Total War: PHARAOH | Review Thread

[John Elden Ring]

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Game Information​

Game Title: Total War: PHARAOH
Platforms:

• PC (Oct 31, 2023)

Trailers:

• Total War: PHARAOH - Tausret - The Strategist
• Total War: PHARAOH - Ramesses - The Paragon
• Total War: PHARAOH - First Look

Developer: CREATIVE ASSEMBLY
Publisher: SEGA
Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 67 average - 80% recommended - 6 reviews

Critic Reviews​

But Why Tho? - Kyle Foley - 9 / 10

Total War: PHARAOH is a smashing success as a grand strategy game and brings the hit franchise to a new historical era. Fascinating leaders and subplots with mechanics to match help make each play session fresh and enjoyable.

PC Gamer - Rick Lane - 80 / 100

Total War: Pharaoh's battles may be limited by history, but Creative Assembly compensates for this with a complex, thematic, and highly dynamic campaign.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Unscored

Every single change Pharaoh makes to Troy is for the better, and some changes are so good that it's going to be difficult to play any Total War without them going forward. But the fundamental issues of Total War - mainly enemy battle AI - are far too entrenched to fix in a few years, and the bronze age setting doesn't allow for enough unit variation to make up for them.

Saving Content - Lucas Moura - 4 / 5

Is Total War Pharaoh a worthy successor to the historical franchise? Yes. Total War: Pharaoh takes more steps forwards than back, and I can live with that. At least, it didn’t crash and burn like so many civilizations it portrays, so that’s something.

VGC - Josh Broadwell - 4 / 5

Total War Pharoah doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does introduce a handful of promising and sometimes deep new ways to approach the familiar formula. Combat is still hit-and-miss, but the approach to history and empire-building are among the best in the Total War series.

VideoGamer - Finlay Cattanach - 4 / 10

Total War Pharaoh is a fun game, but one that lacks ambition. It squanders its potential with meagre gameplay, story, soundtrack, and performance, and fails to add anything of note to the Total War series, or leave an impression of its identity.

But Why Tho? - Kyle Foley - 9 / 10

Total War: PHARAOH is a smashing success as a grand strategy game and brings the hit franchise to a new historical era. Fascinating leaders and subplots with mechanics to match help make each play session fresh and enjoyable.

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PC Gamer - Rick Lane - 80 / 100

Total War: Pharaoh's battles may be limited by history, but Creative Assembly compensates for this with a complex, thematic, and highly dynamic campaign.

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Saving Content - Lucas Moura - 4 / 5

Is Total War Pharaoh a worthy successor to the historical franchise? Yes. Total War: Pharaoh takes more steps forwards than back, and I can live with that. At least, it didn’t crash and burn like so many civilizations it portrays, so that’s something.

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VideoGamer - Finlay Cattanach - 4 / 10

Total War Pharaoh is a fun game, but one that lacks ambition. It squanders its potential with meagre gameplay, story, soundtrack, and performance, and fails to add anything of note to the Total War series, or leave an impression of its identity.