Iron Storm

About

"Iron Storm" is a first-person shooter set in an alternate 1964, where World War I never ended. You play as a British soldier named James Anderson, fighting in the trenches of Europe against the German and Russian armies. The game features a unique time-travel element, allowing you to alter the course of the war. With a variety of weapons and environments, "Iron Storm" offers a fresh take on the traditional shooter genre.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

59%

Audience ScoreBased on 104 reviews

story12 positive mentions

stability4 negative mentions

The gunplay is satisfying, with weapons like the rocket launcher feeling particularly powerful.
The game offers a unique alternate history setting that adds depth to the gameplay experience.
The atmosphere of war is well-crafted, enhancing the overall immersion in the game.

The game features frustrating difficulty spikes, particularly in stealth sections and against heavily armored enemies.
Level design can be confusing and linear, often leading to players getting lost in corridors.
The graphics and animations are dated and can detract from the overall experience, with many bugs and glitches present.

story
39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
54%
15%
The game's story is described as having a unique and intriguing premise, particularly involving themes of weapon development and a world shaped by war, but it suffers from a rushed ending and convoluted objectives. While some players appreciate the atmosphere and shocking twists, many express frustration with the lack of guidance and poorly designed stealth missions that detract from the overall narrative experience. Overall, the story has potential but is marred by execution issues and gameplay mechanics.
- “An interesting story in which World War I did not end.”
- “The storyline gets shocking as you get through.”
- “It's a game of great story, that gives you the opportunity to breathe the smoke of fire, devouring world, which could be our world.”
- “The plot is very disappointing not by itself, but just because the developers decided to cut everything and leave a hurried end for whatever reason.”
- “I would talk about the story, but what is there to talk about?”
- “It's a game with an extremely original premise, and it's bogged down by convoluted objectives and forced stealth missions.”
graphics
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
63%
15%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many users noting that they are dated and often described as "ugly" or "janky," particularly when compared to contemporaries from the early 2000s. While some appreciate the nostalgic aesthetic, others criticize the poor visual quality and over-designed elements that detract from the overall experience. Despite these shortcomings, a few players find the graphics acceptable within the context of the gameplay and story.
- “The graphics are kinda good, pretty easy, cool concept, unfortunately linear level design.”
- “A game with a good story; the graphics are kinda dirty and brown looking, but I like the 2000's look overall. It's a pretty okay game if you overlook the bad AI.”
- “Although the graphics are dated, the gameplay and storyline sure aren't.”
- “Everything is janky as hell, there is no background music and the graphics are obviously ugly as sin.”
- “For a start, the graphics are bad even for a 2002 game.”
- “This is one year after Halo, 3 years after Outcast, the same year as Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, and while it wasn't released yet, Half-Life 2 was in very early production, which that game's early versions had better graphics and style than Iron Storm.”
atmosphere
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
29%
14%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its fantastic war setting, effectively creating a dark and bleak ambiance despite some outdated visuals. Players appreciate the attention to detail and the immersive experience, enhanced by elements like seeing the player's body in first-person mode. Overall, the atmosphere significantly contributes to the game's appeal, making it a standout feature.
- “Beautiful attention to detail, cool atmosphere, combat and gore.”
- “Really cool premise and atmosphere.”
- “Returning to the storyline as part of the game - well, this is a game of great atmosphere.”
- “Even the first few levels, which are the best-looking in the whole game, appear super-basic, undetailed, and outdated even for 2002 standards, but at least they manage to build up a somewhat dark and bleak atmosphere with some sparse lens flare and weather effects.”
- “-atmosphere”
- “-atmosphere”
gameplay
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
63%
16%
The gameplay offers a nostalgic throwback to late 90s and early 00s run'n'gun mechanics, initially providing fast-paced fun, but quickly deteriorates in quality as the game progresses. Players note stiff mechanics, brain-dead enemies, and frustrating design flaws, such as invulnerable enemies requiring specific strategies to defeat. Despite its variety of weapons and situations, the overall execution is criticized as lacking compared to similar titles.
- “During the first one or two hours, it provided a really nice throwback to the late 90s and early 00s with its simplistic yet fast-paced and fun oldschool run'n'gun gameplay.”
- “The only redeeming factors are its interesting premise, at times really fun oldschool run'n'gun gameplay, and the ridiculously cheap price of currently 3 euros.”
- “In gameplay terms, that means variety - a variety of situations that we can solve with a variety of arsenal. The technical progress of this war helps us to react to all types of threats, using a knife or silenced pistol for careless soldiers, automatic rifle and trench gun for close-quarters combat, semi-automatic rifle or sniper rifle for long-range contacts, RPGs for war machines, and various special weapons and grenades for special situations.”
- “But as soon as you leave the trenches of the frontlines, the game takes a nosedive into a pool of dogsh*t, not only visually, but also gameplay-wise.”
- “Game mechanics are just awful.”
- “There are 2 times some enemies are invulnerable unless you kill them in a specific way; that is a game mechanics/design failure.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The game is reported to be quite buggy, but it generally runs well on older hardware, such as an IBM ThinkPad T40. Despite its visual shortcomings, players find that the engaging story compensates for the stability issues.
- “On an old IBM ThinkPad T40 with a 2.0 GHz processor, 2 GB of RAM, and a 60 GB HDD, the game runs great.”
- “On an old IBM ThinkPad T40 with a 2.0 GHz processor, 2 GB of RAM, and a 60 GB HDD, the game runs great.”
- “This game is buggy.”
- “Though it looks like hell and is buggy, the story shines and that's what counts.”
- “tldr: very buggy, but okay for the most part.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be frustrating, as the initial engaging levels quickly devolve into tedious long-range sniper battles and poorly designed stealth sections. The later levels are criticized for their confusing level design, obtuse puzzles, and scripted events that hinder gameplay, leading to a repetitive and unenjoyable experience. Overall, the transition from enjoyable combat to monotonous grinding detracts significantly from the game's appeal.
- “The last couple of levels introduce really terrible level design and obtuse puzzles and weird scripted events where enemies will not die unless you shoot them from a specific place on the map; it becomes tedious.”
- “The rather entertaining first few levels, which are centered around close quarters combat in said trenches, make way for tedious long-range sniper battles in the next chapter (imagine the infamous 'sniper town' level from Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, just worse in every conceivable way), only followed by extremely broken, frustrating, and poorly designed stealth sections and super-contrived, confusing, and amateurish level design for the rest of the game.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The game's optimization is criticized for its cheesy dialogue and inconsistent character accents, which detracts from the overall experience. However, the main voice cast delivers a decent performance despite these issues.
- “It is extremely cheesy and sometimes the characters randomly switch to completely different accents or intonation without any rhyme or reason, but at least the performance of the main voice cast is decent enough.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music aspect of the game has been criticized for its complete absence of background music, contributing to an overall janky experience that is further marred by poor graphics.
- “Everything is janky as hell; there is no background music, and the graphics are obviously ugly as sin.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's replayability is generally considered low, with users indicating that there is little incentive to play through it multiple times.
- “Replay value: low”
- “Replay value: low”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy of the game heavily relies on investments and advertising, which are perceived as essential components driving its success and engagement.
- “Investments and advertising have turned this game into a 'gear of war'... or its fuel.”