Total War: Pharaoh's big free update map is far, far larger than I would have thought

An in-development updated map artwork for Total War: Pharaoh's free update including the Aegean and Mesopotamia

(Image credit: Creative Assemblyy)

Creative Assembly has posted new bits of maps and a more details on the large, free update coming to Total War: Pharaoh, including a look at its revised and expanded map that will now include the Aegean and Mesopotamia, adding Assyria, Babylon, Mycenae, and Troy as playable cultures with about 150 new and reworked units between them.

With more than twice the factions (from 95 to 189!) and nearly double the provinces (from 181 to 349!) for a very respectable map size, Total War: Pharaoh is truly looking a lot more like what PC Gamer's Fraser Brown called it on announcement. This may well be a proper "Total War: Bronze Age" by the time they're finished.

"This expansion renders the world approximately 1.8 times larger than the current map, offering players a vast expanse to conquer and explore," said Creative Assembly.

The new map has the entire rest of western Anatolia, the Aegean sea including Thrace and all of Achaea—southern Greece—and Crete. There's also the majority of ancient Mesopotamia all the way to the Persian Gulf, following the Tigris and Euphrates to their sources—and even a bit further north. It's more than enough room for four new major cultures and frankly more room than I'd expected on the western end. The new map will come complete with proper sea lanes stretching around the coasts of the Mediterranean, but also all the way north to the Black Sea.

It is in some ways a stitching of the Total War: Troy map onto the Pharaoh map, but at the same time it's definitely got a lot of new stuff going on. Creative Assembly was clear that factions like the Sea Peoples will get reworked behaviors to better understand the larger map.

Creative Assembly also says there'll also be new historical landmarks.

"In Mesopotamia, these include the White Temple of Anu, the Great Ziggurat of Ur, Chogha Zanbil, the Ziggurat of Enlil, and the Great City of Babylon, a significant major settlement awaiting conquest. Whilst within the Aegean you can expect to spot Mount Olympus, the Meteora, the Ancient Statue of Cybele and the Lemnos Necropolis," they posted.

You can read the Total War: Pharaoh Expanded Map post in full on Creative Assembly's community blog.

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.