Five Nations

About

Five Nations is a single player real-time strategy game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by SilverForge and was released on May 4, 2021. It received positive reviews from players.

Five Nations is a turn-based strategy game set in a fantasy world. Players must choose one of five nations and compete for resources, territory, and influence. The game features deep strategic gameplay, including diplomacy, technology research, and unit tacties. With beautiful hand-drawn graphics and a rich, immersive world, Five Nations offers a unique and engaging experience for strategy fans.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

+11

Skip User Reviews

81%

Audience ScoreBased on 177 reviews

story25 positive mentions

atmosphere3 negative mentions

The game features a lengthy and engaging campaign with a nice story and fully voiced missions, reminiscent of classic RTS games.
Five distinct factions offer unique gameplay styles, enhancing replayability and strategic depth.
The game captures the nostalgic feel of old-school RTS games while incorporating modern graphics and mechanics.

The game suffers from numerous bugs and technical issues, including unreliable save systems and pathfinding problems.
Lack of essential quality-of-life features, such as customizable keybindings and a zoom function, detracts from the overall experience.
The AI can be inconsistent, sometimes being overly simplistic or frustratingly difficult, leading to uneven gameplay experiences.

story
147 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
78%
5%
The game's story is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating its engaging narrative and character depth, particularly as it unfolds through a lengthy campaign featuring multiple factions and perspectives. However, many critiques highlight issues such as mediocre voice acting, derivative plot elements, and inconsistent writing that detracts from the overall experience. While the campaign offers a substantial number of missions, the quality of mission design and storytelling varies, leading to a perception of quantity over quality in the narrative delivery.
- “The story kept getting better and better - also it was never boring due to a lot of switching perspectives and new challenges.”
- “The campaign is long and meaty, consisting of classic proper story-driven scripted retro RTS missions with charmingly cheesy voice acting and writing just like in the old RTSs (C&C, Starcraft, Supreme Commander all had goofy hammy writing and deliveries), nice pacing and flow of pretty varied missions, building some neat intrigue in the setting.”
- “I'm not done with the campaign yet, like I said, it's meaty, there's a lot to it, but I want to add, don't be put off by the safe slow introduction with a handful of human missions, the game picks up and you start to play a lot of alien missions, towards the end of chapter 1 and pretty much the entirety of chapter 2 has you playing from the viewpoint of a few alien factions, introducing more background to the universe and more twists and turns, intrigue, with still fleshed out mission structures that are well designed.”
- “The story was derivative and was clearly just a mashup of other sci-fi games and TV series.”
- “Fortunately, this is saved by a boring plot of unlikeable characters, incredibly bland mission design, uncreative units, etc.”
- “The lack of soul from either the story (with its dull-sounding voice actors) or the gameplay itself is what killed it for me.”
gameplay
57 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
70%
5%
The gameplay of "Five Nations" is a blend of classic real-time strategy mechanics reminiscent of titles like Starcraft and Command & Conquer, offering a satisfying balance between accessibility and depth. While the game features beautiful graphics and diverse factions with unique mechanics, some players note issues with pacing and rough edges in execution. Overall, it provides an engaging experience for both newcomers and veterans of the genre, despite some minor design flaws and a few confusing mechanics.
- “Beautiful pre-rendered graphics with easy to follow but difficult to master gameplay.”
- “The gameplay in Five Nations finds a perfect balance between accessibility and depth.”
- “An extremely solid RTS with super-polished graphics and smooth gameplay.”
- “The gameplay is terribly slow.”
- “The gameplay is way too simple for a modern game.”
- “It tries too hard to look like Starcraft without achieving a sleek look and with poorer gameplay.”
graphics
49 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
57%
6%
The graphics of the game are a blend of nostalgic 90s RTS aesthetics and modern fidelity, featuring sleek, detailed visuals that evoke a retro charm while maintaining clarity and readability. Many reviewers appreciate the beautiful pre-rendered graphics and distinct art style, although some note that certain unit designs can appear too similar. Overall, the graphics are well-received for their polished look and engaging atmosphere, making it a visually appealing experience for fans of the genre.
- “The graphics are gorgeous and stylish for an isometric 2D RTS, and the soundtrack hits that classic nostalgia spot.”
- “The game itself looks and feels great, the art style is clear and neat, the units look lovely, music, effects, levels, everything fits and feels really nostalgic while still looking beautiful.”
- “An excellent classic 90s/00s RTS, with beautiful graphics and a retro art design which just looks awesome.”
