A Total War Saga: TROY is a strategy game that blends turn-based campaign management with real-time tactical battles set during the Bronze Age Trojan War. Players take command of legendary figures from Greek myth and history to shape the outcome of the conflict across the Aegean region through conquest, alliances, and resource control.
Gameplay
The core loop centers on managing a campaign map where turns advance the strategic layer. Armies move across a recreation of the Bronze Age Mediterranean, capturing settlements and expanding influence. Resource management plays a central role, with five distinct types required to sustain forces and construct buildings: food, wood, stone, gold, and bronze. Shortages in any one can limit army size or development options.
Battles shift to real-time control of units on detailed maps. Infantry forms the backbone of engagements, supported by hero characters who wield unique abilities. Players can also recruit special units drawn from Greek mythology in certain configurations. Agent actions add another layer, allowing priests and spies to disrupt enemy cities or gather intelligence. Approval with the gods influences outcomes through a Divine Will system that grants benefits when relationships are maintained at high levels.
Progression involves leveling heroes and unlocking abilities while balancing diplomacy and warfare. The setting emphasizes the tension between historical grounding and mythical elements, with options to adjust the balance of fantasy content.
Game Modes
Three distinct campaign modes alter the experience based on preference for historical accuracy or mythological flair. Historical mode strips away most supernatural aspects, focusing on realistic unit compositions and adding bodyguards to leaders while limiting divine bonuses to minor effects.
Truth Behind the Myth serves as the default approach, incorporating subtle mythical influences without overt fantasy creatures. It emphasizes the probable explanations behind legends while retaining core strategic depth.
Mythological mode, added through later content, introduces recruitable mythical beasts and expanded divine interactions for players seeking a more fantastical campaign. Multiplayer support extends to battles and limited campaign elements for up to eight participants.
Factions and Heroes
Eight playable heroes anchor the base experience, split between opposing sides in the Trojan conflict. Achaeans include Achilles of Phthia, Agamemnon of Mycenae, Odysseus of Ithaca, and Menelaus of Sparta. Trojan-aligned leaders feature Hector, Paris, and Aeneas of the Dardanians, along with Sarpedon of Lycia. Each brings distinct starting positions, unit preferences, and narrative threads tied to the epic struggle.
Additional factions and leaders became available through expansions, expanding choices for replayability. Unit rosters draw from Bronze Age infantry traditions with specialized variants, and terrain types on the campaign map influence movement and combat effectiveness.
Is It Worth Playing?
This title suits players who enjoy focused strategy experiences with a mix of grand campaign planning and detailed battles. The resource system and agent mechanics encourage careful long-term decisions, while hero abilities add personality to fights. Those drawn to the Trojan War setting or Total War-style gameplay will find a self-contained story with multiple campaign variants to explore.
The game launched in 2020 and received generally positive critical response for its atmosphere and mechanics. It remains available as a complete package on PC with its expansions integrated. Players seeking ongoing live service elements or frequent new content may find the support cycle concluded, but the single-player campaigns offer substantial depth for those who value replay through different modes and leaders.
