You’d like to finish, the end game should be your crowning achievement, the last bump in difficulty as you summit the mountain, but in so many strategy games the endgame falls completely flat. 

Alternatively, you may be playing relatively early on in a campaign, perhaps only a few dozen turns or a few years into the campaign, and you realize, you’ve won. You didn’t really win, not by the game’s conditions. You’ll still have to achieve 3 objectives or conquer 100 cities. But you know it’s over, the AI will never be able to catch up. 

According to steam achievements, only 9.2% of Europa Universalis IV players have finished a full campaign, of course, this only counts people playing in ironman, which is a percentage of the player base but still, even 50% would be low. Only 2.0% of Crusader Kings II players have done the same. 

Why do we get this feeling with strategy games? Well, the answer lies in Problem Solving and Possibility.

‘Possibility’ is when at the beginning of a game there are nearly endless outcomes for how the game could progress. You don’t know whether you will get crushed out of the gate, have a great start, or have to struggle for your footing. This is what makes strategy games so fun, you don’t know what’s going to happen but can influence events to try and mold them to your benefit. 

That’s why the start of a new campaign is so fun, you don’t have time to build up or prepare and have to scramble against the immediate dangers you face while also setting you up for long-term success. You’re solving problems without specifically knowing what the outcomes will be, this is what distinguishes a strategy game from a puzzle game. 

Many of these games, like Total War: Warhammer, with its Chaos Invasion, or Europa Universalis with its revolutions mechanic, have endgame mechanics specifically meant to guard against the lack of challenge but even these can fall flat. 

Uncertainty

Possibility is important for the continued interest in a game’s outcome. A competitive match with two teams neck-and-neck is far more exciting than one team crushing another.

When you begin a game in Europa Universalis or Civilization much of the map is unexplored. This is compounded in Space 4X games like Stellaris where you only can see your own solar system and will need to explore the entire galaxy. 

This creates an air of uncertainty, what empires will be out there in the unknown. As the map opens up and you discover more lands that uncertainty will shrink, as you adapt to solve the problems presented. Eventually, you’ll grow large enough that nothing on the map poses an existential problem to your empire. 

The fact that these possibilities exist forces us to solve problems, and when the situation changes we are forced to adapt our solutions. Once you are no longer solving problems and simply going through the motions. 

Problems

Part of the challenge in most strategy games comes from competing against AI opponents. While the challenge here can’t match that of playing against a skilled human opponent, single-player campaigns are often the main focus of strategy games. 

Rapid Expansion

A huge portion of the problem is that players are able to quickly conquer their neighbors and move out of the initial phase of uncertainty into a more stable position. While this is the natural progression of most strategy games, as you build up resources, and begin to claim more territory, having it happen too fast can lead to the game feeling arcadey, or unfulfilling. 

If all existential threats have been eliminated too quickly and begin to outpace the AI the rest of the game is a foregone conclusion. There are two main factors that contribute to this: Poor AI and a lack of internal challenges. 

Poor AI

If I know I can overcome the AI then my success depends more on RNG than on strategic thinking. Take Civilization, if you’re reasonably familiar with the Civilization AI then you likely know enough tips and tricks to beat it.

The challenge here comes not from solving problems against the AI, you already know the solutions you are going to use but in managing the randomness that occurs during a game. This isn’t bad in its own right, it can force you to change direction, adapt, and overcome. 

But if this is the only challenge being presented the game can feel cheap or unfair. If you’re not given the tools to deal with this randomness it can feel just as meaningless as having no possibilities. 

Only having external challenges

The other factor, which is likely much easier for game designers to solve is to add internal stressors which slow down expansion. Most games have this in some form of Population Happiness, which if it dips too low can lead to rebellions.

This is definitely not a great solution. But it’s almost ubiquitous in strategy games, and often does little to slow players down besides providing annoyance. Other games have infamy modifiers which are basically just the game telling you to put your conquests on hold for a bit, again not ideal.

Instead, let’s look at Crusader Kings 2. In CK2, every province you own can either be controlled by you or another noble(assuming you’re the king). 

These nobles have their own agendas and will often oppose your plans to expand the kingdom. You’ll have to befriend, bribe, or assassinate these internal rivals to get your way.

It takes time out of your outward-looking conquests and forces you to stabilize internally. Now for Crusader Kings 2 other factors allow you to blob quickly, but the vassal system is a good idea of how to try and prevent this sort of thing.

