Tried to like this and can't. Everybody loves the concept of ancient Egypt, but some things are better left untouched, and that's what should have happened with this game.

It's like some parts of Creative Assembly had these strokes of genius as far as graphics and music went, and then the rest of them just said "derp" and thought slamming your units against the enemy and just watching them hack away at each other was fun. That's not what we want. If they're gonna fight for five minutes straight, at least make it look dynamic and not recycle the same combat animations or just have people thrashing around wildly with their weapons like it's a mosh pit.

In Shogun 2, sure I was watching the individual fights play out between units, but I was actively managing my forces at the same time and had a reason to. The fights were dynamic and interesting and it was fun to watch the lines break down as melee ensued. In Pharaoh, I'm just finding myself standing idle and waiting for my own unit or the enemy's to break, which takes way longer than it should. The actual fighting going on in close quarters is so static, and you just watch and wait with little to no entertainment to be had.

ALSO in Shogun 2 (more or less the gold standard for Total War games, along with Medieval 2), I actually cared about my clan and developing the family tree. I had a reason to go and win battles with daimyos, sons, and heirs, or maintain loyalty among generals. You could hire your agents to do your dirty work. No agents in this game, no family tree to be had. Why should I care about my faction or what I'm doing at all in the campaign when there's no depth or character to it?

The whole "health" system of units is unbelievably stupid. Was the individual count on a unit and their morale not a good enough means to see how they were doing before? And why is the fine tuning tool for your units gone? I have to line up and move all my units via mouse cursor now instead of having that quick buttons to lead the organization that I deployed before battle.

There's a huge contradiction in battle too; why are my units "losing decisively" against a unit that is also "losing decisively"? Am I supposed to throw in another unit to help them out or not? How can I know when I don't know who is losing the fight?

How do slings have a longer range than bows? Does this game not actually take place in Egypt, but in an alternate universe where a slingstone can be thrown farther by hand than an arrow by the tension of a bowstring? WHAT???

Repetitive voice acting from idle unit chatter that is devoid of life or enthusiasm. It's like the guys in the sound booth just wanted to get it all over with and on top of that, weren't provided enough time to deliver a variety in lines. All I hear in battles are "GODS PRESERVE US!!" "SONS OF EGYPT!" "THE GODS HAVE ABANDONED US!" over and over and over and over and over.

Maybe I'm being unfair in that this is a game that takes place in the Bronze Age, and warfare, strategy, and tactics were in their infancy back then. But by that logic, it brings me back to the first point: It's an idea that shouldn't have been pursued by CA. If the time period lacks the compatibility with your game system, THEN DON'T FREAKING MAKE IT.

I can't believe the audacity for them to charge $60 when this came out, I would have felt totally robbed. Thankfully I bought it on sale for $25 so I don't feel as swindled, but sheesh.

Way to butcher an awesome franchise. I have little faith any further Total War games will be worth paying for and that CA is just going the way of EA, Activision, and Ubisoft in their sickening greed and dishonesty.