Well, this is a bit different. Creative Assembly have revealed the first gameplay of Total War: Elysium, as they venture into the realms of collectible card games (CCG). It lets you pit some of the greatest generals and leaders from throughout history against each other, to see who’s better at… playing cards.
Coming to mobile this month in a limited testing phase, with a wider release and PC version set for later this year, this is a free-to-play title that seeks to take some inspiration from the wider Total War series for its particular CCG gameplay.
It’s set in Elysium, the City of Legends, where all of history’s best generals have been gathered together to do battle. They each bring their own unique philosophies to the table, so Napoleon can use ranged tactics against the more controlled Cao Cao and the aggressive Lagertha. They’ll be using military units from across the ages, from the Jian Sword Guard, to Mangonels, and even Trireme warships. Honestly sounds a bit unbalanced if Napoleon gets to bring artillery to a sword fight…
The game will also introduce a number of new concepts for a CCG, with dynamic battle lines across the board, midgame deck edition and a Daybreak system to throw reserves into the mix and try to change up the battle. This could see you calling on cavalry reserves when faced with archers tearing up your front line.
So yeah, it’s going to be hella different to the main Total War series, but there’s some interesting ideas thrown into the mix that could help it stand out.
You can head here to sign up for the game, with testing currently restricted to Android systems – you need Android Lollipop (5) and a quad core CPU in order to run it – and head to the FAQ for answers to some key questions.
And if none of that is your jam, then don’t worry, there’s other mainline Total War games and expansions in the works.
Source: press release
