptian/Hittite history, and I'm also excited to see what modders do with it. The Steam Workshop is ALREADY active with no wait/delay. The battles are flawed in some ways, and the focus on each faction's 'main character' make this *feel* smaller in scope than it actually is. I'm sure once they start adding DLC factions and FLC content, people will stop crying about breadth.
Hopefully folks enjoy! If you're the type of person (like so many others here) who spend more time trying NOT to enjoy games, trying to find flaws in games, or are someone who falls for bandwagon groupthink easily, then don't bother. If you're a Chad video game enjoyer, then you're going to feel this is money well-spent.