➤ Armored Brigade, the review 🎮

Armored Brigade it's not a title for everyone and it doesn't even want to be. Over the years, the videogame market has divided into more or less large reserves, often not communicating with each other. Some genres have almost become extinct, while others have been ghettoized due to their difficulty in penetrating the mass market. The strategists are rightfully included in the second category. Obviously we're not talking about Clash of Clans-style rosy strategy, but complex war simulators that require hours of study just to understand the balance of power between the different units and to start producing sensible tactics on the battlefield.

Armored Brigade is just that: we are talking about a real-time strategy game set in modern Europe, characterized by the accurate reconstruction of more than five hundred military units. In total there are four maps to choose from (five if we count that tutorial), all huge and used in different ways depending on the selected battle and how it was decided to customize the game. From this point of view the options offered are really many and you could fill the entire review. For the sake of brevity we say that it is possible to simulate an impressive amount of war situations, from simple urban clashes to large-scale battles, either by using the included maps, or by creating new ones with the powerful editor provided by the developers, which allows you to modify or even create some new scenarios that will be added to the fifteen standards. In short, from the point of view of the amount of content you can't really complain, despite the fact that multiplayer is completely missing. Unfortunately, complex game mechanics such as those of the Veitikka Studios title would not adapt to being used online, unless you sacrifice some of them.

Gameplay

Armored Brigade it gives its best when it comes to the battlefield. The entire gameplay is all about planning and giving orders to the troops, studying the opponent's moves and reacting accordingly.

As mentioned above, all the units have been rebuilt with great fidelity and with a wealth of features that makes them more complicated to use than it might seem at first glance, especially when you begin to understand how much different types of terrain are influencing. each of them. However, putting the complexity of the game system into words is no easy feat. Let's say that it is possible to send troops on patrol, to attack, to stratify orders so that they are carried out in a certain sequence and much more. Fortunately the game interface is mastered quite quickly, also because it has been designed in an essential way to allow the player to give orders quickly during the action. What's tricky is getting into the gameplay. Nothing bad for a similar title, which thrives on the ability to engage those players who are looking for a gameplay more complex than the classic "gather all the troops and set off to charge". However, everything would not work if it were not accompanied by a 'artificial intelligence worthy of the name.

From this point of view Armored Brigade it does a great job: the CPU is able to elaborate very complex tactics that use all the available tools effectively, without having to resort to tricks (or at least without doing it in a blatant way). For example, he is able to skillfully combine troops, to use reconnaissance means following a stringent logic and not to make huge mistakes in defense. In attack, on the other hand, it is more problematic and in some cases it tends to isolate the units a little too much, sacrificing them in an absurd way (probably to prevent stalls in battles ... after all, his first task is to make the player feel a certain pressure. ). The friendly artificial intelligence is also very valid, the one that helps us manage some aspects of the game and that is indispensable in the most complex situations: unless you think you can move hundreds of units at the same time, it is inevitable to use it. In general, artificial intelligence and design of scenarios create really interesting and exciting situations, which are difficult to register in the most commercial strategies, including ruinous ambushes, sudden reversals of the field and so on. Let's say that Armored Brigade is the classic title that, after running in, has a lot to offer.

Of course, there is a bit of study to be done (consider that the manual alone is about four hundred pages), but strategists will be satisfied with it. From a technical point of view, however, there is little to say, since Veitikka Studios seems to have done everything to make it as essential as possible: the graphics do its own thing, that is, it describes the action and the battlefield well, but nothing special. more. Obviously this is certainly not the title with which you will press your new video card or in which you will find who knows what stylistic ambitions. It is a wargame and as such it behaves, even visually.

Comment

Digital Delivery Official site Price 36,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

8.0

Readers (3)

8.8

Your vote

Armored Brigade is a real-time strategy game designed for fans of the genre. If you don't fall into the category, forget it, because there is a lot to study here before you start getting results. But if you are one of those fascinated by the realistic simulation of large-scale battles, then you may have your next purchase ahead of you. A little rough, sure, but definitely effective.