Total War: Pharaoh Review

mmorpg.com:

Developer Creative Assembly has created a solid game with Total War: Pharaoh . It explores the challenge of taking on the role of a leader during the Bronze Age collapse. Would-be rulers can choose their leader from three factions: Egyptian, Canaanite, and Hittite. While the aesthetics and gameplay are fun in several ways, the overall package could be better. I have played multiple leaders now and have spent most of my time with Ramesses (Egyptian), Bay (Canaanite), and Irsu (Canaanite).        

The overall aesthetic is excellent. During my preview of Total War: Pharaoh , I was concerned about the unit models needing to be more complex on the earlier build of the game. But the release build does look better. Combined with the skybox, color palette, sound effects, and background music, it all comes together for a great initial experience. It reminded me of various movies set in Egypt with long shots of characters traversing vast desert dunes.

But as I progressed through the early game, I noticed cracks in the veneer. Some combat animations didn’t move quite right when my leader used a sword during the scenes to auto-resolve combat, but the spear animations looked great. The looped background music that initially sounded so good started to grate on me by around turn 20. I eventually had a minor headache and had to lower the volume or turn it off completely.

The initial cutscene was also fun to watch, though the bit of humor injected into the scene was an odd choice. But the other cutscenes throughout the campaign were short and disappointing. While I realize this is a Total War game, I don't expect an expansive campaign story filled with cut scenes. But what I have seen so far has been underwhelming, even with my already