Military tactical games are my specialty, sometimes it's XCOM, Mutant Year Zero, or Company of Heroes. This one is heavily reliant on planned tactics, where from a hindsight after given orders, you see the action happen. Only pausing the game if things deter somehow.
This is more fun for specific kind of people, but it's been getting quite popular in the scene so after checking it out, I've realized just how bad I am dealing with unpredictable outcomes, as well as other things. Majority of strategy games have oversimplified things to the point of making this in comparison feel so evoking, striking, fun, yet frustratingly challenging at the same time.
If the learning curve is too much, no worries, just trudge through the many missions, earning your stars and strides to unlock many useful things possible before getting the hang of things. If not that, well this YT video should probably simplify things.
Welcome to the fields soldier, the training starts off with getting the hang of setting up travel routes, set up aim specific routes, making sure room is secure before moving in to the next, and preparing countermeasures when things do get rough.
The various missions presented first have the tutorial section where my combat readiness is tested, at first with two troops, the situations simulated pretty delicate. This is due to many factors playing like where enemies will travel, and show up, dealing with lack of visibility, and not falling for enemy's line of sight. They can quickly take me down if not careful.
Seeing my commands executed beautiful has this soothing and rewarding feeling. Especially considering the risk factors if things don't go well, resulting in my units being KIA. The way enemies are programmed, they could either segregate and entrap in tight spaces, or come every direction.
Heck, they'll even throw grenades if you're not careful. Many obstacles to deal with as the missions go, from closed doors, metal sheets, windows, and certain objects becoming blindspots. No worries, given time and playing it all right, I'll go from throwing flashbangs, and using grenade launchers to quickly dispatch OpFor off to using bolt cutters, wall breachers, hammers, slap charges, etc.
There are multiple commands to give, including call sign commands for selected squads, requiring me to press an assigned button to initiate the command. The right delayed one will do a lot with the tricky situation. You can set on the path, when they should move if enemy presence seems clear, and other behavior modifiers. Finishing each mission gives me star ratings, allowing me to unlock different weapons, equipment, throwables, and those gadgets I mentioned.
Flashbangs could only help so much, my troops don't always rightfully take down an enemy. Like, imagine breaching with your buddy, 4-5 terrorist upfront they're firing, either my guys are suppressed, pinned, or injured. Doing good levels up troops, and the doctrine is where things interesting.
I'm talking traits offering faster reload, better aim, medical help, and then there's the hardest one to obtain, the Elite Level Squad doctrines. Oh yeah, the game isn't easy, but after using these, I've never felt like I had a better team before till this point. Elite traits are ridiculous, insane fast reloading, every squad capable of handling heavy weapons, apparently they can learn kung fu as well.
It's fun to have stuff to experiment with, but soon came the difficult missions, where I had little time to make quick moves, and save hostages before they're killed. Some of them even give sniper assistants, which is super helpful. And then there are the challenges.
Which involves finishing it in estimated time, no one getting injured after mission completion, and the thing I loathe the most, doing everything without pausing. The devs obviously started taking the piss at me with those, since it's super rare I completed one. I even did one mission perfectly, and then find out one guy did get injured. My fault tho, but still sucks.
The missions provide more squad members, levels with various situations to tackle, you won't see anyone past covered windows till that stuff is blown up. Doors need to be broken through, walls need to be pulverized, go from simple room scanning to terrifying the enemies, and I know the connotations are there. But if it's any consolation, this game is made by Romanians.
I have 4 different classes to pick from, Assault, Support, Marksman, and Grenadier. With all kinds of weapons to unlock and use, I can even choose their scopes, kind of armor they'd use. Tho, do note, they effect concealment and mobility stats. Important, considering sometimes stealth is the way in.
This title is almost as difficult for me as the early commandos games while also playing like S.W.A.T. Even has that classic look, not even visually demanding, you can run this on a Steam Deck even. It also involves so much micromanaging, and they don't always work out.
I can't properly select teammates when their textures collide together, and trying to create routes and cancelling that with the orders placed is pretty troubling as they don't prompt much as they should. I've even realized redoing the missions to earn those special awards is kind of cheating, since I know where the enemies are. But some equipment and weapons are locked behind those.
Making my task of doing the challenges more infuriating. But hey, I had tons of fun, I have so much ground to experiment with, and can't wait to do so as I continue playing. And finishing these missions also do open up the campaign mode, if you want to play with a buddy, there's even co-op. If you don't want my word how good it is, take it from a SWAT commander.
Note after edit: I've realized that the trail being drawn out could be color coded for specific squad members. That way, it'll help to recognize who's who in the action.