Total War: WARHAMMER
Total War: WARHAMMER
Game
Game2023
Total War: PHARAOH
Developer CREATIVE ASSEMBLY
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. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
366 reactions from 4 sources (Bluesky, Steam reviews, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
53
Mixed
85 positive · 75 negative
95% range 45–61%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluesky * | 16 | 11 | 138 |
| Steam reviews | 85 | 75 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 3 | 1 | 34 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 3 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mixed
2,009 of 3,120 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
53% recommend · 85 yes, 74 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 159 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mixed (3,424 of 5,427 positive).
Some players find the game overpriced and a recycled version of Troy. [1][2] Others praise the Bronze Age setting and complex campaign mechanics. [3][4][5] Many reviewers criticize the AI, combat, and lack of innovation. [6][7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [2]
This game is a recycled skin from Troy. It is a low-effort attempt at a cash grab. Yeah, they released dynasties "for free" after the game bombed upon release. This game actually had a $100 pre-order option and a decent amount of planned DLC that was cancelled upon release because no one bought it (I stupidly did). Got a refund because it got cancelled so hard. There's a reason this and Britannia are the lowest …
- [8]
Had to edit my review and try again: Put nearly 20 hours in, tried playing a number of different ways, defensive, offensive, economic style, diplomacy heavy and my verdict is: Unplayable, how anyone plays this I have no idea. Combat is unbalanced and just plain stupid you can head to head the same units and you'll lose, using units like axemen against units with shields does nothing, enemy archers just wipe your …
- [1]
This game *cough cough OVERPRICED TROY DLC cough cough" is not worth purchasing or playing - certainly not in its current state and to be perfectly ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ honest, the suicidal rhetoric coming from the company as a whole is disgusting - the idea that "providing an opinion is a privilege" is completely backwards - all because they feel entitled to good reviews and can't seemingly handle criticism from their player …
- [3]
I rarely write reviews but felt compelled to do so in this case. This is a pretty good game, 7 or 8 out of 10 for a historical title. The ambiance is a 10/10. Going for the bronze age was a bold move and if you're a real history fan you should really appreciate that, certain periods are so overrepresented and this is certainly not one of them. Are there still some of the same gameplay issues we've seen since …
- [5]
Can't believe how good this is. The Dynasties update contains Troy plus lots more factions. These campaigns are really good (Troy and Tausret are my favourites). Campaign mechanics are very complex: they feel like they are all useful and interconnect, which is not always the case in total war. Battles are really fun, including siege battles (unlike WH). This is the best total war yet in my opinion. I didn't know …
Summarised from 34 of the 281 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Total War: PHARAOH sits at 53% positive across 160 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Total War: Pharaoh received "mixed or average" reviews from critics and users according to review aggregator, Metacritic. As of October 2023, Pharaoh received a 'mixed' rating on Steam, with players criticizing the game for its interface and its lack of new features when compared with Total War Saga: Troy. Leana Hafer of IGN complimented the game's battles and the campaign story. Tom Senior of Eurogamer enjoyed the strategy aspect of the game but found the battle experience limited. Rick Lane, a reviewer at PC Gamer, commended Total War: Pharaoh for its captivating strategy gameplay, particularly in an era with limited military tools. He highlighted the innovative "Power of the Crown"…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 366 · most liked firstAlgorithm ✅ 💁♀️Here’s information about me🫶 🌟Franchises I LOVE: -❤️ Final Fantasy ✨ -❤️ Dark Souls -❤️ Lord of the Rings -❤️ Game of Thrones -❤️ Baldur’s Gate -❤️ Fallout -❤️ Elder Scrolls -❤️ Halo -❤️ Total War 👱🏼♀️ In my 30s 😻 Cat Enjoyer 👩💻 Tech enthusiast 🏳️🌈 LGBTQ+ 🏳️⚧️ 🎮 Gamer ♡/⟳ appreciated 🤗 #promosky
