Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty Review (PC)

I have two Finnish heavy artillery batteries that can fire, well-positioned to hit both enemy defensive lines. But I need to decide whether I will use both to hit the same big Russian tank concentration that’s threatening my flank or whether it’s a better idea to split their fire and also soften up an infantry regiment that’s advancing toward my own defensive line.

The terrain isn’t great for rapid armor offensives but tanks can still quickly overwhelm my core infantry force, so I decide to focus fire on them. I use a fighter to draw some anti-air fire and then one of my tactical bombers can also drop some bombs on the Russian hardware. I use my Vickers to do extra damage, although these light tanks aren’t really designed for this. If there’s no massive pressure in another sector, The Fins will annihilate this Russian tank force next turn.

On my other flank, I am playing much safer. I allow my infantry in a city square to entrench, which makes them significantly better if the enemy launches an assault and move both anti-tank and anti-air guns a few hexes for support. A scout unit gives me extra visibility, but the Russians might have extra forces outside its range. I also position a fighter for some extra cover. It’s time to end this turn and see what the Soviets can throw at the Finnish line.

Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty is developed by Starni Games and published by Hyperstrange. I played it using Steam on the PC. This is a hex and turn-based strategy title that takes players to some of the less familiar battlefields of World War II.

+4more

The game offers two campaigns, one fully based on real-world events and an alternate history one, both featuring Finland and the generals that led it through the conflict. The Winter War, which started when Soviet Russia invaded the country in late 1939, isn’t often explored by video games.

In Spirit of Liberty, players will control the relatively obsolete but well-trained Finnish forces as they manage to resist the invaders and obtain a decent peace deal. The Continuation War sees the same army invading Russia as Germany does the same in 1941 (the countries were not allied but cooperated). The historical campaign also includes the Lapland War.

If players go for alternate history they get bigger battles, as their forces work with the Germans to execute the capture of Leningrad or take Murmansk, which has not happened historically. The game offers a lot of contexts but familiarity with the depicted conflicts and World War II in general helps.

Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty is very classic in terms of mechanics. Units occupy hexes and represent real-world equipment. Infantry is the workhorse of the army, numerous and able to perform a range of tasks when suitably equipped and supported. Artillery is the queen of battle and well-placed fire is essential both on attack and defense.

Never act without strong reconnaissance from dedicated assets. Armor can exploit success but can also quickly die in unfavorable conditions. Air power can act as a force multiplier but is also fragile when anti-air comes into play. The game asks players to develop plans to take objectives while also being flexible enough to respond to battlefield conditions and the addition of secondary objectives, help is provided in the form of an equipment system for every combat asset.

Basically, when in supply, units can gain extra kit and new abilities to deal with specific challenges. The battlefields of Spirit of Liberty require cold weather gear (something that the Soviets only learned after significant losses) but one can also give units special ammunition or new ways to move around. It’s a nice touch, although it is a little too flexible for World War II, offering gamers more options than real commanders had.

Play Video

The game distinguishes between core units and scenario forces. The first category moves from battle to battle, gaining experience that gets turned into better performance. Strategic Mind also features two types of damage, lethal and non-lethal. It’s crucial to expose core units as little as possible to the risk of being destroyed. I was much more cavalier when risking scenario troops.

Between missions, commanders in the HQ get their own upgrades (make sure to get artillery that can fire twice as quickly as possible) to add another layer of persistence. Spirit of Liberty delivers solid challenges and asks players to carefully execute their strategy. But the game also gives them upgrades, heroes, and tools that open up new ways to destroy enemy forces and achieve objectives.

Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty is a decent-looking experience when players are engaged with the combat, evaluating units, and planning moves while zoomed out as far as possible. It takes some while to get comfortable with the interface, but once that happens it’s easy to see what a unit can do, evaluate the damage a combat encounter will generate, and re-task units if needed. But the game insists on zooming in close to a unit for action sequences (click to skip them) and that’s when the limited quality of the models and textures becomes clear. The cutscenes are not much better, with characters that look more like mannequins than humans.

The soundtrack is suitably martial but doesn’t innovate in any way, while the battle effects are decent, delivering a solid jolt of happiness every time an enemy unit disappears after a big explosion. There’s voice acting for the briefings and cutscenes and it works well when it comes to conveying information, regardless of the almost robotic nature of some of the actors.

+4more

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion