Gates of Hell
- June 11, 2021
- Barbedwire Studios
- 84h median play time
Get on Steam"Gates of Hell: Ostfront," a Call to Arms game, explores the Eastern Front of WWII from 1941-1945. Offering single and multiplayer modes, players can command troops in first-person, third-person, or classic RTS views. The dynamic campaign allows for strategic advancement, unit research, and co-op play with friends. Conquer the Great Patriotic War in this realistic RTS.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Highly immersive gameplay with detailed graphics and sound design.
- Dynamic campaign mode offers endless replayability and strategic depth.
- Ability to control individual units in first and third person enhances tactical options.
- AI pathfinding and behavior are often frustrating and require excessive micromanagement.
- Frequent crashes and performance issues, especially in multiplayer and during dynamic campaigns.
- High cost of DLCs and lack of content in the base game can be disappointing.
- story980 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 78 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's story aspect is characterized by a series of historically inspired campaign missions that offer a mix of engaging scenarios and frustrating design choices. While many players appreciate the attention to detail and the immersive WWII atmosphere, they often criticize the mission structure for being overly long, repetitive, and sometimes poorly balanced, with a notable presence of tedious stealth missions that clash with the game's tactical focus. Overall, the campaign provides a solid foundation but suffers from bugs and a lack of variety, leaving players eager for more content and improvements.
“The single-player campaign is a standout feature, offering a series of challenging and historically inspired missions.”
“The campaign missions are varied in quality and interesting content, some I gladly replay while others I avoid entirely.”
“The attention to detail in the game's vehicles, weapons, and environments is truly impressive, making each mission feel like a genuine WWII combat experience.”
“The core game is great, but the missions are so bad, very disappointing and just not fun.”
“The single-player campaign missions are horrid; there is no open way to do things, you're told what to do in every single mission rather than giving the player the options on how they want to proceed.”
“I wanted to complete all missions first, but the fifth mission in the Soviet campaign was the last straw.”
- gameplay620 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay in "Gates of Hell: Ostfront" is characterized by its deep tactical mechanics and a blend of RTS and third-person action elements, offering players a rich and immersive experience. While many players appreciate the realistic ballistics, unit control, and dynamic gameplay modes, criticisms often focus on the AI's shortcomings and occasional clunky mechanics that can detract from the overall experience. Despite these issues, the game is praised for its historical accuracy, extensive modding support, and the potential for engaging multiplayer sessions, making it a notable entry in the WWII strategy genre.
“The gameplay in 'Gates of Hell: Ostfront' is deeply engaging, emphasizing tactical depth and strategic planning.”
“With its dynamic gameplay modes, extensive vehicle selection, and attention to historical detail, this game is a must-play for any fan of WWII strategy games.”
“Its intense tactical gameplay and strategic depth always kept me hooked.”
“The #1 issue hands down is the enemy AI, but I guess the sounds of the competitive multiplayer kids crying their heads off makes them hesitant to do anything productive at all outside of adding unfinished game modes and niche mechanics that 99% of the player base will ever utilize.”
“The gameplay sometimes feels meta in a lot of ways rather than realistic; if one unit can see an enemy, you will know where that enemy is as long as at least one friendly has them in their eyesight, which means you can approach tanks and emplacements entirely differently than you would in real life.”
“The singleplayer is all over the place; some missions are well made, but most are not, with extremely tedious smoke spamming and using snipers and field guns to plow your way through, because the AI is extremely basic in this game.”
- graphics504 mentions
- 48 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The graphics in "Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront" have received widespread praise for their impressive detail and historical accuracy, enhancing the overall immersion of the WWII RTS experience. Many players noted the stunning visuals, well-modeled units, and realistic sound design, although some expressed concerns about performance issues and the need for optimization. Overall, while the graphics are considered a significant improvement over previous titles in the series, there are mixed opinions regarding their polish and the game's overall performance.
“The graphics are excellent for a strategy game, with detailed environments and realistic battle effects.”
“Visually, Gates of Hell: Ostfront impresses with its detailed environments, outstanding graphics, and meticulously modeled units.”
“The graphics, sounds, animations, and overall feel of the game is not matched by any other title out there, sometimes after a big session I literally feel as if I've been at war myself.”
“The graphics are subpar, and comparing this to Company of Heroes where the controls are snappy and understandable, here the UI is cluttered and your men will fail to shoot a T-34 if you haven't pressed all the buttons required so they tie their shoelaces in the right order by manufacturing date.”
“The graphics are not that good; there is no excuse for how bad the performance is.”
