Total War: Pharaoh

Strategy

Time to beat: about 35.1 hours

Overview

Total War: Pharaoh is a turn-based strategy real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly Sofia and published by Sega. Part of the Total War series, Pharaoh is set in the New Kingdom of Egypt and its surrounding areas before the Late Bronze Age collapse. The game was released for Windows PC and macOS on October 11, 2023. Feral Interactive publishes the game's macOS version.

Total War: Pharaoh is a turn-based strategy real-time tactics video game. In the game, the player can choose from eight leaders, representing the game's three factions: Ancient Egypt (Seti II, Amenmesse, Tausret, and Ramesses III), the Canaanites of the Levant (Bay and Irsu), and the fragmented Hittite Empire under Šuppiluliuma II and Kurunta in Anatolia. New to the series is unit stance. Units in the game can now advance, hold (or forming a shield wall or a spear wall), and fall back. When unit falls back, they will retreat and slowly cede ground while maintaining formation and facing forward.

The game was developed by Creative Assembly Sofia, which had previously worked on Total War Saga: Troy. Described as a fully-fledged historical Total War game, the team stripped away the more fantastical elements founded in games such as Total War: Warhammer and Total War: Three Kingdoms for an experience that is more grounded in reality. Creative director Maya Georgieva added that as opposed to Troy, the game is a "fully historical title", one that is not "diluted or looking for multiple representations". The pace of battle was significantly slower when compared to Troy, with director Todor Nikolov adding that the team wanted players to make "fewer" but more "impactful" decisions, and that combat now requires less micromanagement from players.

After its initial announcement of the game in May, Total War: Pharaoh was released for Windows PC in October 2023. The game was originally announced with "Deluxe" and "Dynasty" editions that were bundled with upcoming paid downloadable content, including a campaign pack and three faction packs. In December 2023, Creative Assembly announced that these special editions would be removed from sale and that the base price of Pharaoh would be reduced from $59.99 to $39.99. Partial refunds were issued to all users who purchased the game prior to these price changes. In addition, it was announced that the first faction pack would be released as a free update for all players.

Total War: Pharaoh received "mixed or average" reviews from critics and users on review aggregator, Metacritic. As of October 2023, Pharaoh received a 'mixed' rating on Steam, with players criticizing the game for its interface and its lack of new features when compared with Total War Saga: Troy.