Total War: Pharaoh is maybe not a huge evolution in the series

destructoid.com:

I’ve put hundreds of hours into Creative Assembly’s Total War series, starting way back with Rome: Total War. I haven’t played all the titles, but more than a few. Getting to try out the next game in the series, Total War: Pharaoh, was a tantalizing proposition. The new features they’re showing off sound pretty appreciable.

I was given the chance to preview three different battle setups within Total War: Pharaoh. Mainly, they highlight the new weather systems, but the third battle option had me defending against a siege on a city; the perfect playground to watch burn.

Having conquered the battlefield, I can tell you that this is the same Total War experience, at least when it comes to battles. Neat little rows of dudes with different strengths and weaknesses and a lot of micromanaging on the field. That’s not exactly a condemnation. The added features are noticeable and integrate so well with the established mechanics that it’s hard to believe they weren’t there in the same form before.

Total War: Pharaoh takes the series to the earliest period it has seen, the end of the bronze age. The thing about that period is that they still had swords, shields, and bows, so from a combat perspective, it’s not much different.

In the first battle, where I used the leader Ramesses against Seti, I used the same tactics that had always worked for me. I put bows in front of my line and advanced slowly until they were within range. Once I provoked the AI, I drew them back behind my lines and intercepted their charge. After a short time, Seti joined the fray. I prioritized taking down the general while maintaining my lines. Once the general goes down, it isn’t difficult to break the morale of the various groups and send them fleeing, which