Unlike Troy, Thrones introduces some really neat concepts and feature reworks that ended up being implemented in some of the later games, including the mustering system, governors and estates, and retooled provinces. For the most part, Thrones of Britannia succeeds, but the lack of willingness to fully commit to the concept from CA hampers its place in our ranked Total War list. It doesn’t have the resources of a mainline Total War installment, yet it needs to act as a kind of experimental playground to try new systems that would inevitably flow back into the higher budget games. Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia Total War Saga: Thrones of BritanniaĪs the first official Saga game, Thrones of Britannia finds itself in an odd position. However, the narrative focus on Napoleon’s military career does give the game a unique identity and is certainly worth experiencing at least once.ġ2. The game feels too much like an apology for Empire not living up to its promises and, as a result, it ends up living in the shadow of Empire’s ambition rather than meaningfully refining the game. The biggest issues for Napoleon are the extensive unit behavioral jank, lack of scale, and limited ambition. Thinking back now, both Empire and Napoleon are prisoners of technical limitations and fewer available resources compared to Total War games after Shogun 2. When it initially released, I remember thinking that it was one of the best Total Wars, mostly because of its setting, gunpowder focus, and addition of the multiplayer campaign.
Retrospectively, Napoleon feels very much like a Saga title or a really large expansion for Empire, in the same vein as Attila for Rome 2. Publisher: Sega, Typhoon Games, Feral Interactive
Not only that, but Shogun and Medieval inevitably led to Total War’s moment to shine in 2004 and beyond, which blew these two initial offerings out of the water.ġ3. Yet, just like Shogun, Medieval has passed into the annals of Total War history as an important bookmark reflecting the developers’ willingness to learn lessons, refine, and build upon their successes. The increased scope in time also gives Medieval the advantage of illustrating the evolution of warfare during the Middle Ages in several stages, giving the game a greater sense of evolution and historical progression. Using an updated engine, Medieval refines and builds upon Shogun’s successes by adding siege battles and representing a greater variety of cultures and political actors. Medieval follows in Shogun’s footsteps, but shifts the setting to Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean. Nonetheless, Shogun has the bones that would lead to Total War’s rock solid foundation.ġ4. They are undoubtedly vital to its very existence, but compared to where the franchise is now, they are more of a novelty that has better relevance in discussion rather than in gameplay. However, I almost don’t want to put this game on the list as Shogun and its successor are what I would classify as historical artifacts of the Total War series.
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The compelling historical setting only served to ground the series and explore a less represented time and culture in military history, setting itself apart from many other strategy games, historical or otherwise. It was further enhanced by the Mongol Invasion expansion a year later, which added a new culture to the mix, pitting hordes of horsemen against the budding Samurai class and their retainers. The turn-based strategic layer gave context and an overarching goal to the player’s unification of Japan.
Shogun, released in 2000, was a first of its kind unique take on real-time strategy games with formations of units taking center stage in battles rather than single entity command a la Age of Empires or Starcraft. Yet, amidst Troy’s safe mediocrity (even compared to its Thrones of Britannia predecessor) and scant innovation, the franchise’s core remains and helps prop the game up. Worst of all, Troy’s tactical battles, which the series built itself on, are unfortunately its weakest aspect.
There are certainly interesting ideas present in the game, such as the multiple resource cash system, resource limits, and weapon mode switching, but their implementation and impact leaves much to be desired. The first game on the list, Troy, is one of the safest Total War games and as a result is one of the most disappointing games in the Total War series.įollowing Three Kingdoms’ example with the interesting and legendary Homeric Trojan War taking center stage as the game’s setting, it ends up feeling like a chopped up, compartmentalized, and lighter fantasy version of the more successful Warhammer sub-series (not surprising since it uses the same engine), albeit with a stunning and colorful presentation of the tail end of the Bronze Age. Total War Saga: Troy A Total War Saga Troy
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