Wargame: AirLand Battle

Wargame: AirLand Battle
Developer(s) Eugen Systems
Publisher(s) Focus Home Interactive
Engine IRISZOOM engine v3.0
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, OS/X, Linux
Release date(s) May 29, 2013
Genre(s) Real-time tactics
Mode(s) Single player and Multiplayer

Wargame: AirLand Battle is a real-time strategy video game developed by Eugen Systems and published by Focus Home Interactive, released on May 29, 2013. It is set in Europe during the Cold War, most specifically in the years 1975–85. It is the sequel to the 2012 Wargame: European Escalation.

Gameplay

Wargame's playable factions are the Warsaw Pact, which is subdivided into the Soviet Union, Communist Poland, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia; and NATO, which is subdivided into the United States of America, United Kingdom, France, West Germany, Canada, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Players can choose various units from the subfactions of the side they are playing on, unlocking new units or improved variants as they progress. In all, there are just over 800 historical units recreated to varying degrees of accuracy in Wargame: AirLand Battle.

Each country has its own arsenal of units, reflecting their military doctrine. It is possible to create a 'deck' or battlegroup focusing on various criteria, with the option to mix units from multiple nations' armories.

NATO

Warsaw Pact

Campaigns

Wargame: Airland Battle includes four campaigns that can be played alone or cooperatively with another player. The turn-based portions of all four campaigns take place on the same map depicting Northern Europe.

Die Hard – USSR/East Germany

As the Warsaw Pact's main offensive nears the Rhine, its southern front is threatened by NATO advances. To secure a favourable position at the negotiating table, a daring plan is hatched to seize Aarhus, thus depriving NATO of its most vital reinforcement ports.

Fortress Oslo – West Germany/UK/USA/France

Sweden, Norway and Denmark have all fallen to the Warsaw Pact. In Germany, however, NATO counter-attacks have halted and caused significant losses to Pact forces. Under pressure from public opinion in the West, NATO high command dispatches forces to liberate Denmark and Norway.

ZHUKOV-2 – USSR/Poland/East Germany

With the war in Germany at a stalemate, NATO and the Warsaw Pact focus their attention on Scandinavia. Following intelligence reports of a planned NATO assault, the HQ of the Soviet Northern Front orders the execution of alert plan ZHUKOV-2: a general offensive on NATO positions in Scandinavia.

War in the North – NATO/Sweden

The Warsaw Pact have declared war on Sweden and crossed its borders, thus placing the neutral country on NATO's side. Norwegian and Swedish forces must hold the line until reinforcements arrive.

Multiplayer

Wargame: AirLand Battle is a primarily multiplayer game. There are several game modes to play.

The majority of multiplayer games are skirmish battles, where players fight against other players and/or AI generated opponents with custom built decks. These battles vary in size, location, and style, adding to generally unique experience for each game.

Expansions

The first free expansion; Vox Populi; was released on August 1, 2013[1]

The second free expansion, Magna Carta, was released on December 10, 2013. The DLC included some new large scaled maps and new vehicles as well as infantry, now per nation.

Engine

Wargame: AirLand Battle uses an improved version of IRISZOOM engine. The 3rd generation of the IRISZOOM engine displays contour maps that were directly rendered from satellite images. The huge maps - up to 150 km² and simultaneously showing millions of objects - have gained in variety and realism whilst still supporting rapid transition from far to close up, with specific detail paid to the topography.

Sequel

During August 2013 a sequel, Wargame: Red Dragon was announced. It is set during the Cold War but after the original games, in East Asia. It introduces China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and the ANZAC as new factions. The campaign focuses around a Korea conflict during the 1980s. It introduces naval warfare to the Wargame series. Wargame: Red Dragon was released in April 2014.

Reception

Wargame: AirLand Battle
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings81%[2]
Metacritic79%[3]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Destructoid85
Eurogamer80
GameSpot80
IGN84
PC Gamer (US)87
PC PowerPlay90

Wargame: AirLand Battle has received generally positive reviews upon release, with a Metacritic score of 82%.

See also

References

  1. Wargame: AirLand Battle - "Vox Populi" (Free DLC). Accessed 9 August 2013
  2. Wargame: AirLand Battle. Accessed 9 August 2013
  3. Wargame: AirLand Battle. Accessed 9 August 2013

External links

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