Turn-based strategies, and especially pure-blooded wargames, rarely delight modern fans of computer entertainment. It would seem that in the age of dynamics and shaders, slow and thoughtful military strategies have finally turned into niche products. However, the Bremen studio King Art, previously known only for very good adventure games, like the recent detective story, set out to prove the opposite.

Battle Worlds: Kronos

Genre Turn-based strategy / wargame
Platforms Windows / Mac OS / Linux
Developer KING Art
Publisher KING Art/Crimson Cow
Website battle-worlds.com

Grade

Purebred gameplay for the genre, an abundance of possibilities in terms of strategy and tactics, asynchronous multiplayer

Weak plot component, identical combat units of most factions, minor bugs and shortcomings

A classic turn-based wargame with a modern twist

The game was in the works for six whole years, but all the potential publishers that the developers approached were convinced of the futility of the chosen genre. But having appeared on Kickstarter in March of this year, Battle Worlds: Kronos successfully raised $260,000 instead of the requested $120 thousand, at the same time receiving approval on Steam Greenlight in record time, and thereby clearly demonstrated the interest of players, proving that it is too early to give up turn-based wargames from accounts. But what is completely unusual is the release of the final version not just on time, but a month earlier than the planned December. Against the backdrop of the established traditions of crowdfunding, where you sometimes have to wait for what is promised for years, this looks very good.

The plot of the game is no different in originality and depth - however, you don’t really expect this from a classic strategy. The action takes place in a science fiction setting, on a planet called Kronos. It was once almost destroyed during the civil war, and most of the inhabitants were evacuated to a neighboring celestial body. Now, after the death of the next emperor, the three formed hostile factions returned to their native ashes in order to continue their confrontation with renewed vigor: according to tradition, a candidate for rulers must take possession of the ruins of a dozen local temples. You can follow the twists and turns of the storyline through cutscenes between missions and through slightly more numerous in-game messages with standard, even rather banal characters from a military-themed game: we have an old general giving orders, a pretty TV correspondent, and a rival with a very bad character the commander of a neighboring army, and a zealous subordinate captain who regularly reports to us on the state of affairs in the trenches.

Although, to be honest, you don’t have to follow the plot at all. Unlike, say, Massive Assault and other early works of the now famous, this component of the gameplay was clearly not a priority for the Germans. The main thing here is different: classic tactics of warfare - with planning several moves ahead, with carefully thought-out movement of units, with careful attitude to each combat unit entrusted to us - and without any excesses in the form of diplomacy, construction or taxation. KING Art's goal is to bring the best wargames of twenty years ago, such as Battle Isle or Panzer General, to a new technological and visual level, but with full respect for the classics in terms of maintaining the spirit of the gameplay, which requires constant attention and forces acceptance at every turn difficult decisions.

Perhaps the developers managed to do this after all. Visually, Battle Worlds: Kronos is done quite well, the images of troops and buildings are nice and detailed even when the camera is zoomed in as close as possible - the latter, to the delight of veterans of 1980s strategy games, can be zoomed out to the level where three-dimensional units turn into two-dimensional icons on a flat field of hexagons. At the same time, the game does not try to scare off beginners with its prohibitive difficulty in mastering - the first, training mission in the campaign mode allows you to delve into the gameplay in about fifteen minutes. Another thing is that already the second of the missions makes you scratch your head a lot, carrying out an order to escort transports that do not know how to attack and defend from point A to point B under constant persecution from the enemy and with a real threat of encirclement...

Since the setting is in the spirit of sci-fi, tanks and self-propelled artillery predominate among the combat units we control. Later in the campaign, ships, aircraft and infantry snipers will be added. In addition to the usual indicators of “health”, damage dealt, armor and experience levels, each unit has two of three types of action points: movement, attack and “wild card” (that is, the first or second action to choose from) - an interesting point that allows good balance the performance of our troops. For example, the “Rogue” - a light and fast combat vehicle with a ranged attack - boasts two jokers at once, which means that during each turn it is able to move twice, or shoot twice, or do both once, - but at the same time it is extremely vulnerable in “hand-to-hand” combat and requires thorough cover from slower tanks. Skillful maneuvering and coordinating the actions of all troops is a difficult and quite exciting task: for example, each unit receives a bonus to attack if there is another friendly unit next to it.

There are thirteen story map missions in Battle Worlds: Kronos - in two campaigns, which follow one another and are designed by the authors to take about thirty hours to complete. However, the game is more conducive to a leisurely style of combat - and even to replaying already completed stages in order to complete all side tasks with less blood. The latter is all the more relevant since only troops that have received a level increase at least twice are allowed to be transferred to the next mission - and, of course, managed to survive to victory.