neutral · AI labelView post →Hiya Bluesky! 🦋 💁♀️Here’s information about me🫶 🌟Franchises I LOVE: -❤️ Final Fantasy ✨ -❤️ Dark Souls -❤️ Lord of the Rings -❤️ Game of Thrones -❤️ Baldur’s Gate -❤️ Fallout -❤️ Elder Scrolls -❤️ Halo -❤️ Total War 👱🏼♀️ In my 30s 😻 Cat Enjoyer 👩💻 Tech enthusiast 🏳️🌈 LGBTQ+ 🏳️⚧️ 🎮 Gamer ♡/⟳ appreciated 🤗 #promosky
neutral · AI labelView post →right now I can pay 20 dollars for Warhammer Total War III, a game that could scarcely even be imagined in 1998. that's the equivalent of 10 dollars in 1998 prices, which is what I would try to scrounge together for a copy of PC Gamer so I could play one janky level of Myth on the demo disc
neutral · AI labelView post →I’ve been on Bluesky for less than a week and I’m loving it! ❤️ 💁♀️Here’s information about me🫶 🌟Franchises I LOVE: -Final Fantasy✨ -Souls -LOTR -Game of Thrones -Baldur’s Gate -Fallout -Elder Scrolls -Halo -Total War 👱🏼♀️In my 30s 👩💻Tech enthusiast 🏳️🌈LGBTQ🏳️⚧️ 🎮Gamer ♡/⟳ appreciated 🤗 #promosky #promotwt
neutral · AI labelView post →AI slop is impacting all of our lives in different ways but the more recent way it has broken my heart is watching Creative Assembly ruin the Total War franchise with it with their rerelease of Shogun 2. I can only imagine how fucked their 40k game is going to look when it comes out.
negative · AI labelView post →Discussing games with a friend, why I keep going back to FALLOUT 4; I finally clarified that my ideal game is "THE SIMS with occasional firefights" and that's a limited marketplace. STATE OF DECAY 2, a bit. I'd take a TOTAL WAR with base management but a smaller -- oh shit it's CULT OF THE LAMB.
neutral · AI labelView post →Total Administration - Pharaoh I started out playing TW Shogun way back when and fell in love with the game. Then we had Medieval, Rome and probably the best game of them all - Empire. Ever since TW Napoleon, this whole franchise has gone down hill. They have levied the reputation of Warhammer to flog a game in which the fighting of battles had diminished. In fact it is in Warhammer that auto-resolving battles affords you the best outcome. In Pharaoh, the units are so small and hard to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’ve wanted a solid Bronze Age strategy game since Rome II. This isn’t it. The art style feels cartoony, the UI is bulky, and the map is stuffed with goofy features that kill immersion. I grabbed it on sale for about $10 despite the bad reviews and still asked for a refund. Message to Creative Assembly: know your audience. If I want a cartoon Total War, I’ll play Warhammer. If I want a serious, gritty historical game, I’ll play traditional Total War, like Rome.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is a recycled skin from Troy. It is a low-effort attempt at a cash grab. Yeah, they released dynasties "for free" after the game bombed upon release. This game actually had a $100 pre-order option and a decent amount of planned DLC that was cancelled upon release because no one bought it (I stupidly did). Got a refund because it got cancelled so hard. There's a reason this and Britannia are the lowest played entries in the franchise. The total war reddit thinks this is the best…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's not totally terrible, but to be fair I would expect from the company that makes Total War games for the past 25 years, to have their core system extremely polished. Better and better in every game, but the combat is at most 'meh' with how unsatisfying and lackluster it is. I haven't played more recent games, but I remember I had more fun winning battles 10 years ago. They introduced a lot of auxiliary systems, but they feel like a hurdles you need to jump over to go fight a battle, which…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Second worst TW game (after the dumpster fire that is Troy). It is certainly better than Troy, but that is a very low bar. Battles are somewhat better, and the weather effects certainly look nice, but they still don't play very well- being surpassed even by mediocre Rome2. Unit collisions don't function well, there is a severe lack of animations and the ones that are there look unrealistic and rigid. The biggest issue though is the nonsensical focus on characters- CA, STOP putting aspects of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game *cough cough OVERPRICED TROY DLC cough cough" is not worth purchasing or playing - certainly not in its current state and to be perfectly ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ honest, the suicidal rhetoric coming from the company as a whole is disgusting - the idea that "providing an opinion is a privilege" is completely backwards - all because they feel entitled to good reviews and can't seemingly handle criticism from their player base. Creative Assembly needs to remember that "good reviews are a privilege,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have played 12000 hours + of total war games over the last 20 years. This was a money grab from the get go. Do not buy it. Rome 2 is still a better game, and that is over 10 years old. This game is still running off all the principles it delivered. There is bugger all innovation and the UI is complete garbage. Just recycling in a setting that is more sandbox than ever. Only thing I liked here was the outposts system, as in Rome 2 I thought it was ♥♥♥♥ how limited the map was, though I know…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is ass, one of the worst titles, and I got it on a sale for not even 10 Euros, absolute garbage. STOP GIVING YOUR MONEY TO THESE ASSHATS. Studio name is the same, but the employees and devs are not. every titles since Shogun 2 has been a depressing downgrade and dumbing down, stop paying for ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ remasters as the studio did not earn this, they are simply trying to stay monetarily viable, VOTE WITH YOUR WALLET. This is garbage,
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Had to edit my review and try again: Put nearly 20 hours in, tried playing a number of different ways, defensive, offensive, economic style, diplomacy heavy and my verdict is: Unplayable, how anyone plays this I have no idea. Combat is unbalanced and just plain stupid you can head to head the same units and you'll lose, using units like axemen against units with shields does nothing, enemy archers just wipe your units and yours barely touch them, flanking does nothing, settlements are just…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →unintelligent AI, repetitive, no seamless way to browse through specialized units and specialized buildings. Lacks campaign control options like Total War Rome. One of the worst features is when you control the entire senate of the pyramid, it will still give the options to pass a vacant seat to a game extinct faction that you might have killed earlier
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →POV: you're 500 years into a Rome Total War classic game.
neutral · AI labelView post →There is enough historical precedent for this that it is a persistent game mechanic in Total War lol
neutral · AI labelView post →After all the hate this game got I was quiet reluctant to give it a try. but I really liked the setting I loved 3 Kingdoms, shogun 2 and Warhammer and therefore figured I would get this one on a big discount to see whether it would hold up. At the time of writing this I am still on my first campaing with Ramses but so far I like what I see. The battles are, as always, a fun time in total war games. The egyptian troops seem to be more elite compared to other civilization so you can often punch…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you buy this game you will also get Pharaoh Dynasties which is another game , so you get 2 games for the price of 1. Dynasties adds Greece (Troy best imo) but don't get happy yet. As the AI is broken and I do not think they will fix it as it was released some time ago and same bugs and issues are still rampart For example Troy gets a bug that blocks you from accessing the court. It's ALMOST game-breaking as civil war will hit 99%. But on the other side, the AI is so broken that other…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Next major Total War game to be announced at The Game Awards "it represents one of the most ambitious games we have ever worked on at a studio and we can’t wait to share it with you" www.gematsu.com/2025/12/next...
neutral · AI labelView post →Alongside the Lords of the End Times, Total War: Warhammer III is getting one of its biggest-ever game updates. From a host of improvements and reworks to some new campaign and battle content in the shape of our latest free Legendary Lord, Neferata. 📖 news.totalwar.com/lotet-flc-ne...
