14 DAY TRIAL // 
When I say that Steel Division: Normandy 44 is a real-time strategy I'm not just placing it in a particular genre. I am accurately describing the pain and effort people will have to go through while playing an accurate RTS game.
For the longest time, strategy games were about building bases and producing units out of nowhere. And that's fine because you're usually playing the game for different reasons. People don't start an RTS and expect to find it too real; they want something fast, and that feels winnable.
Steel Division is neither of those things. It will not offer a quick exaltation of the senses, and you'll feel like you’re the worst commander that's ever been put in charge of an army. Playing a few tutorial missions can make people feel ready. You might think that it's easy, just flank and attack, that's all there is to it.
The problem is that war is messy, there is chaos, and rarely things go according to plan. Remember the old saying: no plan survives contact with the enemy. In case you were wondering, that's coming from a German strategist named Helmuth von Moltke.
It's all about accepting loss
Before getting any idea of how this game is really played, you should shed any preconceptions you might have about playing true strategy games. I was confronted by my own hubris early on in the game because things that I thought I knew about how strategy games should be played were not only wrong, but I had to overcome them with great difficulty.
To this day, real-time strategy games are mostly about numbers and less about strategy. There are very few exceptions to this rule, and the games that do try to make things a little bit different and more difficult to the players are not all that successful, even if they are good.
On the other hand, Steel Division: Normandy 44 is so different from anything else that it gives new players pause. We have to keep in mind that the studio that made this game is Eugen Systems. They are known for making very good RTS titles, and some of the older titles share some similarities, such as the Wargame franchise or R.U.S.E.
To be fair, when I started playing Steel Division I got an intense R.U.S.E. vibe. The gameplay was someone similar, in some respects, and that is a good thing since R.U.S.E. was an excellent RTS that still doesn't get enough recognition.
Just like in a real situation battle, Steel Division: Normandy 44 players will have to learn when is it OK to sacrifice a unit or when they should let go. Just like in all the great conflicts, this is not about winning every fight; it's about winning the war. That might mean some fights can be lost and that some fights will have to be lost.
It doesn’t make a lot of sense if you’re playing with the idea of regular RTS in your mind, thinking that as long as you have resources, you can just spawn soldiers and tanks. The biggest problem is that resources are limited and that every unit that you lose hurts a lot more than you might think.
It’s not about resources
The “resources” in Steel Division: Normandy 44 are just some action points that can be spent before and during the battle. You get a certain number of points at the start, and you can choose from a selection of units. After the fight begins, players will continue to receive resources, spending them as they see fit.
Surprisingly, the amount of resources received is not a big problem, although more of them would certainly push the battle in your favor. There is also no right path to take towards victory. As supreme commander of the forces, you get to choose everything, and that is probably the biggest responsibility.
The idea is to provide players with restraints, but in a way that makes everything feel more organic and natural. Instead of seeing people showing up from inside the “barracks,” they arrive from outside the map, as reinforcements, and as they become available. The same happens with the tanks, planes, and so on.
One of the most important features is the battlefront line, which shifts along with your troops and the enemies’. This means that the more territory you control, the more points you’re getting, always keeping you on the offensive. Getting that balance between pushing forward and losing as few units as possible in the attack is crucial to the entire gameplay.
Think like a human, not as someone playing a game
The thing I like the most in Steel Division: Normandy 44 is that it forces me to think constructively, just like I imagine I should be doing in a real situation. Surprisingly, thinking this way makes the game easier and not harder, at least while you’re playing with against the AI. Playing against humans is a different matter altogether.
Let’s say that you arrive at the edge of a new battlefield, and with the exception of the general layout, you have no idea how many enemies there are, how they are positioned, and what are the type of forces you’ll encounter. You don’t even know how many reinforcements you’re going to face.
The first thing is to get as many eyes on the battlefield as possible, and that means getting scouts and surveillance planes to find out the exact position and numbers of the enemy. Depending on the map and resources, you’ll probably have to choose the starting units very carefully.
After you get the information about the nearest enemies at least, you can think about an offensive. Now you’re facing another problem. Units don’t simply stay in the open. They use geographical landmarks to take cover, they occupy houses and buildings, and they get entrenched with machineguns. They are not going to stay idle while you advance and they are going to protect their location fiercely.
And there are of course the various scripted actions that are triggered during the campaigns. The game doesn’t unlock all of the units right from the start but in stages. The rule of thumb is that if you’ve recruited a particular unit for you, then there is a good probability that the enemy is going to use something similar as well.
As expected, morale also plays an important part. Units can be calm, nervous, or panicked. People, or in this case AI-powered soldiers, don’t want to die, and they will be going on retreat if they are truly threatened. As a combatant, you’ll have to keep this strategy in mind as well. You will be put into a position of withdrawing, more than once.
Zoom in and enhance
Steel Division: Normandy 44 is built on an engine that allows players to switch from an aerial view of the battlefield to the ground level in a single move, and that’s impressive. To be fair, many of the games from Eugen Systems have this particular feature, so it’s not really surprising.
The transition is smooth, and the game doesn’t have impossible system requirements. Still, it’s a really good looking game, although to be fair, I’ve spent most of the time watching the battle from maximum height. I was more concerned about winning the war than to see it unfold.
It might also be interesting to mention that Steel Division: Normandy 44 comes with support for Steam Workshop, and there are almost 100 mods available, some more interesting than others.
As for the multiplayer, it’s great if you manage to find people that have at least an inclination towards playing right. The problem is that you might expect to be confronted with someone that has a strategy or that has an idea of what it wants to do.
The reality is that that you’ll either get someone that’s way better than you at everything or you’ll get someone that will try to rush you as soon as possible, preferably on the sides. No, you’re not original, and you’re going to get crushed.
The Good
- Some of the single player maps are challenging and rewarding
- Units take advantage of terrain and visibility correctly
- The transition between the birds-eye view and ground view is seamless
- Preferred battle groups for multiplayer is an interesting change
- The game feels like a strategy simulation and not a simple RTS
The Bad
- The AI is sometimes easy to trick
- Finding specific units on the maps can be difficult at times
Conclusion
Steel Division: Normandy 44 will challenge players in a way that’s not achieved by other titles. It might not have the brightest AI or the most balanced multiplayer, but it’s more than enough to reveal an important fact. We haven’t been playing strategy games before; they were just some hollow mock-ups.