Europa Universalis IV has the Aggressive Expansion modifier, which if it reaches 50 with any nearby country will have them form a coalition to oppose you. These coalition wars can be monstrously difficult since you can’t break up the coalition, they all fight to the bitter end.

But experienced players know how to avoid them entirely, and even when you lose a coalition war, it will likely only be a setback as the coalition will disperse and you’ll be able to continue expanding once your back on your feet. 

Endgame Crisis

Some games get around this by drastically ramping up the difficulty at the end. Frostpunk features an endgame crisis that presses players to adapt, make compromises, and tests their preparedness by essentially ramping everything up to 11.

This is a trick that only works once thorough, once the card is on the table you’re able to prepare for it with ease in your next game. 

Other games like Stellaris and Battle Brothers feature multiple types of crisis which can randomly occur in the endgame. For Stellaris, this can be anything from an extragalactic invasion to an AI Uprising.

Battle Brothers see you confronting Undead Hordes or an Orc Invasion. These force you to switch up your tactics, you can’t prepare to only fight undead because you could have to face the dreaded orcs. They keep the ending interesting to a degree.

Another example would be Europa Universalis which doesn’t have an official endgame crisis per se but both the revolution mechanic and the likely trajectory of the Ottomans and France will mean you’ll be facing steep challenges at the end of the game.

These happen more organically than the set-up crises of other games but the problem with these is no different, it’s a card that only works once. Experienced players who’ve seen what damage the Ottomans can do, will try and take them out as early as possible before they can snowball into a superpower. 

Being able to prepare for endgame crises often ruins the effect they meant to have, they’re a trick that works once, and then they’re a known factor. They also can feel cheap on the first attempt if you don’t know what’s coming.

Perhaps you were having a fun pacifist campaign in Stellaris learning the ropes, and suddenly you’re being overrun by a Robot empire intent on wiping out all organic life. You couldn’t have known that was going to happen and once you do you’ll know it in the next game. 

Another type of endgame crisis could be seen in Rome Total War, where when playing as Rome, the factions you’ll be fighting against in the endgame, are your allies for the entire game, the other Roman factions.

You’ve been fighting the whole game against inferior foreign troops and now you’ll be forced to fight armies with the same crack legionaries you’ve been fielding.

The factions are there the whole game so you can see their progress as they conquer their way across the ancient world.

Instead of them coming from off the map or changing the rules of the game, they’re actually your allies.

While the Rome Total War AI hasn’t aged well the concept that your allies will eventually be your greatest enemies is an interesting one. 

Solutions

For most strategy games, you won’t want to stop players from expanding all together, just make their expansion a more balanced, so that they can’t outpace the AI. One of the best ways to do this is by forcing players to change their tactics.

This means presenting them with new problems that they won’t be able to solve in the same way. Endless Legend does this with the diversity of its factions.

Due to the different unit types and abilities of the many factions, you can’t approach fighting any of them the same way. 

Other games condense their campaigns into manageable chunks. While Civilization and Total War campaigns can last for hundreds of turns, Hearts of Iron IV has a campaign that lasts only for a few in-game years.

This makes it much more manageable for players and for developers to throw different challenges at the player.

In Hearts of Iron 4, the early game is about building factories, managing production lines, and securing political cabinet appointees. Once World War 2 starts it becomes a wargame, with most of the factory building behind you.

This ensures the parts of the game feel distinct and yet the player isn’t stuck in either phase long enough for it to drag overly long. 

Another option would be for there to be clear threats differences between local, regional, and global challenges as the game progress, with nearby nations being relatively easy to take out while once you’ve progressed to being a global empire, you’ll need to work much harder to win against your opponents.  

Survival strategy games deal with this problem explicitly, making the whole game that initial period of most games where you’re one mistake away from losing everything. Jon Shafer’s At the Gates puts you in the role of a tribe struggling to survive on the borders of the Roman Empire. Rimworld and Frostpunk do something similar.

Forcing you to struggle for resources every step of the way, often putting environmental challenges in your way. Winter, being a favorite, as you can’t grow any food and will need to carefully prepare for it. Games like They are Billions take this to the next level, pitting you against increasing waves of zombies with the challenge being how long you survive.

Conclusion

Most of these games I’ve mentioned are great in their own right, and this isn’t meant to detract from them in any way, just to acknowledge areas that need improvement.

