To End All Wars Review (PC)

good
key review info
  • Game: To End All Wars
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: No
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To End All Wars

World War I was a huge clash of armies, a series of battles that took place mostly in Europe but affected the entire world and set the stage for the rest of the XX century, including World War II and the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States and its Western allies.

The period between 1914 and 1918 is a fertile one for video games, especially given that we celebrate the centenary of the process that led up to the conflict, including the assassination in Sarajevo of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (a chain of events that requires its own video game reconstruction at some point) and the first actual battles.

Video games, in genres ranging from first-person shooter to strategy, have exploited World War I for all its worth but have left the prior worldwide conflict mostly alone, for a number of reasons.

Developer AGEOD and publisher Matrix Games are trying to solve this issue by launching To End All Wars, which does a good job of capturing the core elements of the historical period and can even teach gamers a little about the personalities and the wider trends that were involved.

Story

To End All Wars is a video game that aims to simulate World War I on a strategic level, allowing gamers to take control of the Central Powers or the Entente, either in the West or the East, as they clash in the greatest war that the world had ever seen up to that point.

World War I is slower, less heroic, further away from us and lacks the simple good versus evil element of its more well-known historical cousin, and the game reflects these realities.

The two main scenarios included in the title do a very good job of reflecting the way Europe and the world were set up in the middle of 1918, and give players all the tools they need to follow the historical initial moves and then try to influence history or to create an entirely new strategy for the alliance that they are controlling.

The campaigns include a lot of details, from the exact makeup of army corps to the generals who command them, but players also have a lot of freedom to try and change history and create an entirely new narrative with surprising twists and an interesting conclusion.

Gameplay

To End All Wars is a turn-based strategy title which asks both involved sides to issue their orders at the same time and then see how they play out, both in terms of movement and combat, before getting a chance to re-evaluate the situation, issue new instructions and then repeat the entire process.

In the title, all turns involve a 15-day period, and players need to deal mainly with questions of military tactics and supply delivery, but they will also advance tech, influence allies and neutral nations and consider events that can influence the future of the war.

The WEGO system is an old one, but it makes perfect sense for World War I because much of the conflict was very static and defensive-focused, and gamers will have to be careful about the creation of solid front lines and the way their troops entrench in order to resist enemy advances.

To End All Wars has two separate sets of victory conditions, one linked to the morale of the population that supports the conflict and another connected to victory points linked to unit destruction and location control.

Front line
Front line

The entire experience can be confusing in the beginning, but I first tried to execute the actual plan that Germany attempted to execute on the Western Front to quickly bring down France and I found that it mostly worked.

Gamers need to carefully navigate the command system to make sure their best generals lead the most capable armies, while making sure that they deliver enough supplies to keep them functional.

Basically, it pays dividends to know the mistakes of history and try to avoid them, and the complexity of the title makes even that hard to execute for the entire 4-year campaign.

The attention to detail coming from AGEOD is impressive and they managed to take a lot of the events of actual history and transform them into situation modifiers that the player can use in order to gain an advantage during the combat phase.

Learning to organize troops and make sure they are well commanded can be a chore at first, but players need to learn about it and then find the best ways to use their shock troops while employing lesser formations for defensive purposes.

As in actual war, reconnaissance is also very important and airplanes are perfect for the task, although usually in short supply, and there’s another layer of complexity to deal with when it comes to naval engagements.

To End All Wars is a brave attempt at simulating a huge conflict and it will take players a lot of time to understand all that it has to offer and see how its many mechanics influence each other, which can be very satisfying for fans but frustrating for newcomers.

The title also suffers from long turn time, especially when major engagements are taking place in various theaters, and some optimization would have been welcomed.

Graphics and audio

To End All Wars is a game that uses the classic look of video games created by AGEOD using the WEGO system, and that means gamers will have to spend a little while getting accustomed to how the title presents information and shows the map of Europe.

A lot of abstraction is needed to cram the entire conflict into a video game interface, and the development team does manage to create a system that reflects army situations, general availability and resource evolution, but a quick look through the manual or the tutorial is a great idea even for strategy fans.

Battle time
Battle time

The style of To End All Wars does try to reflect that of the era, but I would have liked some more clarity when it comes to army types and other info and a little more variety in terms of color use.

The sound design is suitably heroic and symphonic, but as I usually do with historical strategy titles, I substituted my own rock-focused tracks after a while, a better backdrop for crushing foes and dealing with logistical challenges.

Multiplayer

To End All Wars is a video game that can be played against other humans using a Play by E-Mail system which involves files changing hands between those involved in order to account for orders and see what their results look like.

The game can be thrilling because the simultaneous movement of troops means that it’s a battle of strategic thinking and wits that can capture the imagination of lovers of the genre and history students.

Unfortunately, the procedure for multiplayer, which is fully detailed in the official manual for To End All Wars, is cumbersome and it takes dedication to both create a game and make sure that all orders are sent successfully.

It would be great to see the developers create a simpler and faster system for multiplayer for future releases, because the mechanics are good enough and could attract a larger audience as long as ease of use would be improved.


The Good

  • Detailed World War I simulation
  • Reflects the realities of trench warfare

The Bad

  • Very complex
  • Turns take long to process

Conclusion

To End All Wars is a complex experience designed for an audience that has played AGEOD titles before and is familiar with the intricacies of warfare during World War I, and it can deliver some very satisfying variations on the real outcome of the conflict.

For newcomers, the game can be impenetrable even if they get through the well-constructed manual and tutorials, but getting to understand its core mechanics will be satisfying for history students who have some time on their hands.

The development team has plans to introduce a number of other campaigns, some of which will focus on one area of the map and cover the entire conflict, while others will allow gamers to explore one full year on all theaters, and that’s great because smaller scenarios are needed for newcomers to accommodate themselves to the core concepts.

World War I is sadly overlooked by most of the gaming industry, and To End All Wars is one of the few games that aim to deliver an interesting experience based on one of the defining moments of the XX century.

story 7
gameplay 7
concept 9
graphics 7
audio 7
multiplayer 5
final rating 7
Editor's review
good
 
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