"A Total War Saga: Troy," which blends history and mythology and pits Trojans against Greeks in sometimes unpredictable ways, will be released on the Epic Games Store on August 13.

"Thanks to Epic, we are able to offer Total War titles for free on launch day. It's a very exciting thing to be able to do for our players," said Tim Heaton, Chief Studio Officer of Sega Europe.

"Not only will we be able to bring the story and legend of Troy to a wide audience through Epic's massive platform, but it also means new players will be able to play Total War for the first time and experience the unique gameplay for which the series is famous."

While the Trojan tale is widely known, Creative Assembly has taken a really interesting approach to give it a more historically realistic sheen. For example, the Minotaur can be recruited as a hero unit, but he is not actually the famous monster of Greek mythology: he is merely "a big man wearing an ox's head and wielding a huge axe," as Fraser states in his close-up of the fusion of myth and fact in Troy. Centaurs also appear, but they are not half-human, half-horse creatures, but ordinary light cavalrymen from a particular region.

A Total War Saga: Troy will be available exclusively on the Epic Games Store for one year, after which it will be available on Steam and other digital storefronts. For more information on the game, visit totalwar.com.