Total War Saga: Troy | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Creative Assembly Sofia |
Publisher(s) | Sega |
Director(s) | Maya Georgieva |
Series | Total War |
Platform(s) | macOS, Windows |
Release | 13 August 2020 |
Genre(s) | Turn-based strategy, real-time tactics |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Total War Saga: Troy is a 2020 turn-based strategy video game developed by Creative Assembly Sofia and published by Sega. The game was released for Windows on 13 August 2020 as the second installment in the Total War Saga subseries, succeeding Thrones of Britannia (2018). The game received generally positive reviews upon release.
Like its predecessors, Total War Saga: Troy is a turn-based strategy game with real-time tactics elements. The game is set in the Bronze Age, during the Trojan War, though its scope also covers the surrounding Aegean civilizations. Real-time battles take place in large sandboxes, and players can command the infantry, hero units [lower-alpha 1] as well as mystical beasts as they battle opponent forces. There are a total of eight heroes representing the two factions (the Trojans and the Achaeans), and each hero has two unique abilities that can be used during battles. As the player progress in the game, they can also build their relationship with the Greek gods. If the approval ratings with the Gods are high enough, the player would gain gameplay benefits. [2] Outside of battles, players also need to collect sufficient resources, such as wood, bronze and food, in order to keep the army running. Agents return in Troy, and players can send priests and spies to infiltrate hostile cities. [3] Multiplayer, which supports up to 8 players, was introduced on November 26, 2020. [4]
The game is the second installment in the Total War Saga subseries, following 2018's Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia . Troy, similar to its predecessor, was designed to be a shorter but more focused game, and its scope was limited to a particular time period in history instead of being era-spanning. The lead developer is Creative Assembly Sofia based in Bulgaria, which took approximately two years and nine months to develop the game. [5] According to Maya Georgieva, the game's director, the Bronze Age was a very difficult setting to work on due to the lack of detailed historical records and sources. As a result, the team resorted to using the Iliad , an ancient Greek epic poem, to fill up the historical details that were missing. Despite the mythical elements, the team tried to make the game as historically grounded as possible. Georgieva called this approach "truth behind the myth", in which the team came up with the "most probable explanations for the myths and legends to complete the history". For instance, the Trojan horse would be an earthquake, a siege tower, or a massive wooden structure instead of a huge, wooden horse. [6] While a second "Historical Mode" was added as a Free DLC along with the "Mythos" Pack. The "Historical Mode" makes the game more truthful, adding bodyguards to leaders as "Truth Behind The Myth" has none. Along with that, it removes Truth Behind The Myth's Passive buffs from Gods and adds only slight bonuses from supporting them. [7]
Total War Saga: Troy was announced by publisher Sega on 19 September 2019. [8] It was released on 13 August 2020 for Windows via the Epic Games Store, where it was exclusively available for one year. Creative Assembly later confirmed that this was a one-off deal with Epic Games, and added that they did not plan to make future Total War games exclusive to a storefront. As Creative Assembly hoped to expand the audience of the franchise, the game was made free to claim for the first 24 hours after its release. [9] 7.5 million people claimed the game for free on that day, exceeding the developer's expectations. [10] Creative Assembly will be working with Epic to incorporate mod support upon the game's release. [11] A downloadable content pack based on the Amazons was released on 24 September 2020. [12] A Linux version was planned by Feral Interactive, but was later cancelled, citing lowered demand due to the availability of Proton. [13] [14] [15]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | 75/100 [16] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Computer Games Magazine | 7/10 [17] |
Destructoid | 7.5/10 [18] |
Eurogamer | Recommended [19] |
GameSpot | 7/10 [20] |
IGN | 8/10 [21] |
PC Gamer (US) | 75/100 [22] |
PCGamesN | 8/10 [23] |
Shacknews | 7/10 [24] |
VentureBeat | 80/100 [25] |
The game received generally positive reviews upon release, according to review aggregator Metacritic. [16]
The game was available for free in the Epic Games Store. This resulted in 7.5 million claimed copies in a single day. [10]
Following the game's release, Creative Assembly released several DLC packs for the game that added extra content such as new factions, leaders, and mission chains.
Name | Release Date | Description |
---|---|---|
The Amazons | September 2020 | Adds the playable Amazon faction and two leaders, Penthesilea and Hippolyta. The DLC was free from its release on September 24, 2020, to October 8, 2020, for owners of the base game. [26] |
Blood and Glory | October 2020 | Adds various blood and gore effects in battles and on the campaign map following high-casualty battles. Similar to the Blood for the Blood God DLC released for both Total War: Warhammer and Total War: Warhammer II. [27] |
Ajax & Diomedes | January 2021 | Adds two new factions and leaders, Salamis, led by Ajax, and Argos, led by Diomedes. In addition, new Paragon units were introduced to the game, functioning as elite variants of base units. [28] |
Mythos | September 2021 | Adds a new Mythological Mode to the game that introduces mythological creatures to the game that can be recruited or captured via Mythic Expeditions and used in the player's armies. The Lernean Hydra, Cerberus, and Griffin Patriarch can all be captured during these Mythic Expeditions. [29] |
Rhesus and Memnon | December 2021 | Adds two new factions and leaders, Thrace, led by Rhesus, and Aethiopia, led by Memnon. Both new factions have a plethora of new mechanics unique to them. [30] |
Total War is a series of strategy games developed by British developer Creative Assembly for personal computers. They combine turn-based strategy and resource management with real-time tactical control of battles. Rather uniquely for real-time strategy games, flanking manoeuvers and formations factor heavily into gameplay. The first of the series, Shogun: Total War, was released in June 2000. The most recent major game released was Total War: Pharaoh on October 11, 2023. As of April 2021, the series had sold over 36 million copies.