Additionally, some of the potential solutions I’ve mentioned are in games that suffer from many of these problems. The goal then is to create a game with intention and balance that you can have multiple of these systems competing to stop the player from becoming too strong. 

In many games, especially strategy games the goals are whatever you want them to be. I’m not arguing we need to be all be finishing every campaign. But there are mechanics, like let’s say in Europa Universalis IV that only appear in the end game, and most players miss because there’s no challenge by that point, and that’s a shame.

This also isn’t to say that blobbing or expanding rapidly is in any way bad, it only becomes a problem when not met with any consequences. Your actions in expanding should gain you enough rewards to push you outward but also contain enough constraints so you can’t do it perpetually. 

Let me know what you think about finishing campaigns, the problems and solutions I mentioned here! 

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Star Wars: Fallen Republic releases today on the Steam Workshop: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2195523300

The mod features: “With numerous potential starting maps and over forty playable empires to pick from, you will take the reigns of your empire of choice and lead them from the very start of the Galactic Civil War to the Battle of Endor and beyond.”

Here is a following list of Features: 

• A lore-accurate map of the Star Wars galaxy with over 1300+ stars in the official map with several smaller maps included for better performance.
• In-game menus to change the rate of habitable planets to further enhance performance in the mid-to-late game.
• 40+ playable empires
• 140+ ship models from the Star Wars galaxy
• Lore-accurate shipsets for your favorite empires from the Galactic Civil War including the Galactic Empire, Rebel Alliance, Mandalorian Clans, Corellian Security Force, Confederate Remnant, Chiss Ascendancy, Corporate Sector Authority, and Hapes Consortium.
• An entirely new tech tree complete with Star Wars technologies
• 115+ unique species from the Star Wars galaxy

• Lore-accurate Star Wars-themed dig sites and events
• Unique Institution system to aid your empire in its ascension to galactic prominence
• Enhanced fighter and bomber usefulness to reflect their effectiveness in the lore
• Star Wars-themed megastructures including Deep Space Stations, Cloud Cities, and Asteroid Bases
• Collaboration with Planetary Diversity and Real Space to expand and improve galactic generation
• New Federation types to reinforce the state of the Galaxy in 19 BBY
• Formables; a mechanic that enables the player to adopt a new style of play during the mid-to-late game by forming an entirely new empire
• Hand-crafted namelists for all of the major and minor entities and species
• Yuuzhan Vong end-game crisis
• New interpretations of vessels and starbases referenced in old Star Wars works
• Custom hyperlane mechanics to ensure that travel reflects what you might commonly find in the Star Wars galaxy, including a mechanic that seals off the Unknown Regions for a time until hyperlanes can be found in and out of the region.
• Custom textures for many of the iconic Star Wars worlds
• New outlier inspired by the work of Tiny Outlier v2.0
• New relics from classic EU stories and games
• Overhauled economy with new, lore accurate, Star Wars resources such as hypermatter and tibanna
• New planetary features for old worlds and new
• New civics, authorities, and species traits to allow for more diversity among the encountered populace of the galaxy

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The DLC will release on September 3rd, 2020.

This new DLC is focused on the southern portion of the map, an area that was severely underpopulated in terms of characters, compared to northern China.

4 new playable factions each with their own unique mechanics, with 19 new factions overall populating southern China

25+ new units including exciting and formidable animal units

New ferocious character artwork

New Nanman-specific tech tree with keystone technologies requiring missions to be completed

A completely new character progression style, with feats, used to unlock traits

Unique missions and narrative events bespoke for the Nanman culture

One goal to ‘Unite the Tribes’, but how will you achieve it, through diplomacy or conquest?

Playable in 190 and 194 start dates

from Steam

The campaign will feature the jungles of Southern China. With the new campaign focusing on the unification of the Nanman tribes under one of the new four Legendary Lords.

The four new lords will be: Meng Huo, King Mulu, Lady Zhurong, and King Shamoke.

Each will have their own unique mechanics and special units(From Steam):

Meng Huo

Having risen through the ranks of the Nanman tribes, Meng Huo has gained repute for his fierce but stubborn leadership. Loyal to his friends but merciless when it comes to his enemies, his tenacity garners him as much trouble as it does success. With one goal in mind – becoming the king of the Nanman – Meng Huo must look to his neighbors to help spread the flames of his rule.

