Troy: A Total War Saga Will Try to Find Truth Behind the Myth Next Year

Myth comes to virtual life next year, as Total War heads to the ancient shores of Troy. After it was confirmed to be the next Saga spin-off yesterday, Creative Assembly announced today that Troy: A Total War Saga will be coming to PC in 2020.

Set in a fictional Aegean era, Troy looks to focus on the ancient battle depicted in the Iliad. The first trailer released today shows Achilles approaching the gates of Troy, as the city's champion Hector readies himself for combat. The two clash, slinging spear and shield in a pitched duel just like the stories imagined.

But Total War isn't Ryse: Son of Rome. It's a strategy game, and so the focus will likely be on the greater aspects of combat than a single one-on-one duel. To show this, Creative Assembly put out a second trailer, dubbed a first look at the campaign of Troy. As the narrator takes us through the story of the Iliad, starting with Paris and Helen eloping from Menelaus' court, you get a much greater sense of scale than just the battle for Troy.

The camera pans off various parts of ancient Greece's geography, including an actual Mt. Olympus. The Steam page description says "Troy explores this epic conflict from both the Greek and Trojan perspectives-peeling back the layers of myth and legend to reveal the realities that may have inspired them."

In an FAQ for Troy: A Total War Saga, Creative Assembly says of the gods: "Rather than the gods directly intervening with the conflict itself, it is the faction's belief that the gods are intervening on their behalf which determines the bonuses they receive. Afterall, the more fervently a leader devotes themselves to a deity, the more likely their people are to espouse and live those beliefs."

The Saga series has been a way for Creative Assembly to explore distinct sections of history, rather than broader eras. And for Troy, this seems like an interesting chance to dive into Homeric legend while trying to discern where history might have come from in the first place. We'll see their take on the tales of Greek legend sometime next year.