head to head
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom PainvsTotal War: Attila
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Total War: Attila leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom PainTotal War: Attila
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 5
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads2 vs 3
Total War: Attila leans harder on reads: AI factions follow scripted migration paths; human play adds reads
Variance3 vs 5
Total War: Attila leans harder on variance: Hunnic migration pressure and disease outbreaks add meaningful campaign unknowns
Optimization7 vs 8
Total War: Attila leans harder on optimization: Settlement razing decisions and horde economy optimization form the core
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