King of Kings

When Meng Huo takes control over another Nanman faction, either by making an alliance or destroying them, he gains certain temporary bonuses. These bonuses can also be stacked, creating a rolling momentum that will surely bring Meng Huo the kingship he desires.

Unique Units:

• Nanzhong Champions: A cut above your usual shield-wielding infantry – perfect for holding your frontline steady as a rock in the face of incoming missiles
• Nanzhong Elephants: Drummers sit atop these mighty elephant units, playing rhythms that provide passive buffs to your nearby units. Use them to wreak havoc on the frontline or pull them back to provide support for your units
• Nanzhong Spearmen: The eye-catching rattan armour these spearmen wear provides defense against any errant darts headed their way, leaving them free to focus on any incoming mounted foes

Lady Zhurong

A descendent of the god of fire, sparks fly when Lady Zhurong enters the battlefield. With a hot temper and an iron will, she seeks to expand her lands, and remove any obstacles in her way. Her passion seems impossible to rival, but there may just be allies closer than she thinks.

Goddess of Fire

Across the seasons, Lady Zhurong accumulates points toward her Goddess of Fire mechanic. Once enough points have been gathered, players have the ability to activate her Wild Fire bonus; this formidable bonus makes her units near unbeatable in battle. The bonus changes according to the season it is activated within, and these powerful effects last across a series of turns. Once Wild Fire has burned out, Lady Zhurong is vulnerable for a short period and will need to recover before she can fight again without weakness, so time your expansion wisely.

Unique Units:

• Tiger Warriors: These axe-wielding warriors have an ace up their sleeve – their tiger companions. Use these tigers to give your opponents a scare before going in for the kill
• Followers of the Flame: What’s better than a two-handed mace? A two-handed mace that’s on fire. Engage this fiery unit in as many frontline battles as possible and watch as their damage-over-time effect causes chaos
• Tiger Slingers: While tigers disrupt your opponent’s line, these slingers will pick off any stragglers who manage to escape

King Mulu

In the undergrowth of the Southern jungle roams King Mulu, a friend to the animal kingdom, but a stranger to man. Spending time in the animal world has gained him many advantages, not least, the mighty elephants that walk by his side. Now Mulu must face his brethren, but will his pride get in the way of future partnerships?

Pride & Ritual

You know what they say, ‘Pride always comes before a Ritual’, quite literally in the case of Mulu. During his campaign he will accumulate Pride, his faction’s pooled resource, according to the rank of characters he defeats in battle. Your faction will gain lucrative bonuses to animal units, such as an increase in unit capacity and even a decrease in recruitment cost, in line with the amount of Pride you have reached. Periodically, Mulu will take part in spiritual rituals, invoking the elements to grant additional distinct bonuses for his faction.

Unique Units:

• Southern Elephants: A small band of elephants that pack a mighty punch to frontlines, accompanied by some handy slingers on their backs
• War Elephants: A more heavily armored elephant unit used best to charge into enemies, also accompanied by slingers
• Ravine Warriors: These frontline warriors are ready to clean up after any elephant-related carnage with a weapon in each hand

King Shamoke

Shamoke’s origins may be as murky as the dense jungle he controls, but his drive for power is all Nanman. As the ruler of the five valleys, several tribes have pledged their allegiance to him, but many remain wary of the leader. The Han’s interest in him has only deepened this suspicion. With both sides in opposition, Shamoke must choose where his loyalty truly lies, and neither choice is without cost.

Unification Mandate

Shamoke’s chief concern is uniting the Nanman under his rule, and so, his faction mechanic gives him bonuses according to what unification technique the player chooses to employ. Whether you conquer, subjugate or reform, power is yours for the taking and you will be rewarded for the followers you bring to your side.

Unique Units:

• Might of the Valley: Fast two-handed axe infantry that gain large bonuses when fighting near death – watch as they flank and charge enemies into submission
• Wuling Slingers: These light-footed short-range units are able to side-step potential terrain penalties – ideal for skirmishing in dense jungle where they can quickly evade and wear down enemy units
• Wuling Fighters: Offensive-minded warriors with a health pool hardy enough to take the mightiest of blows. These fighters do best pitted against the strongest heroes

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The mod takes place after the fall of the Galactic Republic depicted in Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith.

The mod certainly looks promising and I have a feeling I’m going to be playing this for a long time.

Star Wars: Fallen Republic releases on August 19th, 2020.

