Anyone played this WW1 video game?

[Buffnut453]

Stumbled across this article on the BBC website:

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230404-the-great-war-the-ww1-video-game-thats-eerily-accurate

Have any GWF aficionados played this video game.  Clearly, it can't be 100% accurate, otherwise there would be no point in playing and you'd know how it all ends when you got to the top level. 

However, interested to hear thoughts on whether the game is worth playing.  

[tankengine888]

I'm not so sure if many [if in-fact any] GWF fellows have played this game, so I'll throw my input in;
As a 14 year old who is mounting up money to buy it [and played many First World War Games; Holdfast mods, Beyond the Wire, ARMA 3 mods, Rise of Flight].. I think from viewing that it's quite nice as a game, not so sure if accurate.

With the limitations of the game engine, I feel that most aspects available have been utilized. From what I read, hear and see, I understand that there are features such as the following;
- The quick breaking of units under heavy fire
- The low cohesion of allied troops IF say American and British troops are in the same 'tile'
- The permanent devastation of the land by shells
- The building of your own trenches

Here are a few reviews below
1- 'Its lacking many things. It definitely not repayable. Very repetitive Its so close to being awesome but many things drag it back. Many reviews are saying unit deaths to fast, time limit, xp for units, campaign very basic, no workshop or mods yet, the list goes on.'

2- 'Trench melee has no animation which kinda sucked for me just felt like there was nothing to it, just whoever had more hp wins. Troops disappearing when surrendering was strange and bodies despawned almost immediately which takes away from the gritty immersion. Just wanted it to be a bit more brutal really so I refunded shortly after buying but I think I will reinvest at a later date if improved as I like the concept - couldn't warrant spending £30 on it at this moment in time.'

3- '..the overall performance of AI is janky at best. Yes it is intelligent enough to defend and attack properly. But it is cheating like a 90's AI in a RTS. So Fog of War seems to be non existent, it is reacting within seconds on your troops movement with artillery strikes. It is attracted to machine gun positions to bomb them straight of the field. The worst part though is that the AI has always a higher supply treshold, so it is less limited in its action than a player. Defending with insane amounts of machine guns and more? No problem, calling massive reinforcement waves? Also no problem. And the AI seems to be placing its troops after your initial battle plan, so it is countering your battleplan straight from T-0 because it knows where you place the most troops.'

however, other reviews are quite critical to the games presence, even saying it's superbly accurate.

You can wait until a GWF fella has played this game, or you can try to base an opinion off the existing reviews.

I probably not what you wanted, but I felt like I had to put an input into this.
Zidane.

[Buffnut453]

Hi Zidane,

Many, MANY thanks for the comprehensive reply.  I'm not much of a gamer myself but my interest might have been piqued if the reviews were better.

I was particularly disappointed by the review which stated that the AI seems to know instantly the place where you're going to attack.  The whole point is to attack where the enemy isn't expecting you so it feels like the game is somewhat self-defeating in that respect.

Kind regards,

Mark

[tankengine888]

25 minutes ago, Buffnut453 said:

I was particularly disappointed by the review which stated that the AI seems to know instantly the place where you're going to attack.  The whole point is to attack where the enemy isn't expecting you so it feels like the game is somewhat self-defeating in that respect.

Perhaps they think we're General Melchett!

I have to write a quick reply since I'm in Religion class so beg pardon if this makes no sense..
In all seriousness, I feel that they mean immediately after you move, the AI will counter it. I am learning to script and I feel this is the only logical explanation at the top of my mind. 
Building a 'prosthetic person' or 'Artificial Intelligence' takes alot of effort, atleast to round it out for say, combat. That's where a game like ARMA 3 peaks with their built-in AI but even then they're designed for more modern tactics, putting the kibosh for people using the Anglo-Zulu War or WW2 aspect of ARMA 3... Napoleon: Total War came out when I was falling over [2010], and they put the idea of Napoleonic Warfare in a brutal, yet accurate way with very few shortcomings in the way of the Enemy AI.. Perhaps in later times this WW1 game will have a 'revamp' or a mod to plot a more human-controlled enemy..

Zidane.

