Angola '86
- November 25, 2023
- Every Single Soldier
- 2h median play time
Get on SteamAngola '86 is a great game for strategy enthusiasts, where you command the South African Defense Force during the Border War in 1986. Your main objective is to secure the Border with Angola, wage a counter-insurgency war against SWAPO, and defend against the Soviet-supplied Angolan army threatening to take control of the region. Coordinate with ground troops, special forces, and artillery to secure the region and complete your mission.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a unique and engaging concept that models counter-insurgency warfare, providing a different perspective on smaller scale conflicts.
- The developer is very responsive and actively updates the game, addressing bugs and improving gameplay mechanics regularly.
- The gameplay offers depth and complexity, appealing to fans of the genre who enjoy strategic planning and logistics management.
- The game suffers from numerous bugs and performance issues, making it difficult to recommend in its current state.
- The user interface is clunky and lacks essential features like an undo button, making gameplay frustrating at times.
- The tutorial and in-game explanations are inadequate, leading to a steep learning curve for new players unfamiliar with the mechanics.
- gameplay30 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 77 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay in Angola '86 is praised for its unique mechanics and depth, appealing to fans of the genre, but it suffers from significant bugs and clunkiness that detract from the experience. While the core gameplay remains engaging and updates aim to improve balance and quality of life, players note a lack of helpful information in tooltips and difficulties in tracking essential elements on the map. Overall, the game offers a distinct experience, but its technical issues and limited resources are evident.
“Angola '86 features even more unique mechanics and depth to represent the situation in southwest Africa/Namibia/Angola.”
“The gameplay experience of trying to prevent insurgents slipping in from Angola and mining the roads can't be had elsewhere.”
“That makes the gameplay way more organic and interconnected.”
“However, this mechanic is completely bugged, and will transfer trucks and BTRs between playthroughs.”
“Currently, on average I find 2-3 serious bugs every 2 hours of gameplay.”
“In terms of the gameplay, its status as the passion project of a developer with limited resources unfortunately shows, and it has a clunkiness that fans of the genre will be able to look past.”
- stability14 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 86 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been a significant concern among users, with many describing it as "buggy" and "janky," particularly noting issues like freezing during unit deployment and combat glitches. While some players mention improvements, the overall sentiment suggests that the game remains largely unpolished and prone to bugs, raising doubts about the stability of future entries in the series.
“Now mostly bug free.”
“This game is a buggy mess.”
“The game is very buggy.”
“When you deploy a unit, the game freezes.”
- graphics12 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The graphics in both "Vietnam '65" and "Afghanistan '11" are noted for their crisper quality and higher production values, yet some players find them lacking, describing them as reminiscent of 2004 standards. There are calls for significant upgrades to both graphics and user interface, as current visuals can be frustrating and clunky, detracting from the overall gameplay experience. While early release may allow for improvements, many users express disappointment with the current state of the graphics.
“Both Vietnam '65 and Afghanistan '11 have crisper graphics and higher production values.”
“I just hope he brings the graphics and UI up to Afghanistan '11 levels.”
“The UI is still rough around the edges, and some of the graphics make my eyes hurt in a way that their predecessors didn't, but that's the sort of thing early release is for sorting out.”
“The worst part for me is the graphics and general clunkiness of the game, making it frustrating to play.”
“Needs a wholesale graphics and usability upgrade.”
“Graphics look circa 2004, which is fine but annoying.”
- optimization6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has been criticized for frequent bugs and poor performance, with users noting that the previous title, Vietnam '65, was the most stable in the series. Subsequent games have reportedly suffered from increased instability and performance issues.
“However, bugs and poor performance are very frequent.”
“My experience with this series has been that Vietnam '65 was the most stable, and both subsequent games have had more bugs and worse performance.”
“Performance in general.”
- story2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The story revolves around a conflict involving SWAPO guerillas conducting terror missions from hidden arms caches and bases in Angola, with players engaging in various tactical operations such as intercepting tracks and dealing with mines and village intimidation. The narrative emphasizes the complexity of the guerrilla warfare environment and the strategic challenges faced by the player.
“You can intercept tracks, mines go off, villages are intimidated, etc. The bad guys (SWAPO guerillas) are running terror missions out of the nearest arms cache, which are themselves linked to a set of forward and rear bases in Angola, all of which are hidden.”