Announcement Trailer:

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With the new Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movie coming out this year it’s a great time to reflect on how Dune changed the face of strategy gaming. The game I’ll be looking at today though, Dune Generations, is not coming out anytime soon though.

Dune’s RTS history starts with Dune II, one of the first real-time strategy games to come out, to the Emperor: Battle for Dune. Another RTS which came out in 2001, Dune has greatly impacted the strategy game landscape.

But the Dune universe could be more than just the dusty plains of Dune itself. Where the games and most of the books were set. Dune Generations billed itself as expanding the universe in the grandest way possible. 

Dune Generations sought to be a real-time massive multiplayer strategy game. Players would control one of the Great Houses of the Imperium, ruling their worlds in a massive persistent galaxy. 

The game would feature both ground and space combat and would have allowed for battles of nearly 500 units. Which for a 2001 MMO would have been impressive. You would have been tasked with building up your military forces and increasing your House Prestige in the eyes of the Emperor. 

Dune Generations would have featured diplomacy with other players and NPC factions, like The Guild. You could also seek the protection of stronger houses or engage in mutually beneficial trade. 

A Player’s ultimate goal would have been to seize control of the most valuable planet in the galaxy, Dune, where all the Spice in the Imperium is mined. 

Previous Dune Games

Dune Generations sounded like a truly engaging experience. Being able to persistently build the fortunes of your house while engaging in RTS battles on both land and space sounds incredible and extremely ambitious. 

Players would have to manage dynastic politics, espionage, trading, alliances, and warfare. It all sounds too good to be true. 

From an interview with Gamespot, the developers stated:

“A player’s house can be challenged when he’s not connected. However, we favored the player’s protection when they’re not online. Guilds and mercenaries are also present to protect disconnected houses.”

The team sounded proud of their accomplishments with the AI factions noting that:

“We can promise one thing: Players who are already thinking of tactical battles against NPCs (nonplayer characters) as a simple formality are in for a surprise.”

They drew their inspirations from both the novels and Dune II. Though they considered that the game had strayed too far from the themes and atmosphere of the books. Which were often more about espionage and politics than outright warfare. 

The inclusion of engaging non-warfare elements is something notoriously difficult to pull off in Strategy games. But their inclusion meant that this could be a game that could finally mirror the novels. And this would put you in charge of a true House, instead of just another warring faction. 

The developers said:

“We decided to use our unique storyline based on Frank Herbert’s universe. Players will see references to the characters (the Fremen, the emperor, and so on–but won’t be able to play them, as they are NPCs) and to the same general intriguing storyline. As players enter the game, they will discover new missions, as we wanted to add a new dimension to the game.”

In terms of warfare, the game would have had almost 40 different units including infantry, spaceships, and vehicles but planned to add more after the game launched. 

You could also choose a focus for your house, which would impact the type of structures and units you could produce. The three concepts that you could choose between were: military, commercial, or mercenary. 

The developers elaborated on the differences: 

“The trader family offers a game more oriented toward commercial strategy and resource management.  The warrior family will focus more on military power. As for the third family, the mercenaries, it is mainly based on action and battles. One of the great innovations of Dune is the way the talents of the player’s followers are used.”

Dune Generations would have featured a variety of characters within each house. Your leader, family, and advisors would all be able to gain experience and leverage their skills for the overall benefit of the family.

“Intelligent use and management of these human resources benefit the progress of the house and create a broad range of potential strategies for playing the game.”

The developers wanted to focus on three main areas players would have control over military and economic development, resource management, and dynastic politics. 

This sounds like the making of a great game. Although how they would have pulled all this off in just a single-player game would have been impressive. Nevermind the fact they were trying to have thousands of players doing this simultaneously.

The early game would have consisted of mastering your own homeworld. Exploiting its minerals and setting up a viable base to go out and dominate the universe.

There would have been vastly different types of planets that would have leaned toward different types of outputs.

You would have been able to sell these raw resources for other goods your planet lacked such as food, technology, chemicals, and weapons.

The player’s first mission is to master the natural resources of his very own homeworld. The mineral or agricultural assets at the player’s disposal will vary according to what type of planet it is. The output from exploitation projects would have been determined by the amount of energy and labor put into them.

The resulting yield can then be sold or used in the production of finished goods such as food, technology, chemicals, and weapons.

How would the game have handled the planet Dune?

“When players’ houses attain a certain level of power and command a favorable reputation in the eyes of the Imperium, they can then bid for control of the sand world and thus acquire the mining rights to the spice. The house that wins this commission gains a considerable advantage.” 

