9-Bit Armies: A Bit Too Far

About

9-Bit Armies: A Bit Too Far is a single player and multiplayer real-time strategy game with a warfare theme. It was developed by Petroglyph and was released on August 26, 2024. It received positive reviews from players.

In 9-Bit Armies: A Bit Too Far, players command military forces across diverse battlefields in this retro real-time strategy game, with enhanced features like airborne soldiers, bridge destruction, and superweapons. Team up with others in co-op campaigns or compete in online skirmishes for up to 8 players, and expand your experience with Steam Workshop integration for custom maps, mods, and more. This sequel now includes two-player co-op mode once again.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

+10

Skip User Reviews

85%

Audience ScoreBased on 955 reviews

story41 positive mentions

stability5 negative mentions

Captures the nostalgic feel of classic Command & Conquer games, particularly Red Alert 2.
Improvements over the previous 8-Bit Armies, including naval combat and a more engaging campaign.
Fun gameplay with a variety of modes, including co-op campaigns and daily challenges.

Campaign missions can feel repetitive and are often timed, making it difficult to achieve gold objectives.
Limited factions and unit diversity, leading to a lack of strategic depth.
AI can be overly challenging, often feeling unbalanced and requiring excessive unit spamming to succeed.

story
254 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
76%
8%
The story in the game is generally considered weak and generic, with many reviewers noting a lack of memorable characters and repetitive mission objectives. While some appreciate the campaign's structure and progression mechanics, others criticize the absence of engaging narrative elements and voice acting, leading to a feeling of sameness across missions. Overall, the campaign is seen as a missed opportunity, with many suggesting it feels more like a series of challenge missions rather than a cohesive story-driven experience.
- “The campaign pleasantly surprised me with its competent story, fun and varied missions and unique upgrade system that 'levels up' your units based on your performance.”
- “The story, while not groundbreaking, is charming and filled with humor.”
- “Each mission is thoughtfully designed, requiring strategic thinking and adaptability.”
- “The story is extremely generic and boring; if you're only interested in playing campaign mode, I'd skip this for now.”
- “The characters are not memorable; missions are all the same; units are just flat and boring.”
- “Missions felt like doing the same exact thing over and over again; balance sucked, both pathfinding and AI were a disaster, story was non-existent.”
gameplay
148 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
70%
2%
The gameplay is a blend of nostalgic real-time strategy elements reminiscent of Command & Conquer, featuring base-building, resource management, and tactical combat, which many players find both familiar and refreshing. While the game introduces some fun new mechanics and offers a variety of mission objectives, it also suffers from issues like broken transport mechanics and a reliance on simplistic strategies, leading to mixed feelings about its depth and balance. Overall, it provides an enjoyable experience for fans of the genre, especially those looking for a lighter, more accessible RTS.
- “Easier to get into than Starcraft, but still offers challenge and varied gameplay.”
- “The core mechanics of base-building, resource management, and tactical combat are well-executed.”
- “It successfully blends nostalgic elements with modern gameplay mechanics, offering an experience that’s both familiar and fresh.”
- “Broken transport ship mechanics pissed me off several times - can't pick up or offload properly, always some units left on the ground and you click again and again and again.”
- “How can you copy 20-year-old existing mechanics and make them broken? You had one job.”
- “The core gameplay feels uninspired, with blocky graphics and a reliance on unbalanced super weapons that overshadow tactical unit management.”
graphics
102 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
64%
4%
The graphics of the game evoke a nostalgic 90s aesthetic with a mix of voxel and pixel art styles, which some players appreciate for its retro charm, while others criticize it for being simplistic and low-quality. Many reviews highlight that the visuals run smoothly and fit the game's overall theme, but opinions vary widely on whether the art style enhances or detracts from the experience. Overall, while the graphics may not meet modern AAA standards, they successfully capture the essence of classic RTS games, appealing to fans of the genre.
- “The game looks and sounds great, the team did a stellar job with the graphics and the effects, but the gameplay is just fine.”
- “It has awesome graphics with that iconic Lego-style pixel art that runs smooth as butter, it's feature-rich to the brim and it addresses a lot of common complaints that we RTS fans have and strives to provide the exact experience that we have always wanted!”
- “The pixel art graphics and chiptune soundtrack perfectly complement the retro feel, adding to the overall appeal of the game.”
- “I never would have gotten this game if I'd realized it was voxels, totally abhorrent art style.”
- “I love the concept, but the graphics quality is just too low.”
- “The AI is not the fun kind (think infinite economy and super weapons), the gameplay systems haven't aged well, and the graphics are something I was willing to live with if the gameplay was there - which it is not.”
music
93 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
36%
4%
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim, particularly for its nostalgic ties to the classic Command & Conquer series, thanks to the return of composer Frank Klepacki. Players appreciate the blend of retro chiptunes and modern beats, although some note that the soundtrack can feel repetitive and limited. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature, enhancing the gameplay experience and evoking fond memories for fans of the genre.
