A mixture of genres, grand strategy, RTS and first-person shooter. Large-scale battles. Mountains of weapons, ammunition, equipment, up to Armata and Abrams X. An attempt at realism. Early access.
The game is announced for the Windows platform.
When I started playing, I didn’t really expect anything difficult. But here the problems are very serious, Project IGI (it somehow immediately came to mind as an analogy) is resting. The difficulty is staggeringly high at first and this is on easy.
Available, but only part of the game. According to legend, the small island country of Cambridia broke up into several very micro-states. In addition, the anarchist rebels are raging. Our plot task is to reunite the lands, bring all the warring enclaves to a common denominator.
The gameplay is a combination of grand strategy, RTS and tactical first-person shooter.
There are several modes of passage:
– Quick game in the main menu. This is a random battle of two armies (ours and bots) on a generated map and with random balanced units on both sides of the confrontation.
– Tactical Campaign. Something like the formation and pumping of troops manually is happening here, we will know exactly with whom (which units) we will have to fight. And then endless battles on randomly generated maps with leveling up and discovering new types of troops.
– Campaign 2024. This is a story mode with the addition of grand strategy.
– Campaign 2019 And PMC campaign were unavailable, so I didn’t understand what it was.
The most complete version of victory – Campaign 2024. All the possibilities are present here in one bottle, so I will focus on it and then everything that has been said can be transferred, albeit with reservations, to other modes.
First of all, they let us choose the leader of our faction. There are two options, democratic or communist leader. Depending on this decision, it will be determined what kind of combat equipment we will receive. Democrats use Western weapons and equipment, and communists use developments from the USSR and Russia.
The starting location on the island also depends on the leader.
Under our command is a piece of land with several settlements on them. Here we must forge victory:
– Build useful buildings in cities.
– Conduct resource management of production to supply the army.
– Upgrade technologies, discover new ammunition, weapons and equipment.
– Trade. We sell something less necessary from resources or weapons, and buy what is urgently needed.
Initially, each city has https://romibet.uk/mobile-app/ a small army of several units. We try to supply it as best as possible, and then either these units stand on the defensive or attack opponents on the global map.
When a specific battle begins, we have two options: either let the bots fight automatically or take command and part of the control over ourselves.
I’ll tell you about manual combat in the context of other modes, since there are important nuances there, despite the fact that the basic things will be the same everywhere.
Next, it is appropriate to highlight the features Tactical Campaign. The nuance of this version of the game is the absence of a global world map and a resource-strategic part, which is described above.
Here we see the development of our troops from simple policemen with PM to the Armata tank. Or, if we take a democratic leader, then from a Colt pistol to an Abrams X.
Before the battle we determine the specific composition of our army. There is a maximum number of points that will need to be met when forming a battalion. The value of units is very different, it is clear that a unit with assault rifles will be “more expensive” than a unit of men with pistols. The equipment costs even more, but it’s worth it.
It is important not to procrastinate and constantly, when ready, invest research points into discovering more powerful units or equipment. However, the game does not limit your choice; you can, in principle, try to play with a double-barreled shotgun against some armored vehicles. The main thing is to stay within the point limit that is issued for a specific battle.
The icing on the cake and the main activity in the game – battles. Those units that we have collected are sent to one of the hefty locations, where the battle will take place.
We have two game options available to us when the battle has begun – victory in the form of a conditional RTS or control of a single unit, which, however, easily commands its squad. Both options can be extremely useful.
In "RTS mode" it is convenient to select all units at once and send them to a certain area.
As a rule, opponents are separated on different sides of the map and they begin to approach each other. Enemies act automatically, but our units must be controlled manually at this stage. It’s important to know a few things here life hacks:
– In map mode, you can and should shoot – where the enemies are moving and it is advisable to destroy them there, taking up more advantageous positions.
– The most correct thing, in my opinion, is to first advance your entire army. Then individual units do not stand in pillars, but quite successfully attack opponents who come into their field of view. In addition, the fighters automatically disperse well over the terrain, that is, they do not stupidly stand in one heap waiting for a shell.
– We can take control of a unit in a squad and play them in a first-person shooter. At the same time, there is a convenient command panel for the entire army. The most useful commands: follow me, move there (indicated by the mouse), everyone lie down or crouch, and so on. Select a specific squad with the corresponding number button.
Well, then all that remains is the battle and it is full of surprises. Location maps are quite large. In addition, they are filled with trees, tall grass, industrial facilities and other buildings. We understand where I’m going with this? Yes, it’s very simple, in such an abundance of visual delights, enemies are very difficult to notice. But they do not spare – they sniper our warrior from almost any weapon and at long distances.
Fortunately, our squads are also full of the same sniper bots. This evens out the odds somewhat. And when I got better at playing, I myself was able to help the team well to win.
Everything evens out somewhat in “close combat”, skirmishes at short distances somewhere in the building. you can throw grenades and shoot effectively. The bots here are no longer so smart and are quite defeatable.
What equipment you wear plays a role. A simple fighter without protective equipment is one thing, a well-equipped special forces stormtrooper is another. They live very differently in terms of survival.
Our fighter can move running, in a half-squat, on his stomach. At long distances, binoculars become relevant, if you really want to play realism. But it’s much easier to check the location of enemies by looking at the map (M). The view is like from a good drone, you can zoom in and out of the picture.
You can control not only an infantryman, but also the entire range of combat vehicles.
I liked how the technique was shown. Full-length realism. A 12.7mm machine gun on an armored vehicle of the "Tiger" type does not dance well against an infantry fighting vehicle or a tank, but with terrible force it annihilates infantrymen who thoughtlessly decided to attack.
I was impressed by the detailed examination of the BMP-3 shooting. Covers from a 30-mm cannon, adds from the main caliber.
Well, some small details. The environment in the game is almost completely destructible. Friendly fire barely works.
Weapons can be looted from fallen opponents. In a roughly equal battle there is not much point, but in a random battle an exchange can be quite interesting.
Let’s look at the pros and cons of the game and summarize.
+ Rustic (still not photorealism), but overall excellent graphics.
+ Good music and sound.
+ Very well combined game genres. At the same time, they do not suppress each other at all. On the contrary, complete will. You can stay on the strategic map, limit yourself to RTS mode (the fighters will fight themselves) or play as much as possible in first person, immediately giving commands to units.
+ Detailed combat encounters made for realism. No health regeneration for you – you caught one or two olives unsuccessfully and that’s it. I went on foot to face a machine gun in the front – good luck.
+ Excellent, detailed design of small arms and equipment. Wide variety based on real weapons. It is clear that there are simplifications and conventions, but more than enough for the game.
+ Large and varied locations where battles take place. There are small villages and an industrial zone and forests/fields.
+ Russian text language.
– Unrealistically accurate shooting of bots at long distances. And somewhere in a forest belt or building, for example. Cut a kilometer from a machine – the bots have no questions. A live player has some chances at medium-short distances. As for me, this needs to be fixed as quickly as possible and since we have taken up realism, then stick to it.
– At the moment the game is only single player, against bots.
Extremely intense and addictive game. I liked: a successful (play what you want) combination of game genres, dynamic battles in large well-developed locations, excellent variety and elaboration of individual equipment of fighters and equipment. The picture was slightly darkened by the accurate shooting of bots at unimaginable distances.
PS: I will be glad to add/correct the review or answer questions along the way in the comments.