Seems simple enough powerful houses would bid for control of Arrakis to the emperor. The player who gains control of the planet is granted its benefits.

The developers didn’t go into if alliances could jointly hold the planet, or if they would be able to pool their resources to gain it.  

“Arrakis is a hostile planet, inhabited by a strange race, the Fremen. Exploitation of the spice is managed in a particular way: An alliance with the Fremen clans is necessary if the player wishes to avoid the pitfalls of Dune and mine the spice profitably. Thus, how long the house retains control of this planet depends entirely upon the player’s ability to meet the emperor’s expectations.”

It sounds like owning Arrakis would have made it a whole other game. And I wonder how much development time went into designing systems for a planet only a few players would ever see. 

Having Fremen clans on the planet would have been awesome, especially if players could recruit them for military purposes.

But again, it sounds like hugely complex systems for one planet in a game where only a few players would get to see it. 

I also wonder about how Spice production would be balanced. Would the player in control of Arrakis be constantly harassed by other players seeking to bring them down? Would it have been even worth it to own the planet? 

Or would a significantly powerful faction be able to lockdown the planet and use its resources to continue to keep the planet on lockdown, effectively sealing it off from other players?

Why didn’t Dune Generations succeed?

Cryonetworks announced the game in 2001 with a release trailer that looks promising, it looked like assets were already in place, and development was proceeding smoothly. By February of 2002, the game entered alpha testing but by July Cryonetworks had filed for bankruptcy. 

With the closure of Cryo later in 2002, the game was officially dead. Cryonetworks ultimately was forced to close due to a failure to reach an agreement with their creditors.

The End of Dune Generations

While it’s sad to see a clearly ambitious Dune game brought down by financial concerns, I have my doubts about how this particular Dune game would have worked in practice. That being said, I find myself enthralled with the concept behind the game. 

Managing economic, military, and political concerns in the vibrant Dune universe would have been amazing. If they were able to make it work it would have been truly an accomplishment in game design.

I look forward to seeing what new Dune games will come out with the release of the new movie in 2020.

I was able to find other games that took a similar approach but were able to launch like Mankind, Shattered Galaxy, and Sovereign. Which were all Sci-Fi MMORTS games which were successfully launched in the early-2000’s and had varying levels of success.  

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The game will receive a free DLC adding an entirely new faction to the game: The Amazons.

The Amazons DLC will release in December 2020 along with mod support for the game.

Adding these mythical warrior women goes hand-in-hand with their “truth behind the myth” tagline for the game.

The Amazons feature more cavalry than most factions in the base game, which will be interesting for a game where infantry play a dominate role.

Fast and manoeuvrable, Amazons’ cavalry units unlock a plethora of tactical options. Treasure your warriors and they will grant you victory on the battlefield!

The two Amazon heroes will be the sisters Penthesilea and Hippolyta.

Each sister with have their own faction with their own goals:

As Hippolyta, capture sacred regions to gather Amazon Treasures and rank up your units, improve diplomatic deals and complete Royal Decrees.

As Penthesilea, roam the world and capture new settlements with a Horde army at your side, granting you unique War Spoils to boost your campaign.

Read more on the Total War Troy Site.

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The Total War Saga series is getting its next entry into its ranks, Total War Saga: Troy. The series plans to focus on smaller-scale conflicts than the main series. So what do we know so far about this game?

The idea of the series is to replicate the smaller-scale DLC campaigns. These DLC campaigns were generally well-received. Especially the Age of Charlemagne for Total War: Attila, and Fall of the Samurai for Total War: Shogun 2. These were two great DLCs that built on the vanilla experience. While changing up the formula enough to keep it interesting.  

The previous entry, Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, received a generally mixed reception. It did bring some interesting ideas in terms of mechanics, the recruitment system especially made its way into Three Kingdoms. 

But the experience was hampered by its lack of unit balance, challenge, and all armies feeling far too similar. Hopefully, Troy will fix these problems. 

How does Total War Saga: Troy shape up?

Troy looks to remedy these missteps by following Total War: Three Kingdoms, and the Total War: Warhammer Titles. The game will mix hero units and mythological units with the historical reality of Bronze-Age Greece. 

From gameplay shown so far the game looks like a solid Total War title with an infantry focus. Cavalry was less prominent during this period, instead of focusing on lines of spearmen clashing while heroes fight epic duels. 