- “The graphics are somehow worse than the 90s games that apparently inspire it.”
- “Its missing tons of simple things like hotkeys found in the majority of RTS games and while the graphics aren't that bad, they're just really dull; the explosions look like they were hand-drawn and not in a good way.”
- “No, it won't win an award for animations, but the graphics are charming in a clean and crisp way which makes the buildings and units very readable even at a glance.”
music
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
50%
14%
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many players appreciating the distinctive soundtracks that enhance the identity of each faction and contribute to a nostalgic atmosphere. While some find the audio quality to be retro and not on par with AAA titles, the overall soundtrack is described as fitting well with the game's setting and creating a stress-free gaming experience. However, a few players noted issues with repetitive loops and a lack of dynamic cutscenes, which detracted from the overall audio experience.
- “Each faction has a distinctive 'feeling', reflected not only in ships and buildings but also in faction-specific soundtracks and visual elements, which enhances the sense of identity.”
- “The music fits in perfectly with the setting, creating a stress-free gaming mindset that is not distracting.”
- “The soundtrack is really amazing and wonderfully fits the setting; I wish it could be possible to get it as MP3.”
- “The cutscenes aren't even the modern, flashy after-effects cutscenes; they are just still pictures with no background music or even a narrator.”
- “The music loops every 3 minutes and drives me nuts!”
- “The sounds for in-game are serviceable, and the music is... okay, I would say. It really didn't grab me much aside from a track or two.”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The atmosphere of Five Nations is highly praised for its immersive qualities, reminiscent of classic RTS games, featuring well-designed structures, visually appealing maps, and a fitting soundtrack. The serious character voices enhance the overall experience, making it a solid choice for fans of the genre and those drawn to its alien technology and methodical gameplay.
- “As I think, the visual part is the main reason that attracts players to try this project, creating interest to explore the game and become immersed in its atmosphere.”
- “Here, the developer tried to create an atmosphere of RTS from old times, and this is realized at a fairly high level.”
- “The music is pretty well done, structures are well designed, maps are graphically good to look at, the campaign is fine, and overall the atmosphere of the game is pretty solid.”
- “The characters sound serious and create the right atmosphere.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users report significant stability issues, including persistent bugs that hinder gameplay, such as unresponsive menus and erratic unit control. Many have expressed frustration over the time spent troubleshooting these problems without finding effective solutions. Overall, the game's stability is considered poor, with frequent glitches detracting from the experience.
- “The disappointment then at spending hours troubleshooting - googling, Steam discussions, even Chrome code trawling - and still not even able to get a working menu was immense.”
- “The mechanics were also quite rough and buggy.”
- “The unit control is a bit buggy; lots just do whatever they want and cannot sit still.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
The optimization of the game has received mixed feedback, with some users noting that certain units lack the ability to be micro-managed effectively, hindering performance. While the inclusion of full voice acting is appreciated, the quality of some performances has been criticized.
- “The optimization in this game allows for smooth gameplay even on lower-end systems.”
- “I appreciate how the developers have fine-tuned the performance, making it accessible for a wider audience.”
- “The game's optimization ensures that I can enjoy high-quality graphics without sacrificing frame rates.”
- “Some of the units can't even be micro'd (individually controlled for better performance).”
- “The game suffers from severe optimization issues, leading to frequent frame drops and stuttering.”
- “Even on high-end hardware, the performance is inconsistent and often disappointing.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, particularly noting that resource gathering can feel monotonous and time-consuming.
- “Resource gathering is tedious.”
- “The grinding feels endless and repetitive.”
- “Leveling up requires an excessive amount of time and effort.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players highlight that the game's diversity significantly boosts its replayability, ensuring that each battle remains fresh and engaging.
- “This diversity not only enhances replayability but also keeps each battle fresh and engaging.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is largely criticized due to poor voice acting that lacks comedic value, resembling an artificial intelligence rather than engaging performances. This detracts from the overall experience, leaving players unimpressed and uncertain about the story's potential for humor.
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development is noted for its emphasis on traditional archetypes, featuring strong, masculine male characters and visually appealing female characters, which may appeal to fans of classic character design but could lack depth and diversity.