Battle of Empires: 1914-1918

62%
Game Brain Score Based on 1,010 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Battle of Empires: 1914-1918 Game Cover
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"Battle of Empires: 1914-1918" is a real-time strategy game set in World War I. Players can choose to lead either the Entente or the Central Powers, commanding massive armies and engaging in large-scale battles. The game features historical accuracy, detailed graphics, and a variety of units and weapons from the era. Multiplayer mode allows for up to 8 players to compete against each other.

  • Mac OS
  • PC
  • Windows
  • Linux
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

62%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,010 reviews
story39 positive mentions
stability34 negative mentions
  • The game offers a unique WWI setting, providing a refreshing change from the typical WWII games.
  • Gameplay is engaging with a focus on tactical and strategic elements, allowing for creative approaches to missions.
  • The editor feature allows players to create custom scenarios, enhancing replayability and community engagement.
  • The game suffers from a lack of content, with many campaigns locked behind a paywall, leading to frustration among players.
  • Voice acting and sound design are subpar, detracting from the overall immersion of the game.
  • AI behavior can be erratic and frustrating, often leading to poor decision-making during critical moments in gameplay.
  • story271 mentions

    The game's story is characterized by a mix of ambitious mission designs that range from engaging to frustrating, with a notable emphasis on stealth elements that some players find tedious. While the historical context and variety of campaigns are appreciated, many missions suffer from bugs, poor scripting, and inconsistent difficulty, leading to a lack of immersion and enjoyment. Overall, the narrative experience is marred by technical issues and a reliance on DLC for additional content, which detracts from the game's potential as a compelling World War I strategy title.

    • “The mission variety is very good, with the classic men of war stealth missions, defense missions in all kinds of terrain where you have to frantically patch holes in your lines after devastating artillery, large scale offensives involving hundreds of men on the map at a single time, and even unique missions where you forage for food and supplies while dodging Germans to guiding French airmen in their escape from a German prison fortress.”
    • “Each mission introduction gives deep insight into what you're supposed to be doing and you can very easily find yourself getting sucked in by the authenticity of the mission briefing.”
    • “You can tell the developers truly love this era in time, as each mission is fleshed out with neat things like horse-drawn artillery and sleds, units that change appearance as the war progresses (pickelhaubes to stalhelms, etc).”
    • “Unfortunately, the mission design feels subpar compared to all the other Men of War games.”
    • “The missions are linear, which stifles room for creativity in your strategy (pointless invisible walls often block the flanks).”
    • “The only reason why I would not recommend this is because the game has only one set of user-made missions and there are only four.”
  • gameplay102 mentions

    The gameplay of "Battle of Empires: 1914-1918" is characterized by a strong emphasis on artillery and strategic unit management, reminiscent of the "Men of War" series, but with a unique World War I twist. While the game offers engaging mechanics and a variety of units, players have noted significant issues with controls, AI behavior, and overall execution, leading to a mixed reception. Despite its potential and historical context, many reviews highlight the game's clunky mechanics and bugs, suggesting that it may require patience and adjustment to fully enjoy.

    • “The gameplay is solid, the content is of good quality, and this game is just as fun and challenging as Men of War.”
    • “Gameplay feels like Men of War; however, they do a great job with it and make it fit WW1 perfectly.”
    • “During gameplay, players will have a variety of units to command: infantry, artillery, tanks, etc., and each have their own individual inventories to allow total customization based on your combat needs.”
    • “The tutorial doesn't explain the controls (or mechanics) adequately, which is a disaster as the controls are a total mess and the UI has 40 buttons.”
    • “The gameplay mechanics are awkward as you find everything out the hard way, like the behavior of the units (which are utterly brainless).”
    • “The whole game mechanic is terrible; it needs a complete overhaul. The game definitely has potential, but to say this game is clunky is a huge understatement. Don't waste your money.”
  • graphics52 mentions

    The graphics of the game are generally considered dated and inconsistent, with many reviewers noting that they fall short compared to newer titles and even some previous entries in the series. While some players appreciate the visual style and find it acceptable for gameplay, others criticize the lack of polish, crude animations, and visible debug text. Overall, the graphics are seen as a mixed bag, with some enjoyment derived from the historical representation, but many agree that they do not meet modern standards.

    • “The graphics are quite nice, although not the best.”
    • “The graphics have been developed to show the beauty and horrors of 'the great war'.”
    • “Nicely polished graphics and the game runs very well.”
    • “Before you purchase this game, keep in mind that it is quite old, and the graphics are not up to date.”
    • “The animations and effects are crude, and the graphics are dated.”
    • “Graphics and voice acting are extremely poor and the gameplay is nowhere near as fun as it looks.”
  • stability35 mentions

    The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and unresponsive controls that significantly hinder gameplay. While some players find enjoyment despite these issues, many describe the experience as a "buggy mess," leading to frustration and even refunds. Overall, the game appears to be in a rough state, with a pressing need for patches and improvements to address its stability problems.

    • “Boe WW1 is a good game; I have no issues and it's pretty much bug-free.”
    • “The game runs smoothly without any crashes or glitches.”
    • “I've played for hours without encountering any stability problems.”
    • “Tons of glitches and bugs combined with sloppy voice overs and broken missions make this game unable to play.”
    • “It is so buggy I am convinced it is impossible to successfully complete.”
    • “The multiplayer is hilariously unbalanced and buggy.”
  • monetization11 mentions

    The monetization strategy of the game has been widely criticized as a cash grab, with many players feeling that essential content is locked behind paywalls, making the base game feel incomplete. Despite claims of offering budget-friendly choices, the approach has left users disappointed, likening it to a fragmented experience designed to extract more money from players. Overall, the sentiment is that the game's monetization practices detract significantly from its enjoyment and value.

