Iron Harvest

To start straight ahead, this game is far away from beeing perfect or to be a revolutionizing RTS, everyone is waiting for. But it has been a while that a game get my interest for so long and so I try to throw some different light on it. 1. Single Player Campaing: At the moment, this is the biggest pro for me. The story is not that bad. Some of the characters maybe a bit over the top (I would say command&conquer-ish). But it is something different from the usual "Attack this to occupy this" or "we have to fight against them, because there are totally evil". And there is more mission variation than the typical "build a base and destroy the enemy". 2. Tech-Tree almost non-exist That is true, there is a very limited number of buildings and no possibility to improve the units. So yes, this is a con. 3. The different fractions There are three different playable fractions in the game, each with it's own single player campaign. On a first glance, all units (Mechs and infantry) seems to be very similar (for example, all three fractions have a light anti-infantry mech and a light anti-mech mech). But if you play with them for a while, you can discover the differences in weapon range, armor, movement speed and so on. So in multiplayer, there is only a small chance to win with different fractions, if you use allways the same strategie. 4. Multiplayer No matter if ranked game or not, most of the time it took 1 - 2 minutes to find a game. From my perspective, the maps are well designed. Yes, there are only a few, but the developers published new ones since the lunch of the game and more is coming. And yes, AI is not a challange at the moment. 5. Regular Updates Since the release, the game recieves an update each week to fix bugs, change balances, add new maps or functionalities. Which game has that? So at the end, I can recommend this game. Maybe not for the full price, but this must know everyone on his own. Now please excuse me, my Tur is waiting for me.

Just completed the main campaign and must say, this was the best RTS campaign in a while. There was a good background story, nice characters, interesting dynamic missions and a non-wornout scenario. Graphics and soundtrack were also to my tastes. Also the campaign is playable in coop which I sadly did not know beforehand. Yes it IS buggy (my game crashed at least 2 times in the Polania campaign, and the units bug out a lot lol) but, as it can be aggravating, it did not really disturb the whole experience. Also positively I have to say that 2 big patches came in since I bought the game. The developers seem to keep the promise of improving on the game for the forseeable future. Cannot say anything about multiplayer yet, but it is existing, while very basic (missing gamelists etc.). Since some people gave this game a 1 star for being a little buggy, I gave it 5 (except of 4) because it think this game deserves a chance from RTS-fans. It's not a new Company of Heroes, but has its own merits which make it worth a try (for example 3 diverse factions, a lot of animals and Brunhilde).

[Mechs - the star of the show] Mech designs are good, but I can't say I love their design philosophies. Polish are fast but weak. Saxons are tanky but can't get anywhere. Ruskies perhaps have the better front mechs. In this COH wanna-be, actions are too fast. You will want: 1) A fast response cavalry and 2) a solid hitting force that you can build into a ball of doom (Starcraft tournament style). The factions I mentioned only tick one of the boxes, not both. I understand it's design, but it's unsatisfying. With big stompy things, you run into issues with pathfinding or unwanted destruction. You have to carefully herd your cows by their horsepower. You also find that your city becomes a flat plain after an extended mech campaign. [UI, UX, Feedback] The game teaches you about cover, or does it? Are you in cover if you are in front of it? - even if the green dots say you are in cover? Can I have a way to cancel "retreat" whenever I want? Sometimes the map is so big that it takes forever for my unit to fall back. zzz... [Campaign] While mechs are fun (and frustrating), the missions that shine are infantry battles where you use their unique abilities. The plot is mildly engaging, but it's like it's written for kids. Stealth missions are a pain to play through. [DLCs] The Union is a fun side to play, because of their Protoss Carriers. However, their ground mechs are unimpressive.

I enjoy the campain. The storyline is nicely set and fitting for the game and timeframe. Most of the game mechanics are ok, some still not bug-free, so hopefully this will come. Some bugs I have seen are: - autosave during missions does not work. It says "saving" but when you need to restart the mission it start at the very beginning not at some point later where it has saved. - I cant see for which actions in the game i will get what reward (bronze, silver, gold, platin), but perhaps I just havn#t fount that yet. - the number of multi player maps is too small, so hopefully there will be more to come. - in Multiplayer the AI on simple is more than simple. On one hand, this helps you testing your units againts an easy target but on the other hand, it is a bit too easy. Overall the game is fun to play but has a big potential for more.

I do not really get the negative reviews this game gets as it is a real gem once you got used to the gameplay. A t first I was frustrated as it was not "behaving" like the rts games I used to ply, but once I got used to the gameplay this changed into pure fun. The game's art is awesome and the leveldesign is really cool. I really really enjoyed the campaign of this gem and am looking forward to play the DLC next week!!! Please skip the negative reviews and give this unique game a good chance!!