The graphics are more stylized than historical Total War titles tend to be. While this is a nice departure from the drab browns and grays of Thrones of Brittania. I would like to see them add a bit more of the grounded grittiness. Like that which was present in Total War: Shogun 2. A game that mixed the stylized and grounded aspects of its art style into a coherent whole. 

The game draws heavily from our main source on the period, The Iliad. The Homeric epic details the grueling 10-year long conflict between the aggrieved Greeks and the Trojans. Started over the Trojan prince Paris’ stealing of the Greek Queen Helen. 

Will It Just be One Big Siege?

Let’s go into some historical background here, Troy was a city-state located in what’s today north-eastern coast of Turkey. 

Scholars debate whether the Trojan War actually happened or whether it bore any resemblance to the Homeric Epic. So this whole period is still up for debate. Though it is confirmed Troy was a real city that archeologists found was burned to the ground several times.

In the Iliad, Paris, a Trojan Prince, steals Helen, who’s already married to Menelaus, the king of Sparta. They return to Troy and when Menelaus finds out his wife is gone, he’s understandably pissed. 

To bring his revenge on the Trojans, Menelaus calls in his brother and King of Mycenae, Agamemnon, to help him attack Troy. Note, that back then Mycenae was the most powerful of the Greek kingdoms. 

The brothers built a coalition of Greek Kingdoms to bring their wrath down on the Trojans. For both their disrespect of Menelaus and because they’d get to remove a potential rival power in the Aegean.

The Greeks besieged Troy for 10 years but were unable to take it until the hero Odysseus came up with a plan to build a giant wooden horse. The Trojan Horse as it would come to be known, and use that to infiltrate the city. 

The characters of The Iliad have become famous, especially Achilles, the greatest warrior of the Greeks. And Odysseus, a cunning strategist, who got his own spin-off sequel series The Odyssey. 

The campaign will not directly mirror the events of The Iliad. As a 10-year long single siege would get incredibly boring for players based on the Total War mechanics. Instead, the game will create a sandbox of the Aegean World allowing players to create their own heroic epics.

It’s likely that to ensure the Greeks aren’t able to just sack Troy at the beginning of the game. Troy will have a good amount of allies. While the Greeks will have to work to build the alliance that will eventually be able to overrun their enemies. 

The campaign map itself looks beautiful, it’s far more detailed than the Total War: Rome II DLC Wrath of Sparta. Which covers the same area but with far less granularity. 

“Instead of amassing loads of cash, you’ll need to procure a variety of resources to keep your empire ticking. Wood is needed for buildings, and eventually stone, and if you start running a deficit, don’t expect buildings to stay standing. Soldiers, on the other hand, need food and bronze. The rarest and most valuable resource is gold, which can be used to barter with other factions or from visiting foreign traders.”

“A larger number of specialised settlements will help you keep your stores full, though other factions will also be eyeing them up. Some sources can also be depleted, so you’ll need to be the first to exploit them if you want all the gold or wood. “

A Total War Saga: Troy won’t have ship battles, but it will have agents.

Total War has yet to make ship battles compelling and, while they did appear in Thrones of Britannia. They won’t be returning for this Saga. While ships are heavily involved, what with the Aegean taking up so much space, they’re largely for transportation.

Troy will feature agents, however, despite them being missing for a few years. Warhammer, Thrones, and Three Kingdoms all found ways to replace them, largely by giving more abilities to leaders and heroes.

They’re the usual suspects, like spies and priests, and while they won’t fight in battles. Instead, they can be sent to infiltrate cities or make the gods happy. 

“The Truth Behind the Myth” – Heroes

In creating Total War Saga: Troy the CA team had a few choices in the route they wanted to go. They could go full mythical, throwing in Cyclops, Centaurs, and Minotaurs. While allowing for the Gods to intervene in the affairs of mortals. 

Or they could go full historical. Attempting to create a realistic depiction of Bronze-Age Greece with the limited but extremely compelling archaeological evidence we have. 

They instead chose to take a mixed approach similar to that of Three Kingdoms. Heroes will be present as single-entities. With the ability to dish out death to entire regiments of infantry. While monsters like the Minotaur will be portrayed as guys cosplaying as the real monster.

These “monsters” are still beasts on the battlefield, being able to break enemy formations, but they will not be strictly “mythical”.

This follows the game’s tagline “The Truth Behind the Myth” which attempts to reconcile the historically plausible scenarios with the mythological nature of our sources.

