Headquarters: World War II
- April 11, 2024
- Starni Games
- 3h median play time
Get on Steam"Headquarters: World War II" is a turn-based strategy game set during the Battle of Normandy. The combat system is deceptively simple yet offers depth with unit positioning, directional cover, terrain bonuses, and destructible environments. Players can choose their side, form their force, and level up units with heroes and headquarters skills. Join the discord for more information.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game offers a fun and engaging turn-based tactical experience with great graphics and detailed unit mechanics.
- It features a solid campaign structure with multiple factions and scenarios, allowing for strategic depth and replayability.
- Players appreciate the combination of classic tactical gameplay with modern graphics and mechanics, reminiscent of games like Battle Academy.
- The AI is often criticized for being passive and lacking strategic depth, making skirmish mode less enjoyable.
- There are numerous bugs and performance issues, including crashes and long AI turn times, which detract from the overall experience.
- The user interface and camera controls are considered clunky and unpolished, making navigation and gameplay less intuitive.
- story61 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 85 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The game's story is primarily conveyed through its campaign missions, which are based on historical World War II events and feature three factions—USA, UK, and Germany—each with around ten missions. While some players appreciate the thematic elements and tactical depth, others criticize the lack of replay value, mission variety, and the frustrating mechanics that can lead to unexpected enemy spawns and game freezes. Overall, the narrative experience is mixed, with some enjoying the historical context and mission design, while others find it lacking in excitement and coherence.
“I'm currently playing the British campaign and the missions follow what really happened historically very well.”
“Played a few missions of the American campaign so far and the translation of historical WWII combat to this turn-based system works really well.”
“So far, the campaign missions are really thematic, and I expect a lot of replay value with different factions playable for each campaign.”
“Not only is there little content, there is absolutely no replay value and the way missions are formatted often create situations where enemies will just spawn in front of you.”
“Today I was playing a USA mission and several German tanks just spawned in a field all facing my exhausted troops halfway through my turn and I had nothing available to even survive the next turn, so I quit because they could just return fire if I attacked and overwatch if I retreated.”
“I fell in love with the demo campaign mission but found that most of the full campaign missions lacking the same excitement.”
- graphics41 mentions
- 49 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their detail and aesthetic appeal, with many reviewers noting that they enhance the overall atmosphere and experience. However, some players criticize the graphics for being overly prioritized at the expense of gameplay mechanics, leading to issues like slow animations and performance problems. While the visuals are often described as stunning, there are also mentions of technical flaws such as odd shading and frame drops, suggesting that the graphics, while impressive, may not be fully optimized.
“Graphically, the game looks great.”
“The unit graphics are detailed and look extra great when the small cutscenes trigger when a unit attacks or kills.”
“Great graphics, the textures and maps look amazing even with a grid-based system.”
“Graphically, the game looks great, but sadly that's about all that's good, so don't waste your money on it like I did.”
“They only got a 3 for graphics... otherwise straight sh*t.”
“There are oddly long load times, specifically the editor takes about 120+ seconds to load (even on a gaming rig), and there is some clunkiness with FPS and graphics that just makes the game feel very unpolished.”
- gameplay22 mentions
- 32 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is characterized by interesting mechanics and scenarios, appealing particularly to fans of tactical strategy games. While the turn-based system offers promising features and a rewarding setup process, some players find the mechanics to be clunky and difficult to grasp initially, with issues like indirect fire balance and unclear tutorial guidance. Overall, the game shows potential for depth and enjoyment, especially with its detailed models and improved graphics, but it requires further polishing to enhance the user experience.
“Interesting play mechanics and scenarios.”
“Advanced squad leader and conflict of heroes players should find the mechanics compelling with vast potential for additional tactical options and scenarios.”
“Successfully setting up your turn order is very rewarding and saves unit lives; scout unit mechanics make scouting important, plus you get limited mid-battle heals and airstrikes and fun abilities.”
“That's pretty much all the gameplay you can expect.”
“I played the demo of Headquarters: WWII at Nextfest and wasn't really feeling it during the tutorial because the mechanics felt a bit clunky and rigid.”
“Gameplay is hard to grasp from the get-go, especially with the aforementioned issues.”
- replayability6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate the build variety and thematic campaign missions that encourage multiple playthroughs with different factions, others criticize the limited content and repetitive mission formats that diminish replay value. Many users suggest that the game may only offer around 10 to 20 hours of engaging gameplay before it feels exhausted.
“There is quite a bit of build variety here, and overall this would probably help with replayability.”
“So far, the campaign missions are really thematic, and I expect a lot of replay value with different factions playable for each campaign.”
“Definitely a 20-hour single-player experience with enough options to add replayability for die-hards.”
“Not only is there little content, there is absolutely no replay value and the way missions are formatted often create situations where enemies will just spawn in front of you.”
“Limited replay value, unlikely to get you more than 10 hours once you beat the campaign.”
“It also takes away any replay value.”
- optimization5 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The game is criticized for its poor optimization, with users reporting bugs, crashes, and performance issues that detract from the overall experience. Additionally, design choices, such as the zoom feature, are suspected to contribute to these performance problems, leading to a less satisfying gameplay experience.
“Unlike PG/PZC, unit facing is important, and when you suffer losses to a unit, it degrades in performance.”
“However, I don't think it's currently worth its price due to some bugs, crashes, performance, and balancing issues.”
“The developers made a very odd design decision with zoom, which I suspect is linked to performance issues.”
“The game seems very poorly optimized.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been criticized for numerous glitches and a lack of polish, suggesting a careless approach to development. While some players appreciate the gameplay experience, the persistent bugs detract significantly from overall enjoyment.
“Too many glitches to ignore... sloppy game development... the devs just seemed to have walked away from it.”
“A bit of buggy jank here and there perhaps, but the kind of WWII TBS I've wanted to play for years!”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's graphics significantly enhance the World War II atmosphere, creating an immersive experience; however, some players find the movement animations to be a hindrance to gameplay pace.
“Great feel and WWII atmosphere!”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect tedious, diminishing the impact of their actions and overall enjoyment of the game.
“It's just tedious and makes your actual actions less impactful.”
“The grinding feels endless and detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.”
“I find myself doing the same repetitive tasks over and over, which becomes incredibly boring.”
- music1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The soundtrack bundle is priced the same as the game without it, highlighting its value and suggesting that the music is an integral part of the overall experience.
“Fun fact: the cost of the bundle with the soundtrack is the same as without it.”
