ICBM: Escalation

About

In "ICBM: Escalation," players command a faction and build a military force to engage in both conventional and nuclear warfare. Construct a nuclear stockpile, research advanced technology, and deploy various military units, with the goal of crippling adversaries or invading enemy territory for a conventional victory. The game offers new victory conditions, adding depth to the global warfare experience.

Genres & Tags

Strategy

Play Modes

91%

Audience ScoreBased on 912 reviews

gameplay24 positive mentions

optimization8 negative mentions

ICBM: Escalation is a significant improvement over the original game, offering more depth, features, and a satisfying gameplay loop.
The addition of conventional warfare alongside nuclear options adds strategic complexity and variety to the game.
The game is enjoyable with friends, providing a fun multiplayer experience and a well-designed campaign that spans historical and future conflicts.

The AI is often criticized for being passive and not providing a challenging experience, making gameplay feel repetitive.
The game suffers from performance issues and bugs, particularly in multiplayer, which can lead to crashes and frustrating experiences.
The tutorial is poorly designed, lacking clarity and causing confusion for new players, which can hinder the initial experience.

gameplay
54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
50%
6%
The gameplay is generally praised for its depth and complexity, offering a satisfying experience with a rewarding loop, especially in conquest mode. However, players have noted issues with the user interface, certain gameplay mechanics that add unnecessary micro-management, and a steep learning curve exacerbated by a poorly optimized game. While the game builds on its predecessor with expanded mechanics and strategic options, some players feel that certain gameplay styles do not significantly alter the experience, and there are concerns about multiplayer balance due to exploitable mechanics.
- “Gameplay is very satisfying.”
- “Great game, long and rewarding gameplay loop.”
- “The game is really good, systems are complex yet intuitive and the gameplay is satisfying.”
- “On the other hand, the UI is still pretty bad, and some gameplay decisions are very strange (why do I need to select the air transport plane that I just sent to tell it to drop the army division instead of it doing so by default? It adds micro for zero good reason).”
- “- Easily abusable mechanics in player votes make multiplayer unplayable (often you'll find prearranged teams come in and ally up at the start, giving instant tech to each other as they go. They will then proceed to vote for world peace, ban techs, etc., if the odds fall out of their favor. With 3 and some AI, you control the game via voting).”
- “[strike] The other thing that I have as an issue is that three different styles of gameplay don't actually seem to change anything.”
optimization
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
65%
24%
Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with some players noting significant improvements since beta, while others report ongoing performance issues, including stuttering and crashes. Many users express hope for further optimizations and bug fixes, indicating that while the game is enjoyable, it still requires work to enhance its performance and AI. A few players have experienced no issues at all, suggesting that performance may vary based on individual hardware.
- “Within several days they fixed the bug that caused any performance issues, great customer service in this regard!”
- “They've really optimized the game since beta since I didn't have any issues with performance!”
- “More units, better AI, and much improved performance.”
- “It's a great game but poorly optimized.”
- “I am disappointed, as I would have thought the game at full release would be better optimized and more playable.”
- “So far the game looks very fun but I've played for a solid hour or two now and it's ground itself to an almost unplayable state with constant stuttering, randomly flinging me around the map, eating up like 89% of my available RAM, and then crashing halfway into a war with Mexico.”
story
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
61%
11%
The game's story is centered around a series of challenging campaign missions, including a notable "war on terror" scenario involving the hunt for bin Laden. Players appreciate the depth and potential of the campaign, which offers over 10 hours of gameplay, though some find the difficulty spikes and tutorial pacing frustrating. Overall, the narrative elements are engaging, with a mix of strategic planning and execution that can lead to a rewarding sense of accomplishment.
- “Fun campaign with 10+ hours of missions to do and master.”
- “Comes with a war on terror mission where you hunt down bin Laden.”
- “Spec ops missions such as 1991 are absurdly difficult for the wrong reasons.”
- “The campaign by itself has a lot of potential that could be used to its full extent in future missions.”
- “I enjoyed the systems... the final 'plan and execute 3 plans at once' mission hits like a sack of bricks out of nowhere; the UI for those plans is poor unless you know the sprite for every unit type already.”
graphics
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
58%
13%
The graphics of the game are generally well-received, with many praising the aesthetic and presentation, which effectively conveys the game's themes. However, some users note that the optimization is poor, leading to performance issues despite the relatively basic graphics. Overall, while the visuals and UI improvements enhance the experience, the lack of graphical settings and optimization concerns are significant drawbacks.
- “It is enjoyable to look at and has an aesthetic look reminiscent of wargames.”
- “The graphics are better and there are many quality of life upgrades, some of which are more subtle yet still create an objectively better play experience.”
- “Graphics are well made for such a game and the UI is easy to use, in my opinion.”
- “This game is incredibly poorly optimized, especially considering its minimal graphics.”
- “- no graphical settings at all except for the resolution.”
- “Although the graphics are relatively basic, the presentation is really good.”
replayability
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
54%
23%
Replayability is generally considered high due to the strategic variations offered by different starting nations; however, many players feel that the repetitive nature of ground combat and poor AI significantly diminish the overall experience. While some users appreciate the solid gameplay and potential for varied strategies, others express disappointment in the game's optimization and the AI's erratic behavior, which can lead to a lack of engaging replay value.
- “Replayability is high, as changing the starting nation changes the strategy required.”
- “It's definitely a step forward; AI still needs some behavior work, but the gameplay is solid, with a lot of replayability.”
- “Replayability is high, as changing the starting nation changes the strategy required.”
- “This reduces the replayability from nation to nation because all ground combat feels the same.”
- “After playing just one and a half games, there is no replayability because the AI just randomly nukes cities, so all games feel the same.”
- “Bad AI limits offline replayability.”
music
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
57%
The game's music is highly praised for being enjoyable and fitting, particularly enhancing the experience during intense moments like launching nukes. However, some users note that while the soundtrack is impressive, the overall user interface and experience could use more polish compared to similar games.
- “The music ramps up whenever you launch your nukes.”
- “The soundtrack is also incredibly fitting.”
- “This game does have an amazing soundtrack.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is generally well-received for its enjoyable gameplay, particularly in multiplayer settings, but users report significant bugs, especially on Linux systems. Despite these stability issues, many feel the game is still worth the investment.
- “Exquisite game, a little buggy but I am running it on Linux with zero ProtonDB reports.”
- “Great game and really fun with friends, buggy as hell but is still worth the money.”
- “Great game and really fun with friends, buggy as hell but is still worth the money.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere in the game is marked by a sense of foreboding and tension, highlighted by the rare and ominous appearance of the red ugc beanie worn by the game-master, which evokes memories of a catastrophic event linked to human error. This unique element contributes to an immersive and unsettling environment that enhances the overall gaming experience.
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate that while the technology in the game is commendable, there is a desire for more emotionally uplifting and wholesome elements to enhance the overall emotional experience.
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express frustration with the grinding aspect of the game, particularly citing divisions and ground war as elements that slow down gameplay and make it feel tedious. Many suggest implementing an option to disable these features to enhance the overall experience.
- “There should be an option to disable divisions/ground war, as these often make the game slow and tedious.”