But what is puzzling is that almost all the warring parties have the same units. For three dozen combat units and buildings common to the three main warring factions, there is only one unique unit: a strange decision by the developers, which can only be explained by a lack of time and resources. True, in the second story campaign you will be able to play for the fourth faction - the “Residents”, the indigenous inhabitants of Kronos destroyed by the war. The natives, unlike the more advanced “invaders,” cannot boast of technical power: their troops are dominated by infantry, and their tactics are guerrilla warfare with an emphasis on various stealth skills. Infantry, by the way, should not be underestimated when playing for other sides of the conflict: snipers or infantry robots are the only ones of all our troops capable of capturing enemy warehouses, radars, marinas and factories. In the first of them, if you're lucky, you can find a couple of ownerless tanks or helicopters, and the latter are used to produce light or heavy combat units for resources, which, again, are mainly obtained during the systematic seizure of enemy territory.

In addition to the story campaign, there is also a single-player mode of play against AI - alas, it has only three maps. There is, however, hope that their number will soon be replenished, not without the help of the players themselves - the map editor can be downloaded from the official forum. For the multiplayer mode, more maps are supplied, a whole dozen - of which only one each for three or four participants. Multiplayer here, in addition to the simple and familiar hot-seat, is cross-platform and asynchronous. You can play online (by creating a closed game together with a friend, or an open one with the ability to connect any player online) following the logic of thoughtful strategic gameplay, without any rush, by setting a time limit for a move from 8 to 72 hours. Of course, nothing prevents you from playing together in real time.

The game was released in seven languages ​​at once, including Russian, and with video clips voiced in all languages, which is not so common lately. Unfortunately, the accelerated release time inevitably affected many errors and shortcomings in the release version, especially in localizations: if testing took place, it was only for the German and English versions. It should be noted that the recently fashionable release of games in “early access” mode does not allow us to draw a definite line between disadvantages and advantages and indicate where the collection of money for a crude beta version ends – and where the promotion of the concept of “games as a service” begins ”, reminiscent of constant updates in the spirit of MMORPG. The release of Battle Worlds: Kronos is not listed in the Early access category at all, but many very significant elements and features will be added by the authors over the coming months. So, in addition to the obvious bug fixes, next week we are promised the appearance of a rating system and leagues for multiplayer, by the end of November - a browser version (designed to make participation in the asynchronous multiplayer game mode much easier), and many new official maps before the end of the year. At the beginning of 2014, we expect versions for iOS, Android and Ouya, as well as a full-fledged Trains addition with a third campaign for ten hours and new combat units.

Of course, this does not mean at all that the game is not worth paying attention to now. In the end, owners of Battle Worlds: Kronos will receive all of the above completely free of charge - and they have something to do even before patches and updates appear. Veterans of classic military strategies can enjoy the available capabilities in terms of combat maneuvers, and newcomers can try to join the rather complex gameplay without feeling disgusted when looking at the graphics and interface. Despite all its relative shortcomings, Battle Worlds: Kronos is a very worthy choice in the rare wargame genre today.

The employees of the KING Art studio, whose track record until now included only adventure games, really wanted to release a turn-based strategy in the image and likeness of Battle Isle And Advance Wars, but for some reason this idea did not attract publishers. Compassionate fans are another matter, and on Kickstarter the developers raised twice as much as they asked for.

Until I saw their project with my own eyes, this story seemed like a fairy tale with a happy ending. Now, I can’t get rid of the thought that the “damned capitalists” turned away from the creators not only out of greed.

How much are hexes for the people?

And most importantly, completing missions is not interesting. The opponent behaves sluggishly and often foolishly waits for you to approach his fortifications. To make things even more dramatic, the developers are not shy about unexpectedly adding help to enemies and changing goals. Such surprises are not at all pleasing, because you perceive them as dishonest tactics. Due to the artificially inflated complexity, many battles can be overcome only the second time, when you already know about all the “mess”.

The wargame genre can perhaps be safely called one of the most elite among strategies. Any fool can win when all that is required of him is to stamp more tanks, circle them with a frame and throw them into battle. But in order to defeat the enemy, having a limited contingent of troops, you have to think.

Unfortunately, today this complex and complex genre is not going through its best days - the last game of this kind came out... Uh-uh... In general, it's been a long time since it came out. We don't even know when exactly.

So our joy knew no bounds when several fans gathered for Kickstarter money for , and they released this game into the world. We traditionally already sent Login to figure out what, how and how much. Keep the jokes about the fact that the smartest member of the editorial staff had to take the rap!

Notes of the centurion Loginius Cotius about the Kronian War.

