The city of Troy is most well known for its historical significance in the Iliad, Homer’s epic story of gods and heroes in ancient Greek myth, or is it? Troy does exist and was once indeed a real life city. Although time has not been kind, nor were the various sieges the city had been subjugated to. It is said there are in fact nine layers of the city’s foundations, having been rebuilt multiple times over the centuries. For a franchise like Total War to visit this period of history, it creates the perfect goal of any campaigner’s dream. Either sack Troy just as the ancient Greeks had done, or rewrite history, and drive back the foreign invaders into the Aegean Sea.

Similar to Total War’s last entry in the series, Troy lavishes itself in the romance of the period and leans heavily into the myths and half-truths that have been perpetuated for millennia. This makes for a visually vibrant era, the Bronze Age being a time of glorious conquests and constant fighting amongst the Greek city states. It also elects to utilise the famous figures of legend, taking full use of there archetypal roles to serve as gameplay modifiers that make each campaign feel surprisingly unique.

Greek heroes are known for their great deeds and achievements. However, people often forget the intentional flaws these figures portrayed. Achilles is no doubt the most famous, fitting very much with his entire character of wanting to be remembered forever. So far so good. Achilles was a great warrior and leader of men; swift footed and skilled. But Achilles was also incredibly emotional, letting his anger get the better of him. Anger that could turn into bouts of rage or bouts of intense sadness. These excessive emotional traits provide the groundwork for integrated gameplay mechanics.

Should you choose Achilles campaign, you will need to constantly monitor Achilles temperament. You’ll be making sure he is maintaining his superiority on the battlefield, and isn’t standing idle for too long lest his battle prowess be questioned by a rival faction. This behavioural mechanic both forces and encourages you to play in a more aggressive manner, essentially aligning your motivations with Achilles’. Each Hero has their own emotional traits that change the way the faction plays in interesting enough ways that makes each campaign feel fresh and new, despite possibly sharing the same unit rosters and buildings.

Total War isn’t exclusively about waging war, sometimes it requires a more diplomatic approach. For players who opt to go for more pacifistic strategies, choosing to befriend your rivals rather then conquer, diplomacy still remains a viable option. While diplomacy can often be hit or miss in terms of its user friendliness, Troy’s options make for a seamless experience that provides efficient ways to quickly negotiate deals with other factions, while also offering the granularity of picking and choosing what agreements you wish to pursue as well as offering useful data to help you in making those decisions.

Resources especially play a much more vital role in Troy, with gold no longer being the main currency for recruiting units and building your settlements. Each resource can be found across the map, and are generated at varying degrees of efficiency as well as plentifulness. However, your AI allies will sometimes try to bargain for these rare resources while at the same time offering little in return. This can lead to trade offers that really shouldn’t be made, and if you happen to have an excess of a particular resource, expect every faction to demand you give them a piece of that pie on every turn end. So much like a lot of things that have plagued the Total War series for years, it’s good but not perfect.

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Troy: A Total War Saga has set the benchmark of what to expect from the rest of the Saga series moving forward. While not all of the series’ bug bears have been completely amended, the game makes enough changes and improvements to make Total War feel fresh and exciting again. The historical setting of Troy being chosen was genius, and I’m amazed this era hadn’t been covered sooner. The continued expansion and polishing of role-play mechanics continues to get better and better. My only wish would be that we one day get a Total War game that contains a narrative so expertly told, that battles will carry more emotional weight, resulting in a more emergent story. If you’ve been on the fence about picking this one up, I highly suggest that it’s at least worth your time to check it out if you managed to grab it for free from the Epic Games Store. Otherwise, it’s still a solid purchase for Total War veterans as well as newcomers.