IT'S GOOD!? - A FULL REVIEW OF TOTAL WAR PHARAOH 

Total War Pharaoh needs more of... everything. Setting is good though. New engine needed.

Feels bad because i do think CA Sofia is truly been more innovative with less resources and time. They actually listened and tried to implement changes and old systems back based on what the community has been asking for. Such as matched combat, slower battles, and the "hold ground/push/fallback" mechanic But i worry with SEGAs financial woes and the main CA studio burning cash we will see Sofia punished for not outting together a miracle.

Total War needs: New Battle Engine where battles dont feel and look like pub brawls, better AI (saying this since 2003 or smth), more focus on economy and city building. Why the hell can we still only build max 4-5 buildings in each city??? I wanna see my cities develop, not only my armies and territory borders.

I don't have time to watch it right now, but I just wanted you to know that you're really the only RU-vidr I trust to review it, you don't play Warhammer so you don't have any biases about the recent controversies, so I know whether you think it's good or bad, it'll be an honest review

Great review, Gudea! The time period is not the problem, the execution is. TW needs a major overhaul, CA should build a new game from the ground up and stop re-using stuff from Rome 2. A new building system, larger battles which support tens of thousands of troops, deeper campaign mechanics ect.

the animation post-battle, even the unit type icons are same as Troy 😁

This a levelheaded review that frames specific criticisms by communicating your desires for what the game could have been. Not surprising I found such a great review through your Europa Barbarorum guide videos! I really hope CA makes their next Total War a tight focused experience while going back to the drawing board on the engine and gameplay mechanics.

game should be named bronze age and have 8 cultures at least. i'd despise the hollywood melodramatic narrative that plage modern tw games, bring historical narrative back

You just gave me a good review that bought you a subscriber. Pharaoh is my introduction to the Total War series. Im contemplating on getting TW Rome or Rome II due to my love for the Roman Empire along side the Egyptians.

bro this game but with the entirety of the Mediterranean Sea with historical events and such would be excellent

I still hate the idea of characters instead of polities.

Great review!

I never wanted this and was pessimistic but - it's great! Nice UI, interesting campaign, the outposts are cool. Court intrigue is nice and not too complex, RPG stuff is good, the system of reminders of things to do each turn works well. Batlle maps look great. The resources work well. Need more stone? -> capture city X or at least trade w them for it. It creates real incentives for wars rather than just " map painting" . battles run smoothly and somehow units feel more responsive than pervious titles. If they'd just add Mesopotamia or at least western Anatolia w Lydia, Lykia, Ionians Greeks etc it'd be amazing !

Undoubtedly this was another commercial fudge by CA. The game was no doubt pitched and designed to either be a SAGA title alongside Troy, or maybe an expansion to Troy. Marketing team took that, said "cool, cool, but we're making it a full price game" and they've been on the defensive ever since. I understand inflation, but really, give us the full game (including the three promised DLCs and other content) on launch and then build out the world with expansions. They've tried to have their cake and eat it here.

I love both the engine and ui in rome 1. My favorite game to this day. I would just prefer Carthage, Seleucids and Gauls to be more dangerous enemies. Especially towards Britons and Egypt who are still in prehistoric level of development

It was never going to be my favourite setting/time period, but that's a matter of taste. All history is interesting to me, so I could get into it. What really *does* bother me though, and which I'm surprised you didn't mention, is the fact that you can't play *states* any more in TW. You have play as *characters* instead, and it's just the worst thing ever. I don't want to play as a character, I want to play as the Hittite Empire or Egypt or whatever, just as it always used to be.

I didn't consider this possibility. But now that you mentioned it, absolutely, it would have been far better to have the game being set at the height of the bronze age

The Bronze Age deserved a more thoughtful treatment than this. Thanks for the review.

The fact is that it is a saga game being charged a full price. Simple as. I don’t actually see much of a future for this series as a whole anymore.

I don’t like the game myself but I’m glad to see you didn’t at least just ride the hate train for the game and actually gave a review of it

Babe wake up, Gudea posted a video!

