War, the Game Review (PC)

very good
key review info
  • Game: War, the Game
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: Yes  
  • Reviewed on:
War strategy

One famous video game intro clip talks about the unchanging nature of war as society evolves, but even a quick look at history shows that while the reasons for conflict and the results for those involved might have not changed massively, the actual process of engaging and destroying an enemy is much shorter and more brutal in the XXI century.

War, the Game is the first video game that I have played which manages to reflect the nature of armed conflict between nations in an interesting way, without becoming too complicated for most gamers and without making realism a cornerstone of the experience.

The game might be too minimalistic or too hard for some strategy lovers, but those who give it more than a few minutes will discover a very interesting set of game mechanics.

Story

War, the Game is one of the most cynical video games I have played in a long time and nowhere is this clearer than when it comes to the story that the development team at Gabber Games has created for the experience.

The studio claims that the game has no narrative, but they did create a screen that explains that the player is a military strategist with unequaled skill who knows how to command large forces and that a variety of bidders are fighting over his services.

Basically, each of the operations included in War, the Game is a scenario about the world as it exists now, with its major powers and smaller countries, but the team imagines that all past tensions and all current low-level conflicts bloom into full combat.

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Peninsular war
Asian action
France and Germany have a long rivalry that involves two World Wars so they battle out for supremacy, the United States intervenes in the Middle East and in Europe, China finally gets to capture Taiwan and threatens the rest of Asia.

All of these scenarios are playable in War, the Game and the game makers have made no attempt to hide how irrational and weird conflict between states can be, especially when waged by powerful modern nations.

There’s no talk about causes or potential solutions, other than conquest, and the title is careful to focus on the military strategy rather than on the political or economic element that such major conflicts would involve.

War, the Game does not hide its nature and does not aim for realism, but in offering such a clinical look at war and its effects, it offers a sober perspective on the destructive abilities that man has created in the modern age.

Gameplay

War, the Game is a deceivingly simple video game at first sight, but as more operations open up, the player will be surprised by the circumstances and how the mechanics interact with one another and will have to carefully plan his actions in order to meet the mission objectives.

Each nation that the player controls has units, which can range from infantry and tanks to nuclear missiles and aircraft carriers, and production facilities that can be used to create them.

The gamer is in charge of choosing what and when to build, based on the money the cities he controls are generating, and on moving his forces across the map in order to engage the enemy, defeat him and then capture his urban centers.

The actual battles do not require any sort of input and they are only based on the power of the units that are taking part, with both infantry and tanks contributing one level each when at full strength and with air units offering the same strength but with some special rules attached.

The systems created by Gabber Games means that small initial advantages in unit power lead to a win in the long term and most of the strategy needed to win in War, the Game is linked to knowing when and how to commit forces in order to win, even by the smallest of margins, while crippling the enemy army.

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Cross channel fight
European war
The initial scenarios seem simple, but the game quickly ramps up the difficulty level and it takes a lot of tries and restarts in order to complete the later mission objectives.

The best way I have found to create a solid path towards victory is to find the nearest enemy divisions and focus as many of my forces on them in a coordinated attack.

The trick is to keep your own units in War, the Game together as much as possible, while making sure that the enemy is scattered and unable to mount a powerful counteroffensive.

What makes the entire experience more difficult than it should be is the fact that the entire game moves a little too fast and sometimes the AI, with its unlimited attention, simply makes moves that the player cannot respond to in time.

War, the Game does a good job of teaching the player, via a virtual assistant, how to play the game and it’s always easy for gamers to understand what they need to do in order to succeed.

Graphics and audio

War, the Game is a lesson on how to do more with less as the development team at Gabber Games uses what are clearly limited resources to create a graphics engine that delivers a fluid game, interesting details and an art style that enhances the gameplay experience.

Units and terrain are all abstracted and the look of the title borrows a lot from the military video feeds that show battlefields and combatants, although on a much larger scale.

The user interface is easy to read and offers all the info that the player needs and the choice to allow the gamer to zoom in and out at any moment manages to convey the scale of each operation, while the representation of Earth offers a sense of time.

War, the Game shows that indie developers do not need to try to compete with big companies in the graphics department and only have to come up with an interesting design choice in order to capture the attention of the player with a simple, clean, efficient look.

The sound design is less impressive, but it does mesh well with the rest of the experience.


The Good

  • Solid real-time strategy structure
  • Interesting art style

The Bad

  • Moves a little too fast
  • Limited tactical options

Conclusion

War, the Game is one of the most interesting titles I have played this year and one of the video games that, even if that was not the intention of the team at Gabber Games, deliver some interesting commentary on the nature of war in the modern age.

The entire experience is simple and efficient, with rules that can be learned in less than 15 minutes, but at the same time, it is hard to win the various included operations and even harder to complete a world conquest.

This shows the limitations that nations would face if any major war started and the game also makes clear the link between the economy, represented by city-based income, and the ability to sustain enough military units to defend a territory and then attack.

The developers at Gabber Games have created an interesting game overall, with some very cool ideas, but the game might be too niche and abstracted to appeal to gamers who are used to a view of war that’s more about spectacle than about decisions and consequences.

War, the Game is a title that all strategy lovers should try out at least once in order to see how smaller teams can innovate by taking the classic concepts of the genre and turning them into something new.

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story 6
gameplay 8
concept 9
graphics 8
audio 7
multiplayer 0
final rating 8
Editor's review
very good
 
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