After weeks of speculation from the community, Creative Assembly has released the official announcement trailer for Total War Saga: Troy, the third game in the Total War Saga series. Troy will, of course, be set during the Trojan War, further back in history than Total War has ever gone. This Bronze Age setting means new and unique gameplay mechanics, a unique approach to unit design, and more. The game has no release date yet, but will be coming sometime in 2020.
What is Total War Saga: Troy?
Although the announcement trailer for Total War Saga: Troy doesn’t reveal gameplay, Creative Assembly has released several in-game screenshots on the game’s new Steam page. These give a glimpse at both battles and the campaign map. In the words of Creative Assembly; “TROY is the latest Total War Saga title; inspired by Homer’s Iliad, it focuses on the historical flashpoint of the Trojan War, evolving the series with new period-inspired features. […] Realise your legend as one of eight iconic heroes. Dive into a character-led narrative drama and overcome your antagonists. Build your empire through strategy, statecraft, diplomacy and all-out war, as you conquer this vast and striking recreation of the Bronze Age Mediterranean.”
According to the studio, a key design pillar for Total War Saga: Troy is the idea of “the truth behind the myth”. This means that the developers sought to blend both historical sources and later retellings, such as that found in Homer’s Iliad. The game will feature mythological beasts, for example, but they won’t actually be supernatural creatures. Rather, they’ll be more realistic portrayals which could have inspired the later myths. One in-game screenshot shows a character who could be the Minotaur; a large man clad in furs and the skull of a bull.
New Mechanics in Total War Saga: Troy
Due to the Bronze Age Mediterranean setting, gameplay in Troy will focus heavily on infantry combat. Horses were very rare and almost exclusively used to pull chariots, so players shouldn’t expect much, if any, cavalry. However, there will apparently be a greater distinction between light, medium, and heavy infantry to make up for this. Light infantry units will be faster and more capable of flanking, for example. There will also be a variety of new battle abilities. Although ships did exist at the time, naval battles did not play a role in the Trojan War. As such, the game will feature naval battles in the same manner as Total War: Warhammer 2. i.e., if two naval armies encounter one another, their respective troops will disembark and fight on special island maps.
Of course, the Trojan War is a period famous for its legendary heroes; mighty warriors like Achilles and Hector, shown in the announcement trailer. As a result, Creative Assembly has confirmed that the game will feature duelling mechanics, like those in Total War: Three Kingdoms. However, they won’t be exactly the same; “The new challenge battle ability taunts opposing characters into one-on-one combat,” explains the studio; “creating a circular battle arena around them that prevents other units from interfering. Heroes engaged thus will fight using a series of spectacular matched animations. However, the mechanics are more freefrom than Three Kingdoms’ ‘lock-in’ Duel mechanics, so heroes can be directed away from a Challenge without penalty after the Challenge effect has worn off.”
Elsewhere, Troy will feature a new economy with five different resources; food, stone, wood, bronze, and gold. Because the period’s economy was based on bartering rather than currency, there won’t be a currency in-game. Instead, these five resources will be used to recruit units, trade, construct buildings, and so on.