It’s not just a long game, but a complex one, and one whose variety offers an unheard-of level of tweaking, personalisation, and replayability. If it feels like it’s taken a long time to discuss how to even win at Total War: Pharaoh, that is intentional. Again it allows you to tailor your game to how you want to achieve victory. You earn these points for claiming the crown, conquering cities, and achieving other criteria and you can check your progress at any time. Achieving a set amount nets you a Minor Victory, earn more to net a Major Victory, and then achieve a hat full for that elusive Ultimate Victory. That’s because Victory is awarded by collecting Victory points. ‘May just’, indeed, because even victory is a nuanced and selective beast in Total War: Pharaoh. Survive this onslaught and you may just see victory. This means everyone’s nemesis, the Sea Peoples, will appear and raid and pillage your land for giggles, and the more desperate the Pillars situation, the stronger and more numerable their advances may be. Before long the entire land can be plunged into collapse if you’re not careful. The trouble is, as factions vie for land, these centres get destroyed and need to be rebuilt which lowers their standing and they take time to return to their former glory. The more upgraded these are, the more stable society is. This is a metric of stability and is maintained by upgrading the main culture centre of each area think the main capital building. While doing this you’ll need to keep your eyes on another central mechanic: the Pillars of Civilisation. But even after this selection, I could still tailor how I went about conquering new lands – would I garner support from the locals and rally them to my cause, or sow seeds of division from within? One time a balanced approach of the two allowed me to capture the city without a battle even taking place. Will you choose the aggressive Thutmose III to emulate to capture new regions with ease or perhaps the diplomatic Hatshepsut for significant trade boosts around the land? On my first playthrough, I opted for Thutmose, seemingly the most relatable to my general plan for domination in most Total War games. You are however locked in with your selection for the whole campaign. Various buildings and wonders can be constructed to boost your validity, as can your scheming in the Royal Court by concocting plots against other court members and currying favour with others to further your position.Ĭontinue your campaign and you’ll unlock Ancient Legacies, which give you the option to emulate ancient Egyptian heroes and receive various boons based on who you choose. Being a raging warlord isn’t the only way to leverage legitimacy though. In practice, it’s a method of ranking your current success against enemy factions. This spreads respect among the lands for your name and thus improves your legitimacy for the top position in the land – whichever one you choose. The biggest thing affecting your successful ascension is a Legitimacy score a rating which mainly increases by winning battles and conquering new lands. Whilst overall victory conditions remain largely similar, it’ll mean conflict on a different area of the map and different aspects of the game will alter slightly depending on your decision. You can also go the way of the Great King of Hatti, an area to the north and east that threatened to end the Egyptian civilisation during its Bronze Age. First, as you progress with your expanding army, you have to decide if you actually wish to contest the throne of Pharaoh, because that isn’t your only option. There have always been different approaches to victory throughout the Total War series, but in Pharaoh, your options feel dialled up to an ancient 11. Or not, as soon becomes apparent, as Total War: Pharaoh sets its stall out slightly differently. You choose a hero and faction to plan to become the next Pharaoh after his inevitable demise. So yes, ancient Egypt is the setting this time around, with the current Pharaoh Merneptah sensing the end of his reign, and various potential successors eyeing up his vacant throne like circling vultures. And Total War: Pharaoh will have you at your busiest yet, for better and worse. You’re constantly busy, whether it’s managing your resources, taking part in large battles, or simply considering which adversary to undermine next. Not least because of its ancient Egyptian origins, but because it encapsulates pretty well the ethos of the Total War series. “Be industrious, let thine eyes be open, lest you become a beggar, for the man that is idle cometh not to honor.” It seems appropriate to open a review for Total War: Pharaoh with the following proverb:
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