I’m glad you made a review, I deeply appreciate your historical lenses. I’m glad Pharaoh is not a steaming mess, so it exceeded expectations, but of course disappointed they release the game like this when you have Shogun 2. As in, Shogun 2 having clearly distinct factions that are fundamentally different. Other reviews note the research trees are very similar, as in the same effects under a different name which I find to be really boring for replay value. The UI def seems bland and I wouldn’t even mind having a Rome 1 style one. It’s quick and easy to use for early to mid game. They could have used history to decorate each one like in Rome 1 BI. I also agree it’s not just the Bronze Age setting for its limitations. Instead of budget into marketing, they should of got you or other historians to show them the variety of resources, different tactics, and beliefs each nation had to really have a polished and fresh experience. Just from a basic level, immersion is increased by having accurate family trees instead of the questionable immortal general system we have here + distinct research bonuses per faction. Having that few extra months to just breathe, stop, and think retrospectively in development and say “what can we do to ensure this is fleshed out and polished?” would have made this game a lot more of a surprise that people would be happy to splurge on after hearing about it. I’m aware in reality you have corporate deadlines, but a dash of creativity would have meant more $$$ for CA, which they seem to like a little bit. Given how they gave modders a 3 month period to their kit however(correct if I am wrong), it seems they wanted them to fill it out given the progress modders have made for total war.

I still think Rome Remastered is the best thing that's come out in years. Even with dumb ai. They put so much love in the old game, it still shines through the faults

Are there still a lot of people standing around while the first few people attack ?

A full review in under 10 min? I’m going to need at least 1.5 hours plz

Thanks for the review. I’ve seen some others who dig on the game, and it seems like they are doing that so they aren’t seen as CA shills. I don’t know if I’ll get the game. I actually really like the art style, but I’m not sure I’ll like the gameplay. Especially since it’s still on the Warscape engine.

I mentioned the exact same thing on a Volound post, Bronze Age collapse being the laziest option on their part. And that, of course, warrants them to make the excuse "well there just isnt enough source material." Yea, obviously the option to make a historical game based on an era with the least amount of material to translate into a full game would be the choice for CA. The game should have taken the player through a journey of traversing through the Bronze Age, with the collapse being scripted similar to Mongol invasion. Possibly even a trigger. In terms of battle, the scale of course must be increased, not just in numbers but in theory, progression. Small bands of raiders are led by warrior king who must gain imperium to establish themself as ruler. These traits expand into birthing a vast empire. Troop management over time, transforms from raiders and skirmishes, to full on regiments and massive royal armies. Technology and industrializing armaments and communal crafts would be the breath of the campaign. Optimizing trade routes in order to funnel essential resources across your realm. On paper Pharoh is great. Its level of specific detail is inclusive, but more condusive to a randomized trait system, supported by geneology and physical action. Theyve expanded on such details on a more singular level, giving characters the persona of a city center. That should all.be conducted within the essential government buldings within the capitol. Making the captiol, the essential hub. In this regard, the provincial system actually becomes meaningful, rather than a hinderance. The capitol should have free unlimited building, and the player must decide how provinces should capilulate. And in return for loyalty, the state funds aid (or executive rule) to the outter regions. All conducted by the player, who represents the Kings title of Power. They needed to structure multiple variations of social governance. Their legacy paths are a nice addition, but theyre only included to FORCE replayability. Theyve built a game that functions like a ladder. One rung at a time, and it only goes up, or down. The only significant difference, how high? And this game ain't nothin but a step stool....

When was the height of the Bronze Age that you talk about?

Are you continuing the pharaoh let’s play?

For the engine part they should make a new engine

I agree with your review. I could forgive all of the flaws if only the map was bigger. Especially when compared to Rome 2, its simply inexcuseable. The miniscule map feels like a middle finger.

I haven't bought a single CA game since Shogun 2 except Alien: Isolation. I value my time and know how to manage my honestly earned money.