“The graphics are terrible for a 2021 game, no cap.”
- optimization190 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 29 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with players reporting frequent performance issues such as low frame rates, stuttering, crashes, and long loading times, even on high-end systems. While some improvements have been noted, particularly in smaller battles, many users still find the overall performance lacking, especially in multiplayer scenarios where lag and desynchronization are common. Overall, the game is seen as needing substantial optimization work to enhance the gaming experience.
“This game is the perfect combination of both and has an improved feel to the optimization.”
“All the best aspects of the Men of War titles with improved graphics and a major optimization pass that allows it to take full advantage of modern hardware.”
“One of the notable improvements from Men of War is Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront has way better graphics, and thanks to the Call to Arms improved engine, performance is also much better, especially with bigger battles.”
“The game's performance has been terrible for a while, getting low FPS, freezes, crashes, and very long loading times.”
“As much as I love the gameplay, the constant crashes and poor optimization detract from what would have been an excellent experience.”
“This game is frankly one of my favorites, but with how optimized it is for multiplayer, it just isn't worth it.”
- stability169 mentions
- 2 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 98 % negative mentions
The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and performance issues such as low frame rates, crashes, and unresponsive AI. Players frequently encounter frustrating pathfinding problems and mission-breaking glitches, making the game feel unfinished and often unplayable. While some enjoy the core gameplay, the overwhelming consensus is that significant improvements are needed to address the myriad stability issues.
“It's still in the works but runs great for me. I've been following it since its announcement and have loved it since playing, especially with the content coming from the devs.”
“It's a quality piece with an excellent campaign mode, and even the multiplayer isn't too buggy.”
“This game is highly polished, runs great even on my mid-spec laptop, and has completely surpassed my expectations.”
“The game's performance has been terrible for a while, getting low FPS, freezes, crashes, and very long loading times.”
“The game is a buggy, broken mess that has the potential to be a great game if the dev team listens to their audience.”
“Too many bugs, freezes, and crashes to recommend at this time.”
- replayability89 mentions
- 44 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is highly praised, particularly due to its dynamic conquest mode and extensive modding support, which offer nearly infinite replay options and strategic variety. However, some players feel that the base game lacks sufficient content and customization, which can limit replay value in single-player modes. Overall, while there are concerns about the game's pricing and content, many users find the replayability to be a standout feature, making it enjoyable for both single-player and multiplayer experiences.
“From meticulously recreated historical single-player campaigns to the dynamic campaign mode, which allows you to shape your own war experience, the game offers endless replayability and strategic variety.”
“The dynamic campaigns in the game lead to near infinite replayability and you can do them co-op with friends.”
“The dynamic campaign gives this game infinite replayability, which was something that was missing from the Men of War predecessors.”
“There is not enough replay value.”
“The game is overpriced; the base game comes with only two factions, which is a massive issue that hurts the game's replayability. With only two factions, there's only so much to do.”
“Because of this, its replayability is quite short-lived.”
- grinding54 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 26 % neutral mentions
- 74 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is frequently described as tedious and overly demanding, with players noting the excessive micromanagement required for unit control and resource management. Many reviews highlight that the campaign missions can feel repetitive and frustrating, often requiring players to engage in monotonous tasks like placing numerous mines or managing large groups of infantry. Overall, while some players appreciate the depth and potential for strategy, the consensus is that the grinding elements detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“A bit grindy sometimes.”
“Campaigns can be tedious, buggy, and kind of boring at times, though occasionally, they'll just randomly throw at you insane numbers of tanks to overrun you, when you have nothing anti-tank.”
“The single player missions are unsatisfying and tedious.”
“You gotta remind your soldiers, individually sometimes, to put their helmets on and unsling their rifles - and if that sounds daft I'm not even scratching the surface of the redundant, tedious micromanagement this game demands.”
- humor46 mentions
- 87 % positive mentions
- 2 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is often derived from its broken AI and absurd gameplay mechanics, leading to unintentionally funny moments such as troops running blindly into enemy fire or tanks flipping over for no reason. Players find amusement in the game's chaotic nature, with many describing it as hilariously difficult and filled with "funny gamer moments," despite expressing frustration over its optimization issues. Overall, while the humor can be entertaining, it often stems from the game's flaws rather than intentional comedic design.
“Micromanaging squads so they don't cannonball into an actively firing machine gun they could plink in two volleys or going into direct control to get the Panzerjäger to load AP and fire at the one reason I brought it into the match is actually so bad it's funny.”
