Originally, while in my opinion not as bad as detractors made it out to be, Pharaoh fell short in certain ways. Now, with the Dynasties rebranding, the game truly shines like the electrum at the top of a pyramid, offering perhaps 'the' quintessential Bronze Age experience.



With Dynasties, the map and play area has increased dramatically. Where original Pharaoh was 40 some gbs, Dynasties is nearly 80, suggesting just how much was added. The Aegean and Mesopotamia are now here, as well as all of Anatolia. Want to conquer an empire spanning from Mycenae to Elam? That's possible now!


Faction variety is one of the most important aspects in any total war game. Between the dozens of playable factions now, including minor factions, we have access to such diverse cultures as Urartu, Assyria, Babylonia, Cimmerians, Elamites, Mycenaeans, Thracians, Sea Peoples, Egypt, Hatti... among others. Units are divided between faction specific and regional 'native' units. As your empire grows and you expand, you'll be able to recruit the sort of people that historically lived in the regions you're recruiting from. This creates many more opportunities for bolstering your armies with new units that aren't readily available to you at the start, so it keeps things fresh and offers another incentive to push your borders ever further. With some 150+ new units split across the newly added regions, you're constantly coming across new units, and its very satisfying.



One of my personal favorite additions to the game are the new battle mechanics. In many other TW titles battles can be over very quickly, often simply resulting in a frantic clickfest from the player. While battles in Dynasties can still conclude quickly depending on the units engaged, more often than not there is a balance here between decisive action and cinematic combat, encouraging the player to zoom in and watch the combat as it unfolds. Lethality is a new mechanic that gives landed hits the ability to be a deathblow, a critical hit that struck the enemy somewhere vital. Armor is taken into account, and different weapons have different lethality. An axe, for example, will have more lethality than a spear. Ranged units now have different trajectories you can have them use when firing. Arcing shot has a greater distance but don't have as much force behind it, a direct shot is shorter ranged but absolutely devastating when it lands, and mixed shot is somewhere in between these. These mechanics allow players new tactical flexibility, and the ability to more readily adapt to the changing situation on the battlefield.



The Dynasty system, the namesake of this update, offers interesting campaign strategic dilemmas, as well as opportunities for roleplay. Your main character will now age, and, eventually die, so naturally you'll need someone to take your place at the helm of your empire... otherwise there will be repercussions. In many faction starts you will not have an heir or 'scion', so it's usually a good idea to acquire a wife as quickly as possible to sort that out. Just make sure you pick a wife with good traits such as a higher chance of producing children! Once you start having sons and daughters, you can marry off the daughters to other factions when they come of age... for a large sum of gold or bronze in return. Then consider which son seems most apt to carry on your legacy once your time inevitably comes. Through diplomacy, you also have a forced inheritance option, which allows you to send someone from your faction to become the leader of another faction. This comes in handy when you need a reliable ally, or simply a faction that you can more easily absorb later on through diplomacy.



The Dynasties update turned Pharaoh into the game it was meant to be, a large and expansive representation of the Late Bronze Age World. There are more features that I didn't get to, but you'll surely discover those on your own as you play. Can you build a lasting Dynasty? Or will you be swept away like so many others and become just another footnote in history?

[b]Originally, while in my opinion not as bad as detractors made it out to be, Pharaoh fell short in certain ways. Now, with the Dynasties rebranding, the game truly shines like the electrum at the top of a pyramid, offering perhaps 'the' quintessential Bronze Age experience. [/b] [h2] Scope and Size [/h2] With Dynasties, the map and play area has increased dramatically. Where original Pharaoh was 40 some gbs, Dynasties is nearly 80, suggesting just how much was added. The Aegean and Mesopotamia are now here, as well as all of Anatolia. Want to conquer an empire spanning from Mycenae to Elam? That's possible now! [h2] Faction Variety [/h2] Faction variety is one of the most important aspects in any total war game. Between the dozens of playable factions now, including minor factions, we have access to such diverse cultures as Urartu, Assyria, Babylonia, Cimmerians, Elamites, Mycenaeans, Thracians, Sea Peoples, Egypt, Hatti... among others. Units are divided between faction specific and regional 'native' units. As your empire grows and you expand, you'll be able to recruit the sort of people that historically lived in the regions you're recruiting from. This creates many more opportunities for bolstering your armies with new units that aren't readily available to you at the start, so it keeps things fresh and offers another incentive to push your borders ever further. With some 150+ new units split across the newly added regions, you're constantly coming across new units, and its very satisfying. [h2] Battle Mechanics [/h2] One of my personal favorite additions to the game are the new battle mechanics. In many other TW titles battles can be over very quickly, often simply resulting in a frantic clickfest from the player. While battles in Dynasties can still conclude quickly depending on the units engaged, more often than not there is a balance here between decisive action and cinematic combat, encouraging the player to zoom in and watch the combat as it unfolds. Lethality is a new mechanic that gives landed hits the ability to be a deathblow, a critical hit that struck the enemy somewhere vital. Armor is taken into account, and different weapons have different lethality. An axe, for example, will have more lethality than a spear. Ranged units now have different trajectories you can have them use when firing. Arcing shot has a greater distance but don't have as much force behind it, a direct shot is shorter ranged but absolutely devastating when it lands, and mixed shot is somewhere in between these. These mechanics allow players new tactical flexibility, and the ability to more readily adapt to the changing situation on the battlefield. [h2] Dynasty System [/h2] The Dynasty system, the namesake of this update, offers interesting campaign strategic dilemmas, as well as opportunities for roleplay. Your main character will now age, and, eventually die, so naturally you'll need someone to take your place at the helm of your empire... otherwise there will be repercussions. In many faction starts you will not have an heir or 'scion', so it's usually a good idea to acquire a wife as quickly as possible to sort that out. Just make sure you pick a wife with good traits such as a higher chance of producing children! Once you start having sons and daughters, you can marry off the daughters to other factions when they come of age... for a large sum of gold or bronze in return. Then consider which son seems most apt to carry on your legacy once your time inevitably comes. Through diplomacy, you also have a forced inheritance option, which allows you to send someone from your faction to become the leader of another faction. This comes in handy when you need a reliable ally, or simply a faction that you can more easily absorb later on through diplomacy. [h1] Conclusion [/h1] The Dynasties update turned Pharaoh into the game it was meant to be, a large and expansive representation of the Late Bronze Age World. There are more features that I didn't get to, but you'll surely discover those on your own as you play. Can you build a lasting Dynasty? Or will you be swept away like so many others and become just another footnote in history?