In a recent dev diary, they state:

“In Troy we’ve created a backstory for our Minotaur that reconciles the timelines and the fact that Homeric Crete was dominated by the Mycenaeans and not the Minoans for at least two centuries after the fall of the latter… We think of our Minotaur as a rebel or bandit king who invokes the symbols of the past to make his claim for power – he uses the bull mask and the double axe as means to connect to the Minoan heritage and incite followers.”

“In the game, the Minotaur can be found and recruited in specific locations – including, of course, Crete. Thanks to his size and martial skill, the Minotaur is a daunting opponent to face on the battlefields of the ancient Mediterranean.”

Honestly, I’m a bit disappointed they didn’t make the setting one way or the other.

But I understand this “best of both worlds” approach which allows them to attract fans of the fantasy Warhammer titles and the historical titles.

But having centaurs just be cavalry and a cyclops be a naked barbarian with a club is underwhelming. We’ll just have to wait and see how well it works.

Gods will be represented in the bonuses they give to your armies and settlements. They won’t be chucking thunderbolts or sinking ships which makes sense for the half-and-half approach CA is taking here. 

How do the Quests Look?

Heroes will be able to undertake their own epic quests beyond the campaign goals.

Odysseus, for instance, gets to go on his infamous Odyssey. Taking him to Troy and back as he fights off his wife’s suitors.

Completing these quests will net heroes with legendary weapons and other benefits. Like Odysseus’ son joining the fray as a new hero. 

Units will have flanking and anti-flanking abilities. Soldiers can switch between different weapons or stances, and the environment now throws more obstacles in their way. Including muddy ground that slows them down.

Maybe your troops will get stuck in the mud, making them an easy target. But then you order them to switch from two-handed spears to a spear and shield stance. Offering them more protection at the cost of some damage.

Total War Saga: Troy = Free

The game will release as an Epic Game Store Exclusive for the first year and in a bit of shocking news:

Total War Saga: Troy will be absolutely free for the first 24 hours after release. 

This news has caused quite a stir among the Total War community with some saying that this is a move by CA to salvage a title they think will commercially flop. While others think its less cynical and more CA trying out a different platform.

From Epic Games’ point of view, this is a great move in their campaign to dislodge Steam from being the premier gaming platform on PC.

Compelling users to join their platform through a completely free offer of a game is a great way to showcase their product to people who may not have given it a look. 

That being said, I’m personally not thrilled about the Epic Game Store Exclusivity for the first year, which means Total War Saga: Troy won’t benefit from the Steam Workshop for modding.

It also re-creates the problem Steam seemed to have solved in the industry, namely, the confusion of having to log-in to multiple platforms for games or keep them all downloaded on your computer. 

While Origins and GOG have both carved certain niches for themselves in the PC platform market, we will wait and see how Epic Game store continues to try and dislodge Steam from its top spot and how it affects the reception of Total War Saga: Troy.

Total War Saga: Troy releases August 13, 2020

Also Check out our the latest news for Total War Saga: Troy DLC Here.

The post Total War Saga: Troy – Upcoming Release appeared first on StrategyFront Gaming.

I’m Connor also known as Kolya, creator of StrategyFront Gaming.

My mission is simply to create detailed reviews, guides, and various articles which will hopefully be a bit more informative and interesting than the mainstream game news sites.

I hope to stay away from the click-baiting titles and 2-minute reviews of those mainstream sites. Instead, I’ll be focusing on more in-depth discussions of strategy games.

I’ll be writing about everything from what I think are the best strategy games, to mod reviews, and more. I’ll also cover upcoming older strategy games and discussing their impact on the industry.

I’ve mainly been inspired by Youtube creators like Joseph Anderson and Mandalore Gaming. I would like to bring this level of quality and detail to my writing.

Please note that none of these posts are in any way sponsored. These are all my thoughts.

In terms of the strategy games I like, Crusader Kings II is my favorite strategy game ever, though I’ll be the first to acknowledge its flaws. The depth of the character interactions and the intrigue work just keeps me coming back.

I’ve found there often is a ton of great analysis of strategy games. Mostly on forums, in Reddit threads, and generally hidden away but little of it is easy to find. I hope to change that and further the discussion of these amazing games.

If you’re interested in detailed Strategy game content then check out my first two articles: Endless Legend Review and Total War Saga: Troy

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