"Classified: France '44" is a first-person shooter game set in World War II France. The Overlord Edition includes the base game, Season Pass for 2024 DLCs, and additional content such as Special Ops missions, weapons, and clothing sets. The Deluxe Edition contains the base game and the Guerrilla Pack, which includes a new map, Special Ops missions, weapon variants, and a clothing set.
Engaging tactical gameplay with a unique morale system that adds depth to combat.
Well-crafted missions with a variety of objectives and a compelling historical narrative.
Strong character development and voice acting that enhance the overall experience.
Frequent bugs and performance issues, including game freezes and clunky UI.
Limited replayability due to fixed missions and characters, making subsequent playthroughs feel repetitive.
The game lacks a true sense of risk, as characters do not die but instead retreat, reducing the tension of combat.
story
818 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
83%
4%
The game's story is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating its focus on the French resistance during WWII and the character interactions that provide insight into their motivations. However, many reviewers criticize the overall narrative for being linear and lacking depth, with repetitive missions and a lack of character development leading to a feeling of disconnection from the plot. While the game offers a unique setting and historical context, it struggles to deliver a compelling and engaging story that stands out in the tactical genre.
“I also love how this game tells a story that I think very few of us know - what role the resistance played in the war and particularly towards the end of it.”
“The story delves into facets of the French resistance and conversations between the characters between missions give you insight on their motivations.”
“Every mission feels like an episode of Band of Brothers, and after every mission, you'll get a little historical context, with an artistic vignette that tells you what was happening outside the bubble of your little resistance as we march toward D-Day.”
“I personally found that it fails to live up to XCOM's charm as the missions are repetitive, the characters are bland (and don't die), and the overall campaign is linear.”
“There is no plot and no goal.”
“The story is not worth mentioning.”
gameplay
327 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
68%
7%
The gameplay of "Classified: France '44" is a mixed bag, drawing comparisons to the XCOM series with its turn-based tactical mechanics and a unique morale system that adds depth to combat. While many players appreciate the engaging mechanics and strategic elements, frustrations arise from clunky stealth mechanics, inconsistent hit chances, and a lack of polish in certain areas. Overall, the game offers a fun experience for fans of tactical strategy, but it suffers from some design flaws and a thin strategic layer that may detract from long-term enjoyment.
“The combat, locations, map mechanics, everything works well and is very fun to play.”
“The gameplay and morale system are great.”
“It takes the XCOM tactical gameplay systems and concepts, builds on them to make more expanded and enjoyable gameplay, and puts them into an engaging WWII lead-up to D-Day historical setting.”
“Overall, it's an okay turn-based strategy game, but it's encumbered by some odd mechanics such as an odd stealth system on some maps that forces you out of stealth even when you're successful, a large but ultimately meaningless set of skill trees for the various character classes, and a shallow meta game involving liberating territories on a map and building relationships with different factions.”
“Despite showing an over 80% chance to hit, attacks frequently miss, undermining strategic gameplay and placing players in unnecessarily difficult situations.”
“The cons: about 66% of gameplay is spent in stealth, which is a totally different, much worse game inside the game.”
graphics
82 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
50%
4%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the impressive visuals, detailed environments, and character designs, while others criticize the animations and overall polish, describing them as mediocre or outdated. Despite some graphical errors and awkward animations, many players appreciate the aesthetic and sound design, noting that the visuals contribute positively to the game's atmosphere. Overall, while the graphics show potential, they could benefit from further refinement and consistency.
“The game's graphics are highly impressive, the narrative is engrossing, and the characters are exceptionally well-designed and user-friendly.”
“Very good turn-based WWII game, sound design and voice work excellent, graphics are detailed and locations well designed and interesting.”
“The music is nice, the sound effects feel great, the visuals are nice, the whole aesthetic of the game is well done.”
“Not to mention all the graphical errors like the soldiers' right arms in the loading screen.”
“The graphics are okay, but the models are very ugly and the animations are not particularly appealing, which is bizarre, because the developers Team17 are also the makers of 'Hell Let Loose', which actually has pretty acceptable sounds.”
“Player models and clothing/uniform options need a graphic overhaul to make the game a bit more aesthetically appealing.”
replayability
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
65%
22%
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed, with many users noting a lack of variety in missions and characters, leading to limited incentive for multiple playthroughs. However, some players appreciate the potential for different approaches and character interactions, as well as community-created content, which can enhance replay value. While a few find the game engaging enough for a couple of runs, the consensus leans towards it being more suited for a single playthrough rather than extensive replayability.
“The ability to craft, share, and download custom missions ensures that the community remains vibrant and the replay value remains sky-high.”
“Not being able to recruit everyone in a single playthrough gives this game replayability and makes me interested to hear how the various characters will interact with one another.”
“[Impressively detailed historical setting, decent amount of character customization and replayability with multiple squad combinations and endings, morale system presented an interesting twist in familiar turn-based combat and kept the pacing up, turn-based stealth was surprisingly engaging and I wish there was more of it].”
“Very little replayability but a good enough game for 1 playthrough.”
“Little content and no replay value at all.”
“After 2 playthroughs (one ironman and one on max difficulty) I have completed all achievements and do not see further replayability.”
stability
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
88%
The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting frequent bugs and glitches, particularly during enemy turns, leading to game freezes that often require mission restarts. While some users noted minor issues and found the experience generally playable, others highlighted significant performance problems that detracted from their enjoyment. Overall, the game is described as having a range of stability issues, but none that are deemed game-breaking for most players.