“Hilariously, there is a secret objective on that mission but it doesn't tell you what it is once you reveal it, the camera just zooms in on a part of the road with some crates, and when you fail, it zooms in on the road even further.”
“The AI's driving skill is pretty horrendous and can be really funny to watch.”
“Third mission was utterly unfair and unfunny as a result.”
“In fact, the game is so broken and unfunny that I wrote this whole review while waiting for a counter (troops boarding ships) to tick down because the game gave me no option to take out the German tanks, so all I had to do was wait for a timer to pass, while making sure at least one soldier remained alive.”
“Yes, this game is unfunny and broken.”
- atmosphere40 mentions
- 57 % positive mentions
- 35 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive sound design, realistic visuals, and attention to detail, effectively capturing the intensity and grimness of WWII. Players appreciate the dark and gritty ambiance, complemented by impressive audio effects and a well-crafted musical score that enhances the overall experience. Despite some criticisms regarding unit responsiveness and UI, the game's atmospheric presentation is considered one of its strongest features, making it a standout in the genre.
“The sound design is equally impressive, with realistic weapon sounds, explosions, and atmospheric effects that bring the battlefield to life.”
“The game itself is frankly beautiful, all the DLC maps are extremely well made and very atmospheric with plenty of detail; the lighting in some maps is astonishing, especially the winter maps, where winter actually feels like winter.”
“The atmosphere makes you feel like you're there, with a nice attention to details, impressive explosions, and detailed maps.”
“Units are clunky and unresponsive, the atmosphere and terrain are gray and bland, and the multiplayer 'economy points' system is opaque and not intuitive.”
“Very limited, the UI is bad; the very dark and grim atmosphere, while looking more cinematic, is very boring. The quality of life improvements and performance are definitely a nice step up from AS2, but everything else?”
“In fact, this game is to the RTS genre what RO2 is to the FPS: it's a PTSD simulator. Voice overs are incredible, the music is dark and gritty, and the overall atmosphere of the game is not about heroism, but about death and despair.”
- music34 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 62 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it generic and uninspired, while others appreciate its ability to enhance immersion and complement the game's atmosphere. Many suggest turning off the music due to its repetitiveness, although a few highlight the dynamic and well-crafted soundtrack that matches the intensity of gameplay. Overall, while the sound design is praised, the musical score is often seen as a weak point, with players recommending mods for improvement.
“The game’s music and voice acting add to the immersion, providing a fitting soundtrack to the high-stakes action.”
“The musical score, while somewhat understated, effectively complements the tense and dramatic atmosphere of the game.”
“The music is perfectly crafted to match the intensity of each battle, making the experience even more immersive.”
“The music... ehhh, turn it off, you won't miss it.”
“Music is generic and uninspired.”
“I found however that the OST annoyed me after hearing it for a while.”
- monetization28 mentions
- 7 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 68 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players praising the thoughtful expansions and absence of microtransactions, while others criticize certain DLCs as cash grabs that feel incomplete or poorly implemented. Many users express frustration over the high costs associated with additional content and the perception that the base game serves primarily as a platform for future monetization. Overall, while some DLCs are seen as enriching the gameplay, the heavy focus on monetization and perceived lack of support for the base game detracts from the overall experience for many players.
“In an industry where companies often overprice or release half-baked products with microtransactions as a measure of success, this DLC has been meticulously built and beautifully executed.”
“You'll also appreciate the friendliness to modding, absence of money-grabbing in the form of in-game stores or microtransactions.”
“They have a very fair monetization model.”
“Overall it seems very low effort and poorly implemented, and feels like a ripoff to have bought a DLC advertising Panzer-Lehr and Panzergrenadier and they are not even available in conquest mode.”
“This game just simply isn't finished and is an obvious cash grab.”
“Not only me, but the community as well has expressed concerns about these developers’ focus on monetization through DLCs rather than meaningful updates.”
- emotional7 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players report a strong emotional connection to characters and events within the game, particularly highlighting moments of loss that evoke genuine feelings, such as losing a beloved squad and tank to an unexpected tragedy. The game's stunning visuals and historical accuracy enhance this emotional engagement, making the experience both intellectually stimulating and deeply affecting, despite some technical issues. Overall, the emotional depth of the game is a significant aspect that resonates with players.
“Creating an emotional attachment to a squad of men and a tank at the start of a conquest game only to lose them both to the same artillery shell three battles in.”
“Its stunning visuals, historical accuracy, and intricate gameplay mechanics create an experience that is both intellectually stimulating and emotionally engaging.”
“Shed a tear.”
