Unity of Command: Black Turn Review (PC)

very good
key review info
  • Game: Unity of Command: Black Turn
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: No
  • Reviewed on:
Eastern focus

Unity of Command might seem like a military strategy at first, where the stars of the battles are the units of the German and Soviet armies, fighting on the Eastern Front during World War II for control over resources, cities and, ultimately, the fate of the known world.

But, deep down in its cold, logical hearth, the game created by the team 2X2 Games understands something that commanders all over the world have been discovering since the dawn of time: war is all about supplies, about making sure that soldiers have what to eat, the ammunition to shoot and the morale they need to move forward and take ground.

The gameplay mechanics are easy to learn but take time to master, the tactical puzzles offered are hard but satisfying when solved and the overall game has more than enough content to keep strategy and history fans engaged in the long term.

Black Turn is the second expansion for the game, allowing players to take on the role of the Wehrmacht as it first pushes into the vast Eastern border of Russia, aiming to secure Leningrad, Moscow and the resources of the Ukraine.

This means that the entire package now includes almost all the big operations of the 1941 to 1945 campaign, with players able to experience the initial German advance, the massive engagement around Stalingrad and the battles that saw the Russian forces move to Berlin and capture the German capital.

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Operations map
Challenge overcome
2X2 Games are clearly history lovers, which means that each of the included scenarios are very well researched, with real-world terrain data used to create the wonderful maps and information driven from a variety of sources, to make sure that the simulated units are deployed correctly and have statistics that reflect their true role on the battlefield.

Unity of Command uses a lot of abstraction and never aims to model the exact number of soldiers or horses in a German division or in a Soviet corps, but the team is careful to take into account all elements that had a clear influence on combat.

The core gameplay of Unity of Command as a whole is very simple and it involves units that are able to both move and attack during a turn, with clear visual cues for the limits of each action and battles that solve fast and deliver clear feedback.

Their statistics combine with terrain, weather and enemy zones of control to influence results, but the aim is to break the lines of the enemy, take his units out of supply and then capture a number of cities that are strategically important.

Each of them has a clear victory point allocation, which declines with time, and players are evaluated on their ability to surpass the real-world performance of the German army, when playing Black Turn, or the Soviet forces, in Red Turn.

Gamers need to evaluate their forces, see which objectives they need to capture and then try to use each unit they have to the fullest, delivering as many blows as possible to the enemy, while keeping their own lines protected.

In theory, it does not sound hard, but the information overload that probably also affects real-world military quickly sets in and juggling all the characteristics and the potential attack directions becomes a complex puzzle that I have often failed to solve adequately.

In Black Turn, the Soviet Army is mostly a speed bump, unable to actually fight back efficiently, but focusing on its destruction can lead to moments when one fails to take into account the delicate ballet required to move forces past chokepoints.

Adjusting a strategy to focus more on movement and less on combat leads to moments when I leave a railroad exposed only for a weak Russian unit to take me out of supply, which makes combat units much less efficient.

2X2 Games has been very careful when creating the balance of Unity of Command and when I managed my best performance in the game, I was just a few months behind the schedule that German generals, clearly a brighter bunch, managed to implement in the real world.

The game is demanding and one bad move can have huge consequences (an Undo button is helpfully provided), but it’s incredibly fun to survey the situation, choose a move that seems smart, think ahead and then finally commit to combat.

The graphics and the user interface of Unity of Command: Black Turn also do a great job of showing the tactical situation and the best way to proceed without overloading the player with useless statistics.

The sound design is also well suited to the military and World War II theme and I love the little chimes that punctuate the capture of an objective.

Unity of Command, regardless of whether the gamer is playing the core game, Red Turn or Black Turn, demands time, patience, analytical thinking, passion for history.

In exchange, the game offers thrilling moments, solid balance, great historical accuracy and almost endless replayability.

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story 7
gameplay 9
concept 9
graphics 7
audio 7
multiplayer 0
final rating 8.5
Editor's review
very good