Forged Battalion

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Forged Battalion is a single player and multiplayer real-time strategy game with warfare and science fiction themes. It was developed by Petroglyph and was released on August 13, 2018. It received neutral reviews from players.

Forged Battalion is a real-time strategy game set in a world devastated by climate change, where you must join the resistance and fight against the dominant military force, "The Collective." As a commander and engineer, you have control over your faction's units, factories, superweapons, and economy. Customize your faction's blueprints, manage resources, and unlock new technology to evolve your units and gain an advantage in battle.

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58%

Audience ScoreBased on 458 reviews

gameplay33 positive mentions

story14 negative mentions

The game captures the classic RTS feel reminiscent of Command & Conquer, providing a nostalgic experience for fans of the genre.
The customizable faction system allows players to create unique units and strategies, adding depth to gameplay.
The graphics and sound design are appealing, with a vibrant art style and a soundtrack by Frank Klepacki that enhances the overall experience.

The AI is often unchallenging and can lead to repetitive gameplay, as matches tend to devolve into unit spam without much strategy.
The tech tree progression can feel grindy, requiring players to invest significant time to unlock new units and upgrades.
The campaign lacks a compelling narrative and is essentially a series of skirmish maps with minimal story integration.

gameplay
149 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
73%
5%
The gameplay of the game is a mix of classic RTS mechanics reminiscent of titles like Command & Conquer, featuring unit customization and a tech tree that encourages strategic planning. However, many players find the gameplay to be simplistic, unbalanced, and lacking depth, with issues such as repetitive missions and a poorly designed AI detracting from the overall experience. While the core mechanics are solid and enjoyable for fans of the genre, the game feels rushed and incomplete, leaving room for improvement in future updates.
- “Gameplay mechanics are simple yet fun, classic RTS game.”
- “The gameplay is fluid and easy to play with.”
- “The foundation here is solid, making for fun, crazy, interesting gameplay.”
- “Great concept, terrible gameplay.”
- “The unit customization and tech tree is kind of neat, but since it's only accessible between missions, it ultimately has no significant impact on gameplay within a mission.”
- “A disappointing campaign, limited content, and oversimplified mechanics subdue the custom unit creation features of Forged Battalion.”
story
114 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
81%
12%
The story in "Forged Battalion" is generally considered weak and poorly delivered, with many reviewers noting that the campaign feels like a series of disconnected skirmish missions rather than a cohesive narrative. Players often find the plot forgettable and simplistic, revolving around a post-apocalyptic resistance against a military power, with minimal character development and lackluster voice acting. Additionally, the campaign's difficulty spikes and grindy mechanics detract from the overall experience, making it feel more like a chore than an engaging story-driven adventure.
- “The story concept is actually kind of cool and it controls like you expect.”
- “The story is entertaining and presented through text for the most part.”
- “The story mode is rather basic and is built around a loose and forgettable plot about a post-apocalyptic resistance against a supposedly evil military power simply known as the Collective.”
- “The 'campaign' mode is a joke and so is the voice acting and story.”
- “The story mode is rather basic and is built around a loose and forgettable plot about a post-apocalyptic resistance against a supposedly evil military power simply known as the Collective; campaign missions boil down to normal skirmish matches with dialog on the various multiplayer maps, though some have additional conditions like defending the tower.”
- “The campaign feels tacked on with no story worth even noting.”
graphics
79 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
57%
6%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the vibrant art style and solid performance, while others find them simplistic or cartoonish. Some players appreciate the unique aesthetic and effects, such as explosions, but note that the visuals can sometimes overshadow gameplay quality. Overall, the graphics are generally considered decent for an indie title, though there are calls for more variety and polish in certain areas.
- “The graphics are great, with beautiful explosions, bullet tracers, and shells flying through the air.”
- “The performance is great, there aren't many bugs, balance is good enough, it has some really cool ideas and mechanics, and the visuals are really polished.”
- “Classic RTS feel, unique faction customization, beautiful graphics, surprisingly affordable.”
- “There are other, complete games out there that might be dated graphically but are much better.”
- “Very boring gameplay, very poor visuals, ugly design, and textures.”
- “The current campaign is just some skirmish maps with bad voiceovers with cut and paste graphics and text.”
music
56 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
55%
7%
The music in "Forged Battalion," primarily composed by Frank Klepacki, has received widespread acclaim for its nostalgic quality reminiscent of classic Command & Conquer games. While many praise the soundtrack as a highlight of the game, some users note a lack of variety and dynamic changes in the music during gameplay, which detracts from the overall experience. Despite these criticisms, the soundtrack is often described as brilliant and a significant draw for fans of the genre.
- “The soundtrack is also excellent; it has that nostalgic sound from popular Command & Conquer games.”
- “As if to pound on that nostalgia even harder, Frank Klepacki did the music for the game, and those of you who remember the amazing soundtracks of the Command & Conquer games are in for a real treat.”
- “Forged Battalion, created by some of the devs of the legendary Westwood Studios, is like a modern-day take on Command & Conquer with plenty of great base building, upgrades, and a fantastic soundtrack that reminds me of the first games in the series way back in the 1990s.”
- “They tried to make music in the style of Frank Klepacki, but it didn’t work out.”
- “The soundtrack is pretty decent so far and is largely reminiscent of the old Command and Conquer tracks, but from what I can see there only seems to be around 4 or 5 in-game songs total, while the menu and victory/defeat screen themes sound like they were taken from cut content for 8 Bit Armies.”