The Creative Assembly Limited is a British video game developer based in Horsham, founded in 1987 by Tim Ansell. In its early years, the company worked on porting games to MS-DOS from Amiga and ZX Spectrum platforms, later working with Electronic Arts to produce a variety of games under the EA Sports brand. In 1999, the company had sufficient resources to attempt a new and original project, proceeding to develop the strategy computer game Shogun: Total War which was a critical and commercial hit, and is regarded as a benchmark strategy game. Subsequent titles in the Total War series was built following the success of Shogun: Total War, increasing the company's critical and commercial success.
Feral Interactive Limited is a British video games developer and publisher for macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows platforms. It was founded in 1996 to bring games to Mac and specialises in porting games to different platforms.
Creative Assembly Sofia is a Bulgarian video game developer based in Sofia. It was founded in May 2001 by Vesselin Handjiev. In July 2008, the company was acquired by Crytek, which then sold it to Creative Assembly in March 2017.
Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain additional revenue from a title after it has been purchased, often using some type of microtransaction system.
Total War: Shogun 2 is a strategy video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega in 2011. It is the seventh mainline entry in the Total War series and returns to the setting of the first Total War game, Shogun: Total War, after a series of games set mainly in Europe and the Middle East.
Gears of War: Judgment is a third-person shooter video game developed by People Can Fly and Epic Games and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360. It was released in North America and Australia on March 19, 2013, and in Europe on March 22. It is a spin-off of the Gears of War series and a prequel to the entire franchise. The game follows Damon Baird, Augustus Cole and their squad Kilo as they are put on trial for disobeying orders just six weeks after Emergence Day.
Total War: Rome II is a strategy video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. It was released on 3 September 2013, for Microsoft Windows as the eighth standalone game in the Total War series of video games and the successor to the 2004 game Rome: Total War.
Alien: Isolation is a 2014 survival horror game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Based on the Alien film series, the game is set 15 years after the original 1979 film, and follows the engineer Amanda Ripley, voiced by Andrea Deck. Amanda investigates the disappearance of her mother, Ellen Ripley, aboard the space station Sevastopol, which has fallen into disarray due to an alien creature on the loose. The game emphasizes stealth and survival horror gameplay, requiring the player to avoid, outsmart, and fight enemies with tools such as a motion tracker and flamethrower.
Borderlands 3 is a 2019 action role-playing first-person shooter video game developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K. It is a sequel to 2012's Borderlands 2, and the fourth entry in the main Borderlands series. Borderlands 3 was released on 13 September 2019 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, and released for macOS on 30 October 2019. A Stadia port was released on 17 December 2019. Versions for the Xbox Series X and Series S and PlayStation 5 including free upgrades for users on the prior console versions were released on 10 and 12 November 2020, respectively. A Nintendo Switch version was released on 6 October 2023.
Total War: Attila is a strategy video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega, released on 17 February 2015 for OS X, Windows, and Linux. It is the ninth standalone game in the Total War series.
Total War: Warhammer is a 2016 turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega for Windows via the Steam gaming platform. The game was brought to macOS and Linux by Feral Interactive. The game features the gameplay of the Total War series with factions of Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy series; it is the first Total War game not to portray a historical setting. It is the 10th title in the Total War series and the first title to be released in the Total War: Warhammer trilogy.
Total War: Warhammer II is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. It is part of the Total War series and the sequel to 2016's Total War: Warhammer. The game is set in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe. The game was released for Windows-based PCs on 28 September 2017. Feral Interactive released the game on macOS and Linux on 20 November 2018. Total War: Warhammer II was succeeded by Total War: Warhammer III, which was released in February 2022. The game requires a Steam account to play.
Total War: Three Kingdoms is a turn-based strategy real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. As the 12th mainline entry in the Total War series, the game was released for Windows on May 23, 2019. Feral Interactive released a Linux and macOS version of the game on the same day.
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega, released on 3 May 2018 for Windows. The game was brought to macOS and Linux by Feral Interactive on 24 May 2018 and 7 June 2018 respectively. It is the twelfth game in the Total War series of video games.
Imperator: Rome is a 2019 grand strategy wargame developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. It is a spiritual successor to Europa Universalis: Rome (2008). It received generally positive reviews from critics, however development and support for the game was suspended by May 2021.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a 2022 Lego-themed action-adventure game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Games. It is the sixth installment in the Lego Star Wars video game series. The game adapts all nine entries in the Skywalker Saga series of films, with additional characters based on other Star Wars films and television series released as DLC.
Total War: Warhammer III is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. It is part of the Total War series, and the third to be set in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe. The game was announced on 3 February 2021 and was released on 17 February 2022. It received positive reviews from critics and was nominated for the British Academy Games Award for British Game at the 19th British Academy Games Awards.
Total War: Pharaoh is a turn-based strategy real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly Sofia and published by Sega. Part of the Total War series, Pharaoh is set in the New Kingdom of Egypt and its surrounding areas before the Late Bronze Age collapse. The game was released for Windows PC and macOS on October 11, 2023. Feral Interactive publishes the game’s macOS version.