The Total War series gives its fans a solid turn-based/RTS hybrid experience with each passing entry, without much deviance from its distinct-yet-formulaic gameplay. Although A Total War Saga: Troy falls in line with this uninspiring description, its unique characteristics help it stand out as one of the better games of the bunch. It falls short of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Three Kingdoms, but nevertheless Troy delivers one of the most immersive Total War experiences yet by way of fantastic aꦚrt and animation, dedication to Iliadic themes, and period-accurate assets.
Troy’s Got Style
Troy has some of the best art and animation I’ve seen from Total War. No one element will drop your jaw, but there are enough de🌞tails that add up to form a great-looking game. The infantry-focused fighting boasts a vast array of unique soldiers. Their shields, armor, weapons, fighting animations – it’s all a testament to Creative Assembly’s dedication to recreating Bronze Age military aesthetics. After a battle concludes, respective heroes﷽ from each side are shown in an intense 1v1 brawl, with the victorious army’s general slaying the other. It’s a fun, creative way to have the player feel good about winning – or terrible about blundering an army.
I have to say, with what I got to see from 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Crusader Kings III and now Troy – each have beautiful overworld maps. Troy’s grand map of the Aegean is easy on the eyes. Deep blue seas and scattered coastal landscapes create a captivating environment to navigate and conquer. Bringing the camera towards the horizontal plane will reveal a shadow puppet-esque mountainous backdrop. Additionally, the undiscovered areas of the world are represented by worn parchment, melting away as if the paper were burning as you explore it. All of these subtle nuances help Troy feel like a handcrafted, Homeric adventure.
Pacing Isn’t Perfect
The overall pacin🅰g of the campaign offers a few concerns. As someone who enjoys base development and resource management, I was left only moderately satisfied. I enjoyed the variety of structures, benefits, and resources there were to acquire, but a few issues left me feeling underwhelmed. Early game resource management is a delicate balancing act. Once you control a few provinces, however, these materials become a negligible part of the campaign. By late game, they become nothing more than something that AI neutrals/allies constantly pester you over.
Additionally, I don’t enjoy mechanics tha༒t incentivize ending turns over and over. This is largely a personal preference of course, but if the sole cost of an unlockable ཧis waiting, I become unengaged. You want to issue a provincial decree? Sure, just wait eight turns and it’s done. To me, it doesn’t necessarily feel creative, tactical, or rewarding – it just becomes a patience exercise.
That being said, the slow conquest of the Aegean is nonetheless a good struggle. Messy relationships with factions, straddling Homeric and classic victory conditions, earning the favor of the gods – it all adds up to form a unique Total War experience.
Respectable Variety & Replayability
I have to commend Creative Assembly for their thoughtful applications of Iliadic themes throughout the game. Troy offers an intriguing cast of heroes to play as, giving playe🍌rs a solid incentive to try multiple campaigns from different perspectives. Further, the Divine Will tab and ability to construct shrines to various mythological gods was one of my favorite new mechanics.
While not execute🌳d perfectly, the hero system is implemented respectably well. Traits and skill trees had me interested enough to want to continue grinding the levels of my heroes and other special units. There was plenty of utility in having a well-leveled spy creeping about in the overworld, but I 🌃found that heroes themselves were more bark than bite in battle. In fact, I was more enamored with faction-specific and mythical units. Curiously enough, mythical units (such as the Minotaur) are portrayed as humans – a sober take on the Iliad’s fantasy elements.
Regarding battles, unit variety is fairly limited to foot-soldiers. Although this sounds dull on the surface, it causes chariots, cavalry, and other special units to stand out much more when present. This reduction to infantry-based fighting actually drew out some creativity from the developers, as there are plenty of unique units available to employ. As is often the case in Total War manual battles, positioning reigns supreme in determining the outcome. There is some amazing, varied terrain to fight in, but it does feel quite familiar at the end of the day. Funnel the enemies into a chokepoint, engage them with higher numbers, fight from the high ground – rinse and repeat. That’s not to say the fighting is too monotonous, bu🐽t when heavily favored, I tended to simply auto-🦋battle my way through most engagements.
Stepping back out, A Total War Saga: Troy is a game that fans of the series should still pick up. Its tutorial system is decent enough to welcome newcomers too, but its status as an Epic Games Store exclusive will undoubtedly limit the number of eyes that fall upon it. If you’re a veteran RTS/grand strategy fan that is looking for something that innovates – Troy won&🌊rsquo;t fully satisfy your appeti🌌te, but it will entertain.
A PC copy of A Total War Saga: Troy was provided to TheGamer for this review. A Total War Saga: Troy is available now for PC.
A Total War Saga: TROY
- Released
- August 13, 2020
A Total War Saga: Troy follows Thrones of Britannia as a spinoff to Creative Assembly's main Total War series, and was launched on PC in 2020. It uses the same turn-based RTS gameplay as its predecessor, and focuses on the battle between the Trojans and the Achaeans.