- “I paid for two copies of this game due to my dad being a massive fan (and I) of C&C games (apart from C&C4). There are two things at the moment I would like changed ASAP, the first is the music. The reason for this is two nights in a row I have got my dad to turn his PC on while I turned on my laptop and set up a match; by the time I send him an invite, the sod is asleep. So I blame the music for this.”
grinding
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players consistently express frustration with the grinding mechanics in the game, describing it as tedious and overly time-consuming, particularly in relation to unlocking upgrades and progressing through the tech tree. Many feel that the repetitive nature of missions and resource acquisition detracts from the overall enjoyment, making the experience feel more like a mobile game than a strategic title. While some appreciate the potential for customization, the limitations and grind-heavy gameplay often overshadow these features, leading to a sense of monotony.
- “Game feels like a pathetic mobile game with lots of grinding (yes, in a strategic game of all) and you have to repeat the same missions at least 5 times to get some better units for later missions because the difficulty spike is insane!”
- “Actually unlocking upgrades for your faction is a case of grinding matches to earn points and then spending them in a tech tree - thankfully, there aren't any microtransactions tied to this, but that doesn't make it any less laborious.”
- “You would probably be looking at 20+ hours of grinding to unlock tiers one to three via standard play.”
optimization
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
41%
18%
Overall, the game's optimization is generally praised, with many players reporting smooth performance even during large-scale battles and on mid-range hardware. However, some users noted issues such as stuttering and frame lag in hectic situations, indicating that while the game is well-optimized, there is still room for improvement. Additionally, players expressed a desire for more content and features to enhance the overall experience.
- “The performance is great, there aren't many bugs, balance is good enough, it has some really cool ideas and mechanics, a decent amount of content and progression, and the visuals are really polished.”
- “The performance is awesome even when the map is filled with a large number of units.”
- “The game runs smoothly with beautiful battles, explosions, unit and building details, and huge maps.”
- “There really isn't much to actually change the overall performance of a vehicle besides changing the weapons or movement type.”
- “Couldn't get the game to save more than one 'unique' unit to my army, so I was stuck with highly unoptimized units against a more powerful AI.”
- “The game runs decently well, though there's some stuttering at times and frame lag during hectic battles.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay. Despite being in early access, the limited variety of units and persistent issues contribute to a sense of abandonment and frustration among players.
- “Abandoned and hopelessly buggy.”
- “It's early access, and though playable, there are bugs and glitches galore.”
- “There are really only 4 units in the game: walker, buggy, tank, and drone.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is generally praised for its solid map designs and distinctive soundscapes, contributing to an immersive experience. However, some users note that it falls short compared to the high standards set by previous Petroglyph titles, particularly Tiberian Sun.
- “The map designs are solid, the atmosphere is immersive, and the music and sound are exceptional.”
- “It has its own distinctive atmosphere.”
- “Petroglyph games have a reputation for creating fantastic, atmospheric masterpieces like Tiberian Sun.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
The game's replayability is seen as a mixed bag; while it offers some customization options and user-generated content that could enhance replay value, there are concerns about the need for more engaging maps and additional content from the developers to fully realize its potential.
- “The ability for users to create their own maps and upload them to the workshop is a nice touch which could extend the game’s replayability and address my previously stated criticisms.”
- “The ability for users to create their own maps and upload them to the workshop is a nice touch which could extend the game’s replayability and address my previously stated criticisms, but I feel the devs should put some more effort into making the maps more interesting and should add more in future updates.”
- “This isn't exactly it, but it definitely has the same vibe while giving more replayability in terms of unit customization.”
- “The game is built on the concept of replayability, but it ultimately falls short.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by amusing unit voices and quotes, with players particularly enjoying the comedic elements related to character interactions, such as the humorous take on yuri themes. Overall, the lightheartedness adds a charming layer to the gameplay experience.
- “The funny unit voices and quotes are one of the highlights of the game.”
- “The humor in the game is top-notch, especially with the quirky character interactions.”
- “I love how the game incorporates humor into its dialogue, making every encounter entertaining.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Petroglyph's monetization approach has drawn criticism for its lack of ongoing support and advertising for their RTS games, potentially harming competitive multiplayer experiences. While players can unlock faction upgrades through grinding matches without the burden of microtransactions, the process is still seen as tedious and labor-intensive.
- “Actually unlocking upgrades for your faction is a case of grinding matches to earn points and then spending them in a tech tree - thankfully, there aren't any microtransactions tied to this, but that doesn't make it any less laborious.”
- “Petroglyph are giving themselves a reputation for shoving RTS games out the door and then leaving them to fend for themselves with pretty much no support or advertising to keep the player numbers up, which could be a bad deal if you're looking for competitive multiplayer.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by intense and chaotic battles that evoke a powerful sense of devastation, likened to a vivid and tumultuous painting.
- “Across the screen, as battles rage, it feels like a mad painter's emotional canvas of explosive devastation.”