    • “The publisher claims this is to give people more choice in putting together the game they want in a more budget-friendly way, but the base game is so limited on actual content that the approach comes off as a full game that was broken into parts as a sort of cash grab.”
    • “I really wanted to like this game, but the off-putting voice acting, terrible rifle sounds, and of course the cash grab through having to buy the campaigns is just way too much for me.”
    • “But the DLC... such a cash grab cannot recommend this simply because you need to buy so much to get a complete game.”
  • music8 mentions

    The music in the game has been criticized for being basic and monotonous, failing to enhance the atmosphere and often overshadowing important voice acting. Reviewers noted that the music is loud and lacks emotional depth, making it difficult to hear in-game instructions. Overall, the sound design, including both music and voice acting, is seen as a significant area needing improvement.

    • “The music should complement the atmosphere.”
    • “Need to fix in-game volume; the music is loud and can't be turned off.”
    • “There are in-game options to select, although I could not get the music to go lower than the tutorial captain's voice, so he was hard to hear.”
    • “The voice acting is out of place, and the music is basic.”
    • “Let's not also forget the cringeworthy voice acting and the generic placeholder music.”
    • “Need to fix in-game volume, music is loud and can't be turned off.”
  • humor7 mentions

    The humor in the game is primarily derived from its intentionally poor voice acting and absurd situations, which many players find amusing despite the game's overall jankiness. Players appreciate the comedic elements of quest-solving and the unexpected, often ridiculous outcomes, making for a uniquely entertaining experience. While the voiceovers may be flawed, they contribute to the game's charm and humor, leading to both heroic and hilariously unheroic moments.

    • “Hilarious voice acting in a hilariously bad game.”
    • “Nothing like driving an old MKIV tank around, and suddenly it blows up because a German looked at it funny.”
    • “Recommend for certain, glorious heroic deaths and hilarious not-so-heroic deaths around every corner.”
  • optimization7 mentions

    Overall, the game's optimization is a mixed bag; while some players report enjoyable graphics and good performance on certain systems, others experience bugs and interface issues that detract from the experience. Despite these technical shortcomings, many users find the game fun and recommend it for its solid performance, particularly on Windows systems. However, there are calls for further optimization and improvements to fully realize its potential.

    • “With that said, the graphics are enjoyable and the game is well optimized.”
    • “I do recommend this game for the good performance and quality.”
    • “As it stands, it's a bit painful to see it has the potential to be the next Company of Heroes, but it falls short due to technicalities like bugs and a not optimized interface.”
    • “As for the multiplayer, I've only been able to play one game (because I'm a Mac user, please don't judge *sad face*). It was an enjoyable experience for me (mainly because my teammate, who mind you was a fellow noob, cooperated with me and helped out as much as he could) until I ended up crashing out, maybe due to the performance setting on my game, but nonetheless it was fun and I want to do more of it.”
    • “No performance issues running on a Windows 8.1 laptop (mine has 4GB RAM / 500GB HDD / Intel HD & Radeon 3670M 2GB (hybrid) graphics with the settings all maxed out).”
  • atmosphere7 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its authentic evocation of World War I, featuring fun scenarios, tactical challenges, and a diverse range of historical factions and battles. However, some critiques highlight issues with voice acting, sound design, and graphical fidelity, suggesting that these elements detract from the overall immersive experience. Despite these shortcomings, many players find the game's atmosphere compelling, particularly in its intense combat and strategic gameplay.

    • “Does a great job of evoking the atmosphere of the Great War, fun scenarios, tactical challenges, wide breadth of historical factions and battles.”
    • “The most atmospheric single and multiplayer experience ever seen in the Men of War series!”
    • “Great game, intense combat AI, great atmosphere for a WW1 RTS.”
    • “Not after practically reskinning a free mod you can download right now for Men of War: Assault Squad, not after being a little of what I think is Slavic bias and putting way more tone into the Russian Empire campaign, not getting accents on the ball for a fitting atmosphere, and certainly not after cheating out many buyers for the base game in its pre-release stage under the premise that they would get it in full when it's done... just no.”
    • “If you can forgive the voice acting and graphically outdated engine, then this is a top RTS set in WW1 that oozes atmosphere and tactics.”
  • replayability7 mentions

    Overall, opinions on replayability are mixed; while some players appreciate the variety of playable nations and multiplayer modes that enhance replay value, others criticize the campaign's lack of replayability and express disappointment in the game's limited modes. Notably, titles like "Battle of Empires: 1914-1918" receive high praise for their mod support and diverse gameplay options.

    • “However, I still find joy in it, especially since most nations are playable.”
    • “I would rate Battle of Empires: 1914-1918 10/10 for the replayability and the ability for mod support!”
    • “- Various game modes in multiplayer ensure good replayability.”
    • “There's absolutely zero replay value.”
    • “And on top of that, the campaign has no replayability.”
  • grinding6 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be generally tedious, particularly during stealth missions, which often lead to frequent restarts due to minor mistakes. While some enjoy the real-time strategy elements, the repetitive nature of certain tasks detracts from the overall experience.

    • “The game can be fun at times, but in general, the experience feels tedious.”
    • “Then there are the stealth missions, the tedious nature of which causes you to click restart or load save at the smallest of mistakes.”
    • “However, stealth missions are rather tedious.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

4hMedian play time
4hAverage play time
4-5hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 6 analyzed playthroughs

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