Total War: Arena

Total War: ARENA is a multiplayer real-time online strategy game where 2 teams of 10 players battle on a large-scale map. The game is based on the history of Antiquity, featuring nations from that era with an extensive unit development tree.

ARENA gameplay borrows the best ideas from the classic Total War series. The graphics engine excellently supports large battles and delivers vibrant visuals, utilizing a realistic physics model. The game is distributed on a free-to-play model.

The game begins with the selection of one of the numerous factions. There are strong and persistent Greek warriors, militarily and tactically advanced Romans, dangerous and cunning Carthaginian soldiers, fierce Barbarians, and others.

However, the faction itself does not fight; it needs a leader. Among them are Alexander the Great, Leonidas, Julius Caesar, Hannibal, Arminius, and other famous commanders of Antiquity. Each leader has their own set of traits that enhance the characteristics of units on the battlefield, directly influencing the style of play. One general is better suited for "tank" tactics, another for flanking and rear attacks.

The game features various military units of the era: archers, slingers, swordsmen, legionaries, spearmen, pikemen, light and heavy cavalry, elephants, war dogs, siege engines, some unique to specific factions. Each faction's development tree contains nearly a hundred unit variations, which need to be unlocked by earning experience and silver in battle.

All maps in the game are designed based on real historical prototypes, differing in landscape and biome. For example, there are the arid, rugged Thermopylae, where Leonidas and his 300 Spartans held back the Persian army, and the snowy, hilly Graian Alps, which Hannibal Barca crossed during the Second Punic War.

The maps vary in size, from small to huge, and in complexity, from 1 to 10, with new ones unlocking as commanders level up. All maps are meticulously crafted, and tactical battle planning is impossible without considering the type of terrain.

In ARENA, the battlefield is not a flat, even piece of land like in regular Total War, but a complex, rugged, hilly landscape filled with forests and meadows, rivers and lakes, ravines and hills, steep canyons and cliffs, buildings. All this adds tactical depth.

Teams set up camp opposite each other, a few kilometers apart. They have a few minutes to determine suitable positions and deploy their units: they can plan an ambush, occupy strategic positions, or defend sections against possible enemy breakthroughs. Depending on the type of terrain, archers, swordsmen, and cavalry may gain or lose advantages.

In Total War: ARENA multiplayer, there is only one mode, involving 10 vs. 10 players. The game itself selects participants, the map, and victory conditions based on balance and difficulty. There are several victory options, sometimes requiring capture or holding a point, and other times destroying the enemy camp. A timer adds dynamics, with any round lasting no more than 15 minutes.

This concentration of players has significantly changed the gameplay, making it unpredictable and requiring constant coordination with allies. Нужно все время следить за обстановкой вокруг, рассчитывать действия напарников, работать на совместный результат, и ни в коем случае не бежать бездумно на врага.

Каждый игрок управляет тремя отрядами, не более 100 воинов в каждом, под предводительством полководца. Раздавая приказы и применяя способности юнитов и полководцев, используя тактику окружения и знание слабых мест, нужно уничтожить противника, сохранив свои отряды для выполнения главной задачи. Все точно так же, как в реальном военном конфликте.

Прокачка стандартная, за каждый бой начисляют очки свободного опыта, опыт отряда, а за успехи в бою дают серебро. За реальные деньги можно купить золото, которое оказывает незначительное влияние на геймплей, например, через премиум-отряды. Опыт открывает дальнейшие ветви прокачки и новые отряды, а также с его помощью прокачиваются имеющиеся отряды и полководцы. Серебро расходуется на восполнение солдат в отрядах и наем новых.