Sega has announced the latest title in Creative Assembly’s Total War Saga franchise with a brand-new cinematic trailer. Called A Total War Saga: Troy, the strategy game is scheduled to release on PC in 2020.
In the trailer, which can be watched above, Achilles mourns for his close friend Patroclus, whose dead body is burning on a funeral pyre. The loss of his brother-in-arms motivates Achilles to return to battle and face off against Hector, a prince of Troy. The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is one of the most important aspects in stories surrounding the Trojan War, and it was made into this deeply meaningful, almost romantic connection in Homer’s Iliad–which Creative Assembly is using as the main inspiration for Troy.
Troy will not just be from Achilles and the Greek’s perspective though, as the game will see the player explore both sides of the Greek and Trojan conflict. Through a mixture of turn-based empire management and real-time battles, Troy will delve into the story of the Iliad and–similar to the storytelling style of the Assassin’s Creed franchise–use fictionalized real events to explain the more mythical and legendary moments of Homer’s book. Of course, this being a Total War game, you can choose to break away from the established timeline of history to forge your own unique path.
The Total War series has seen mostly positive praise with its annual releases since 2015’s Total War Attila, with this year’s Total War: Three Kingdoms being another popular entry in the franchise. In GameSpot’s Total War: Three Kingdoms review, Ginny Woo wrote, “This is the most ambitious that Total War has ever been, from the variety of different ways that you can enjoy the game to the sheer scope of the stories that they’ve weaved around each unique character’s playable experience. Three Kingdoms feels like the rightful evolution of the series, pulling from its roots in historical military tactics to come up with an engrossing modern strategy game that is always a delight, even in its less well-oiled moments.”