- “The soundtrack is a wonderful mix of retro chiptunes and modern beats, perfectly complementing the game’s aesthetic.”
- “Plus, Frank Klepacki is back with yet another god-tier soundtrack for us!”
- “The soundtrack is top notch, you get the feeling of playing good old Command and Conquer again, the general feel of the game reminds me a bit of Red Alert 2.”
- “Music got a bit repetitive. I love what Frank Klepacki did with C&C, but here it doesn't feel super impactful somehow. Hopefully, whatever he composes for the future factions will have more variety.”
- “Meh game, and the devs are kinda scummy for not putting it on sale without its 'soundtrack', which makes it slightly more expensive than the base game.”
- “I would love for a more expanded soundtrack, even if it's a DLC.”
optimization
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
57%
14%
Overall, the game's optimization is generally well-received, with many players reporting smooth performance even on lower-end hardware, such as a 10-year-old laptop. However, some users have noted occasional performance issues and poor FPS in certain scenarios, suggesting that while the game is playable on a variety of systems, there are still areas for improvement.
- “The game runs smoothly on my GTX 2080 with everything on max settings.”
- “The game is also really well optimized; playing on a 10-year-old laptop, I locked the game to 30 fps and had zero frame drops in a 4-player FFA skirmish.”
- “No performance issues.”
- “Good game with bad performance compared to the graphics it has.”
- “Poor FPS performance makes the game unplayable.”
- “There are occasional performance issues and so on.”
humor
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
82%
18%
The humor in the game is a standout feature, characterized by witty dialogue and quirky characters that elicit genuine laughter, even amidst challenging gameplay. While the story may not be groundbreaking, it is charming and filled with amusing elements, including goofy enemies reminiscent of popular sci-fi tropes. However, some players find the implementation of mission timers to be frustratingly unfunny, detracting from the overall comedic experience.
- “The story, while not groundbreaking, is charming and filled with humor.”
- “The humor in the game is also a standout feature.”
- “The witty dialogue and quirky characters will have you laughing out loud, even when your carefully laid plans go a bit too far awry.”
- “You won't even find a casual break on easy mode; it's not funny at all, everything is on a stupid timer.”
stability
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
56%
The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with users noting significant bugs and clunky mechanics that hinder gameplay, such as unresponsive controls and mission-specific issues. However, it is also praised for running well on the Steam Deck, especially considering its early access status. Overall, while there are stability concerns, players still find the game enjoyable despite its flaws.
- “It runs great on Steam Deck; the only downside is the lack of controls mapped to more than just the triggers and the right pad.”
- “Also, for an early access title, it runs great!”
- “The game is still poorly made and is clunky as heck, with many bugs. For instance, in one of the missions, I was unable to build a certain structure because the corresponding button was bugged.”
- “The game is buggy sometimes; once it loaded, I could not move units, and another time I couldn't kill a final enemy unit.”
- “9ba is still a fun game overall, but version 1.0 was rushed with a slapped-together second campaign. Many obvious features that were in RTS games from 30 years ago are still missing, along with several bugs and the same pathfinding glitches when loading units onto transports that were present in RA1 from 1996.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, particularly in relation to leveling up through the veterancy system by replaying previous missions. While some enjoy the overall gameplay, many feel that the current grinding mechanics detract from the experience and should be improved.
- “At the current stage, the game feels tedious to play.”
- “This is very tedious and should be changed ASAP.”
- “The player can obtain these through their veterancy system, but it requires grinding kills, aka, grinding previous missions to level it up like an MMO.”
replayability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
28%
43%
The game offers strong replayability through its diverse missions and survival mode, featuring various enemies that enhance the experience. Additionally, the inclusion of a map editor allows players to create and share custom scenarios, further enriching the game's replay value. Overall, players find all game modes enjoyable, contributing to a robust replayability factor.
- “All game modes are very enjoyable and the game overall has a good deal of replayability.”
- “The unique aspect is that in missions and the survival mode, which I was looking forward to the most, there are different enemies that enhance the missions and improve replayability.”
- “The unique aspect of the missions and survival mode is that they feature different enemies, which enhances both the missions and the overall replayability.”
- “Multiplayer and replayability are lacking, making it hard to stay engaged after the initial playthrough.”
- “Additionally, the game features a map editor, which adds a significant amount of replayability as you can create and share custom scenarios with the community.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers note that the campaign suffers from a lack of voice acting, which contributes to an overall deficiency in atmosphere, detracting from the immersive experience.
- “My only gripe is the lack of voice acting and the overall lack of atmosphere in the campaign.”