neutral · AI labelView post →why bother buying the new 80 dollar AAA slop game when Total War: Warhammer 3 has 1000s of hours worth of gameplay in it and they've fixed the majority of the problems it had at launch
neutral · AI labelView post →Not gonna lie, got the game because it was $10.00 despite the negative feedback that PHARAOH received and didn't get to playing it till recently and well, I should have listened. The UI and pathfinding should not be worse than ROME II. Don't get me wrong, I actually liked ROME II because it's playable. Does it live up to the expectations that Total War: ROME had? No, but it was still better than this. Then I looked at the dev logs and saw how constantly chariots were getting nerfed. First time,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Feels like they’re actively making each new historical Total War game worse. Nope — I’ll stick with Medieval II and Attila
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →CA has lost it. What made their games special. I wanna enjoy this, badly. But the battles are so... cartoony and goofy. Shogun 2 is the ultimate version of Total War. Historically accurate, fun gritty battles, none of the settlement nonsense of modern total war.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →All DLC for the original Total War: SHOGUN 2 is now free to everyone who owns the base game on Steam! Experience the Rise and Fall of the Samurai before Total War: SHOGUN 2 - Complete Edition launches on Oct 13th 🌸 More info: news.totalwar.com/s2ce-faq
neutral · AI labelView post →Total War: Warhammer 40K announced, the next game in the series #TheGameAwards
neutral · AI labelView post →Awful mechanic of infinite spawn of Libu Raider just ruins the game (what was left of it anyway). For you to understand: you need really good economy to comfortably support 2 armies and AI spawns numerous "invaders" EVERY turn. So basically all you can do is to fight infinite enemies at the edge of the map till your empire bankrupts. It just never stops. And no you cant turn it off if you already started a campaign and no - game doesnt let you know that this thing basically makes campaign…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Preface, I have never written a review like this, but after pouring way too much time into this, I feel like my day off has been wasted. Here goes my fit of rage; THIS GAME IS PISSING ME OFF!! Thank god I only spent $9.99 on this crap. No amount of victories or conquest will ever give you enough food to feed a single full decent army. I mean, when I play Total war, I want to conquer the world, not effing trade with my ***** *** neighbor while I get ****** by someone else. You'll need to trade…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The longer the game runs, the poorer the performance - even at low graphics settings. Most likely cause is a memory leak, which has been discussed on related forums for over a year and has yet to be resolved.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Total War Pharaoh is an enjoyable game, but it falls short in ambition. It wastes much of its potential with limited gameplay, a weak story, an uninspired soundtrack, and performance issues. It doesn’t bring anything particularly new to the Total War series or create a memorable identity for itself.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you loved the older total wars..this really is Gonna be a let down for you, Save your money and time, Mann what happened to Creative..What happened to Sega..i have tried my best to like these newer titles..i really did give it so many chances. i even went as far as to make an Epic games acc to get Troy for free when it first released, as it weirdly would come out on Epic well before it did on steam..All i can say Is we lost another one ladies and gentlemen. This Series has fallen hard hurts…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I tried, I really tried to enjoy this game. I hyped myself up a few times to give it another go. This game is not fun. It's time for them to release a Medieval 3 or Empire 2 total war. Troy was pretty good. But overall these games keep getting worse.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →New Total War game to be announced at The Game Awards, confirms Creative Assembly ➡️ www.gamesradar.com/games/total-...
neutral · AI labelView post →still mad we haven't gotten this Total War game
neutral · AI labelView post →Too many diplomatic moves, too many cort, complex and slow tactics to move. Too many options. But the thing to stop me playing was the rebelds with superior units, chariots impossible to beat.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →OPPORTUNITY! - Writer - Total War - UK, or Bulgaria Not affiliated. Shares welcome! gamejobs.co/Game-Writer-...
neutral · AI labelView post →Patch 6.2 will be available tomorrow in Total War: WARHAMMER III. Check out the patch notes now to see what changes we are bringing to the game! 📜 news.totalwar.com/wh3-patch-620
neutral · AI labelView post →Just get shogun 2 instead.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yoooo Total War Three Kingdoms is (one of) the Epic Games Free Game for today! If you're like me, and I know I am, you like learning stuff about the Romance of the Three Kingdoms but find its scale and massive cast of characters kinda daunting. Total War Three Kingdoms makes the setting playable!
neutral · AI labelView post →I've played Total War: Warhammer 40,000, and I think it might be the "definitive" game for the 40k setting it's aiming to be www.eurogamer.net/total-war-wa...