I could see myself playing this game once or twice and then being completely bored with it. You have to have the Minoans, Mycenaeans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Israelites, etc. in any Bronze Age campaign. To not include them is unpardonable. No way this is worth $60.

Did they include the Sea Peoples?

Would a 1300 BC Start Date be better?

The Unit interface bar takes up too much of the screen.

Hey Gudea, not related to the review but I want to say I’m ashamed of how the invasion of Armenia by Azerbaijan was ignored in the EU and especially here in France. Only a handful of politicians spoke for you when we have a historical duty towards Armenia. But please know that many French people stand with you, no matter what our politicians (and in my case my religious leader the Pope too) lack in courage.

Agony mod is for you

Gudea, may I use your review footage? You say exactly what I want to say and I'd like to ask your permission

sound like a Pharaoh early access that will develop into another DLC series in order to have fun or something , I'm done with Sega/CA practice, they take feature then reput it later or vice versa, been eon we say to change the ENGINE. 80$ for this , not interested .Thanks for the review.

Is the formula for a modern total war game: interesting setting + over-engineered (impenetrable ui) + hopelessly outdated engine + limited replayability? It’s a shame the Bronze Age is going to suffer as a result of this game’s failings. Knowing CA, they’re more likely to write off the setting than take a hard look at their systems. I’m probably going to skip this title. Anyways, long love Artsakh 🇪🇹🤝🇦🇲

I love the game but I do agree that CA must move away from these time periods. There is huge support for a new Empire 2 but i doubt that CA have the ambition to venture there. I believe certain high level staff at CA are obsessed with swords and arrows and thus, we have endless titles of the same slug fests. I also believe that Creative assembly, in the gaming community, can be described as "autistic" due to my as mentioned points.

glory to egypt and where is the sea peoples?

90 units per stack?? This is a joke

8:59 Yes it is ;)

@Gudea TW Feels like you are giving CA to much slack despite the lack of progress they display and the price they ask for it. just jumped in to see your take because I liked some of your takes regarding the old TWs, feels a bit disappointed. I think the fact that autoresolve is still crap, many faulty desings/exploits are still in the game with zero improvements, AI is basically the same like recent TWs but still worse than some of the older games (just saw a siege video of Medieval 2 where the AI rushed to defend breached walls, while in Pharaoh it can't hold a broken gate that can be clubbed by infantry ....), in other words, things that modders can't fix should usually be the focus of reviews... I am sure that if you are lacking more facitons or map settlements modders could add those for you, for me it's on the bottum of the list. Anyway, it's not a hate comment or even criticism , just sharing my take.

I gave up on historical titles ,I found warhammer three much more user freindly .

One of the worse things in all these new TW is playing a famous character versus playing a faction: Playing as a character doesn't make you feel like you are the ruler. Your character is the actual ruler and you are his administrator (and in battle one of his generals). The difference with crusader kings (ii or III) is that you design and/or choose your ruler's personality, polish him with your decisions, etc.... which at least makes you feel identified with him or even makes you feel like he's your puppet and you a ruler in the shadows. TW is very far from that and that doesn't make you feel POWERFUL. Being a campaign administrator, playing by CA rules that doesn't even let you choose the location of your outpost in Pharaoh, so much lack of freedom to even choose how much to build in each city, etc... makes all new TW games boring and tedious. It feels like you are working, not playing. And you can't do anything creative or a crazy funny campaign. About this video, you nailed it!! I agree with every single word in this video. Nobody explained this game better than you did! And I gave to this video a very well earned "like" 👍

Какой бы щлак не делать, но не Medieval 3.

I agree about the expansion. This is the major disappointment for me.

Battles feel like ant simulator. cant see shit.

Im going to say game isnt awfull but for sure not worth 60$...

Is it good?.......no

This trash is why i happily ignore anything after MTW2. 🙃 Bad game engine, AI and design, lovely graphics only covers up the flaws for a while.

Better than Rome 2 and warhammer… so still bad

I'm enjoying it so far - installing reshade shortly

Great review!