The Great Interstellar Empire lives by war. War hardens these people, just as a fire in a forge hardens steel. It is not surprising that even the election of the Emperor takes place amid the roar of guns, because only the strongest warrior and the most worthy commander have the right to command the interstellar state. Only a charismatic leader who has himself experienced countless battlefields has the right to send soldiers to their death. Only a man with a steel inner core, hardened in the heat of battle, can resist the ambitious aristocratic families that are already landing their troops on Kronos. However, I, Centurion Loginius Cotius, am far from politics. My job is to lead the troops and win the throne for the employers - the Great House of Telit...

The game's plot is filled with intrigue, sabotage, backstabbing and everything that accompanies a good military drama. The situation is aggravated by the tense political situation. Medicine has advanced so far that the new Emperor seems to be guaranteed immortality. Moreover, in a hundred years the new ruler will not turn into a bedridden, brainless idiot, but will still be young, full of strength and cunning. It is not surprising that this latest war is filled with intrigue, stabs in the back, betrayals... What a war - the landing on the planet begins with sabotage on our shuttle!

But I, Loginius Cotius the Red, can handle it. If necessary, I myself will kill the last soldier of the enemy army, smashing his head on the carriage of the last cannon. The main thing is that the locals do not interfere and do not get in the way. It’s okay – we’ll win the war for the throne, and we’ll deal with them too.

From the memoirs of Grand Admiral Loginder von den Rottenkot.

What can I say about the battles? It all starts with troop control - according to the doctrine of the General Staff, each unit receives two action points per turn. Points of the “movement” type can be spent on movement itself. “Attack” points are spent on striking the enemy. Finally, “joker” points can be spent on what the commander needs most at the moment - an additional attack, movement or use of a special ability. In my opinion, this solution is very ingenious, and allows field commanders to build complex military schemes. When all the action points are spent, it is the enemy commander’s turn to act.

Remember about ammo - artillery mounts and some other long-range units have limited ammo. In general, when beginning a conquest, generals must remember a few important things. The surrounded fighter receives a huge amount of damage from each attack and is very constrained in his actions, so the competent ones constantly line up their forces in tactically adjusted battle formations. Tanks with strong armor are certainly in the vanguard. Light equipment must support armored forces, and the destiny of infantry is ambushes and treacherous attacks from forests that are no longer accessible to anyone except aviation. In addition, a good military leader takes into account the fact that each unit has its own attack range. For example, due to the nature of the weapons, artillery is not capable of inflicting damage on a unit that stands close to it, and armored vehicles only hit troops located in close proximity. Finally, it's always worth remembering about ammunition - artillery mounts and some other long-range units have limited supply.

However, it is no less important for the commander to respect his enemy. The local artificial intelligence controlling enemy forces is very talented and makes good use of all the features of military equipment. So don't even try to complete combat missions with a cavalry charge. The enemy is cunning and insidious, and will prefer to bomb your forces from the air, or iron them out with artillery. Moreover, in every battle, numerical superiority alone does not provide an advantage. There is no need to go on the attack, relying only on naked military power - that’s what you will learn in!

War journal of General Che Logino de Rojo Gato.

Of course, not everything on Kronos is perfect - only a revolution can save this planet. While the bourgeoisie fight among themselves, the eye of a real commander notices the slightest flaws in the world around him. Firstly, it is painted with terribly bright colors. Have local commanders heard nothing at all about camouflage? Why are the tanks painted bright red? To make it easier to shoot at them? Why does the design of military equipment look so much like toys? Why does the brightness of the grass make your eyes water? Why, finally, is the enemy’s artificial intelligence built on scripts? As soon as you do something non-standard, the enemy gets lost and stops acting.

As soon as you do something non-standard, the enemy gets lost and stops acting. But in campaigns he is still devilishly cunning. But perhaps the most important disadvantage of the project is its absolute and merciless nicheness. If you have never commanded an army in turn-based mode on a hexagonal field before, don’t even play the game, it will quickly discourage you from doing so. Training in the spirit of “with the left button we select a squad, with the right button we send it into battle, and now here’s an infantry robot, overwhelm the enemy army with it” also does not increase attractiveness.

Finally, the entire game landscape is just a picture. Yes, in some places we drive a little faster, but in others only infantry or ships will pass. But in general, from occupying a dominant height you will not be either cold or hot - the protection does not increase, the range of fire does not change. To hell with it, most of the missions are done in the spirit of “our small detachment must cut out the enemy army, which is constantly receiving reinforcements,” which gets pretty boring after a couple of hours.

Summarizing everything that our brave commander Login said - the cat, by the way, for some reason only asked to address him as “Your Koteishestvo” - we can say that on the whole the game was a success. will quickly besiege everyone who considers himself the Great Strategist. At the same time, the game feels somewhat incomplete and niche - it’s obvious that the developers were making a project that would be interesting to play, first of all, for them. Finally, there is a sore lack of really interesting ideas here - this is such a solid, classic wargame. Whether this is good or bad, decide for yourself.