I have 2000 hours in ARMA 3, I regret nothing

Edited 6 April , 2023 by tankengine888

[Buffnut453]

7 minutes ago, tankengine888 said:

Perhaps they think we're General Melchett!

I have to write a quick reply since I'm in Religion class so beg pardon if this makes no sense..
In all seriousness, I feel that they mean immediately after you move, the AI will counter it. I am learning to script and I feel this is the only logical explanation at the top of my mind. 
Building a 'prosthetic person' or 'Artificial Intelligence' takes alot of effort, atleast to round it out for say, combat. That's where a game like ARMA 3 peaks with their built-in AI but even then they're designed for more modern tactics, putting the kibosh for people using the Anglo-Zulu War or WW2 aspect of ARMA 3... Napoleon: Total War came out when I was falling over [2010], and they put the idea of Napoleonic Warfare in a brutal, yet accurate way with very few shortcomings in the way of the Enemy AI.. Perhaps in later times this WW1 game will have a 'revamp' or a mod to plot a more human-controlled enemy..

Zidane.

I have 2000 hours in ARMA 3, I regret nothing

 

Wish this forum supported a "like" button 'cos you'd get one for that post.

Truly appreciate your insights.

[Oleif]

I’ve been playing this game a lot. Once you learn it it’s an amazing game with lots of authentic decisions and situations!  The best part of it is how it enables you to act like an orchestra conductor when putting together mixed unit attacks. 
 

highly recommended!

[tankengine888]

9 minutes ago, Oleif said:

I’ve been playing this game a lot. Once you learn it it’s an amazing game with lots of authentic decisions and situations!  The best part of it is how it enables you to act like an orchestra conductor when putting together mixed unit attacks. 
 

highly recommended!

I'm still learning to get better 

[Oleif]

11 minutes ago, tankengine888 said:

I'm still learning to get better 

May I suggest using the space bar to “pause” the game to give your men orders and keep them moving and the artillery suppressing. It’s true in this game that speed is everything!

[tankengine888]

24 minutes ago, Oleif said:

May I suggest using the space bar to “pause” the game to give your men orders and keep them moving and the artillery suppressing. It’s true in this game that speed is everything!

Fair suggestion. I'm one of those people who like going in real-time without pausing in games like U-BOAT, Total War Games, Men of War, etc.

The men under my command suffer from dying in 3 seconds due to Gothas and Artillery.

[stripeyman]

So when was the Great War a 'game' ?

I think not

[tankengine888]

4 minutes ago, KieraRivers said:

Haven't played that particular WW1 video game yet, but I did read the article on the BBC website, and it sounds intriguing. I agree that it can't be 100% accurate or else it would spoil the fun, but it's always interesting to see how historical events are portrayed in video games.

Hello and Welcome to the forum!

I can also agree that if the game was 100% accurate then the fun would be spoiled; games also (like you've pointed out) give an idea on how historical events are portrayed for better or for worse.

In the Game, we can point out the futility of war on the Western Front where Machine Guns and Artillery ruled the land.

In for instance ARMA 3, you can see an era of conflict (mods for WW2 to Modern Day) from the perspective of a footslogger, Tanker or even Airman! However, many glitches remain present.

In Napoleon Total War, you see how fast your command is wiped out against 8 pounder cannons and cavalry.. on the sea, you witness your ships blown into smithereens.

Alot of blabber admittedly,

Zidane

[Oleif]

Yesterday there was a huge huge update to the game. And with it came a custom map editor. It’s a very complete tool kit to build scale battlefields and then be able to fight on them. I am making Hill60/caterpillar right now based on trench mapper. So fun!!

[IM75]

I

On 11/08/2023 at 13:54, Oleif said:

Yesterday there was a huge huge update to the game. And with it came a custom map editor. It’s a very complete tool kit to build scale battlefields and then be able to fight on them. I am making Hill60/caterpillar right now based on trench mapper. So fun!!

I've been contemplating getting the game since it was released but just haven't got round to it yet. I'm still not 100% convinced but the custom map editor might sway me. How does it compare to something like Steel Division or Call to Arms?

[MAW]

The connection of the words 'war' and 'game' make me shudder.

[stripeyman]

On 22/11/2023 at 15:24, MAW said:

The connection of the words 'war' and 'game' make me shudder.

Exactly....