“It is almost entirely bug-free and offers some pretty cool new ideas with the morale suppression/broken mechanic.”
“A well-built, almost bug-free experience, well worth my money!”
“I was so excited for this and the game is good, but on the 2nd mission every time it's the enemy's turn, my game freezes and I have to restart the mission.”
“But the game constantly freezes during the AI's turn.”
“The actual mechanics are clunky and I have had way too many game freezes (always on enemy turns, for some reason).”
music
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
57%
10%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it fitting and nostalgic, reminiscent of classic WWII soundtracks, while others criticize it for lacking variety and depth, often feeling uninspired and repetitive. Many noted that the limited number of musical scores detracts from the overall experience, making it difficult to remember any specific tracks. Overall, while the music complements the game's aesthetic, it falls short of expectations for a more dynamic and engaging soundtrack.
“The music is great--in-mission music often reminds me of the old Medal of Honor WWII game soundtracks by Giacchino.”
“Solid controls, excellent music, and perfectly campy voice overs.”
“With great music, great sound effects, voice acting, decent gameplay, and overall a fairly well-designed game.”
“The music is not enough.”
“It's fine, it fits, I don't think I could hum a single song from it right now, and there needed to be way more variety.”
“Even the ending credits score is the title music.”
grinding
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
14%
79%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and time-consuming, with many expressing frustration over the lack of meaningful gear upgrades and the repetitive nature of stealth mechanics. The campaign map gameplay and frequent equipment switching are also criticized for being boring and poorly designed, contributing to an overall sense of monotony. While some enjoy the initial stealth mechanics, they quickly become tiresome, leading to a desire for more engaging gameplay.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“Campaign map gameplay is super boring and all that tedious equipment switching before each mission is a major game design flaw.”
“Your units are too powerful, your unit and weapon upgrades don't change how the game plays very much, and the stealth aspect of the missions is tedious.”
optimization
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
42%
25%
The game's optimization has received mixed feedback, with users reporting a significant number of glitches and performance issues, particularly on less powerful computers. While it runs well on Linux and performs adequately on certain maps, some players have experienced lag and struggled with the demo version. Overall, there are concerns about how well the game is optimized for a broader range of hardware.
“Working great on Linux, small performance problem on single airfield map.”
“Graphics are sharp and good looking, and it runs smoothly except for some minor lag on certain enemy turn moves.”
“The one thing I would say against it is that I don't know how well it's optimized for less powerful computers; my laptop struggled with the demo, and I've been using GeForce Now to play the full game, so I don't know if the optimization problems have been addressed since the demo.”
“Annoying amount of glitches and performance issues.”
“I am among the early reviewers, but I'm kind of ignorant as to the scope of this company. I really like a response... it's not my PC, it's a performance thing.”
“The one thing I would say against it is that I don't know how well it's optimized for less powerful computers. My laptop struggled with the demo, and I've been using GeForce Now to play the full game, so I don't know if the optimization problems have been addressed since the demo.”
character development
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
30%
30%
Character development in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players appreciate the unique talents and voice acting, others criticize the overall design and user interface as lacking depth and creativity. The gameplay mechanics align well with the WWII theme, but the execution leaves some feeling that it falls short of potential, leading to a somewhat uninspired experience. Overall, careful character development is noted as a positive aspect, though it may not fully compensate for other shortcomings.
“Careful character development recommended too - overall quite a nice game.”
“While I really enjoy the voice acting and character development, I think it fed into this problem.”
“I'm already tired of complaining, but the last thing is character development. They, as usual, have classes, and each character has one unique talent; the rest you select.”
“This style of gameplay alongside WWII goes hand-in-hand, but the laziness in the character design and UI makes it a boring game.”
“The character development in the game is another highlight.”
humor
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by entertaining character interactions and a balanced tone that maintains enjoyment without veering too far into absurdity. Players find comedic moments in both character actions, such as loud confirmations during stealth, and the amusingly oblivious behavior of enemies. While some users note a lack of whimsical humor compared to similar games, the overall comedic elements contribute positively to the gameplay experience.
“Especially funny when my support would silently lay down an explosive and then yell their confirmation so loud, the whole map would be able to hear them.”
“Characters are entertaining and the tone is in a perfect sweet spot between humorous and serious, never leaning too far in either direction to lose enjoyment.”
“The enemies are hilariously unaware during the stealth phase of the combat.”
emotional
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express mixed feelings about the emotional aspect of the game, noting attempts to create connections with characters but feeling that these efforts fall short. While some players appreciate the depth and bonds formed during gameplay, others find it difficult to engage emotionally, particularly when faced with the game's mechanics that limit healing and recovery for injured squad members. Overall, the emotional experience is seen as a significant but inconsistent element of the game.
“Engaging with these characters adds an emotional depth to the gameplay experience, forging a bond that transcends mere pixels on the screen.”
“I enjoyed the first playthrough mainly because of my interest in D-Day and the fact that my recent XCOM campaign ended so heartbreakingly catastrophically I couldn't face taking on Advent again... at least not for a while.”
“So you can't heal 2 of your injured (emotionally or physically) squad members at the same time.”
atmosphere
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised for its immersive sound effects and engaging environment, which enhance the overall experience during missions. Players appreciate the intelligent AI that adds depth to gameplay, making it both atmospheric and thought-provoking.
“I love the very atmospheric sound effects, great immersion when playing missions and intelligent AI to really make you think.”