neutral · AI labelView post →Seems we have our (first?) SEGA announcement, presented by David Harbour (who will be in the game): Total War: Warhammer 40K.
neutral · AI labelView post →Very excited for Total War Warhammer 40k to be announced tonight at the game awards
neutral · AI labelView post →I really like 40K and I really like Total War, but a 40K Total War game sounds like a truly awful idea to me
negative · AI labelView post →Total War Warhammer npc factions will see the end times event start up and go, "Time for some Game of Thrones bullshit, and by that we mean ignoring the looming greater threat in favor of going to war with each other, not the sexual stuff, it's allllll self-destructive politics over here."
neutral · AI labelView post →I used to try and help mod Medieval Total War II and fucking EVERYTHING in that game is close-sourced and impossible to work around and yet people did it anyways. OpenMorrowind took like 20 years and that game’s assets were already accessible so excuse me if I go “lol wut no.”
neutral · AI labelView post →I kinda wish there was a Total War game based on The Elder Scrolls.
neutral · AI labelView post →At first the negative reviews of this game put me of trying it. I have played all ToW and and still think Empire is the best but that isw for another review. I had so many restarts of Pharaoh, trying to work it out, how to build and how to stop rebellions and build armies and reources. Yes the units are limited, yes the game is challenging but I am so glad that I finally ignored the negative reviews and tried. This is a great and challenging game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The games AI is so bad, units get stuck in corners, when you try to chase down routing units the ai doesnt seem to understand the order. your units (depending on faction) are useless even with high moral and armour and everything else they are sooo weak you need a few armies together and even then your resources always go in the red. it makes no sense. then when the collapse happens the ai just pumps out like 10 full stacked armies are you with full and better armour then your men. all of that…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Oh I guess this also marks the second time a game I worked on became a cocktail lol. South Pacific Drive 🤝 Rum Total War
neutral · AI labelView post →My playtime was on the "enhanced" version - Dynasties. I'm not even going to bother playing this - based on how buggy and unfinished the Dynasty edition is, I'm not going to waste my time touching a base game that's gone even longer without updates. And it's not going to receive any more. The game flopped and CA did the bare minimum required of them legally based on what they sold. They've moved on, like they always do, leaving a mess behind them. Utilizing the court in the Dynasty edition…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Back on the Steam page for Total War: SHOGUN 2 - Complete Edition and have only just clocked the user-defined tags (pictured below). LOL. Context: The game was pulled because it was naff and apparently failed to disclose the use of genAI.
neutral · AI labelView post →Sega and Creative Assembly have pulled Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition from stores following player complaints over performance issues, bugs, and AI-upscaled graphics. vgc.news/news/sega-pu...
neutral · AI labelView post →I rarely write reviews but felt compelled to do so in this case. This is a pretty good game, 7 or 8 out of 10 for a historical title. The ambiance is a 10/10. Going for the bronze age was a bold move and if you're a real history fan you should really appreciate that, certain periods are so overrepresented and this is certainly not one of them. Are there still some of the same gameplay issues we've seen since literally 2009 or so in this franchise? Yes, hence the -2 or -3 on score. So why the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think this is less Paradox and more Total War. Nearly everyone who's ever played a grand strategy game has played Total War.
neutral · AI labelView post →Total War: PHARAOH represents Creative Assembly’s most grounded historical focus in years, shifting away from mythological spectacle and back toward a nuanced, character-driven Bronze Age setting. Rather than romanticizing ancient Egypt through exaggerated cultural tropes, the game embraces the political fragility, environmental instability, and factional tension that defined the Late Bronze Age collapse. Players step into a world already teetering on the brink—kingdoms exhausted by internal…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →just shocking, everything about it is bad... these guys have lost there way with stupid games... bring back an historical Rome based game build an empire.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Total War if you continue to add in one random female warlord into every game I will main her without question. Thank u for the bare minimum 🙏
neutral · AI labelView post →Game feels broken tbh, the resources are not well balanced, you have to constantly chase them by forcefully going to war with different factions. The court system is useless to be honest, feels like the worst total war i have ever played.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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