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Sudden Strike 4

An unsurprising RTS in every sense of the word, but solidly entertaining and well-designed for console.
Sudden Strike 4 Game Cover
68%Game Brain Score
story, graphics
stability, grinding
77% User Score Based on 2,102 reviews
Critic Score 59%Based on 10 reviews

Platforms

LinuxXbox Series X|SPCPlaystation 5Mac OSPlaystation 4Xbox OneXboxWindowsPlayStation
Sudden Strike 4 Game Cover

About

Sudden Strike 4 is a single player and multiplayer real-time strategy game with warfare and historical themes. It was developed by Kite Games and was released on August 11, 2017. It received neutral reviews from critics and mostly positive reviews from players.

Sudden Strike 4 is a warfare Real Time Strategy game with single-player, multi-player, and co-op options. It features three campaigns with over 100 units from World War II's British, American, German, and Soviet troops. Players can choose from nine commanders, each with unique abilities, battling in stunningly realistic environments for tactical victory. However, it has some grinding aspects and bugs.

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77%
Audience ScoreBased on 2,102 reviews
story104 positive mentions
stability28 negative mentions

  • The game features a strong emphasis on strategy, positioning, and resource management, making victories feel earned.
  • The graphics and sound design are impressive, providing an immersive WWII atmosphere.
  • The game offers a variety of campaigns and missions, allowing players to experience different historical battles.
  • The AI is often criticized for being predictable and unresponsive, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.
  • The limited line of sight and engagement ranges for units can make combat feel unrealistic and tedious.
  • Many players feel that the game lacks depth and replayability, with missions often feeling repetitive and scripted.
  • story
    636 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story aspect of "Sudden Strike 4" is primarily conveyed through a series of mission briefings and historical context, with three campaigns (German, Soviet, and Allied) each containing seven missions. While some players appreciate the historical accuracy and the challenge of the missions, many criticize the lack of depth in storytelling, repetitive mission design, and limited strategic options, leading to a feeling of grind and predictability. Overall, the narrative is seen as a backdrop to the gameplay rather than a compelling story, with players expressing a desire for more engaging and varied missions.

    • “The game features three distinct campaigns—German, Allied, and Soviet—each offering a range of missions inspired by historical operations.”
    • “There's a nice bit of backstory, historical clips, and supporting info for every mission it seems.”
    • “The missions themselves upon completion shall unlock clips with original footage from the war and texts which go further into detail about casualties and outcomes for each operation.”
    • “The missions are varied in which it seems a bit short at first, but they open up for bigger operations with even more options like artillery and air support for you to use and they take some time to finish.”
    • “The campaign missions could have been split into several missions; for example, 'the battle of France' is just a single map, as is Barbarossa.”
    • “The mission briefings are too short and generally the mission objectives are straightforward, though there can be various ways of completing the mission.”
  • graphics
    367 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics in "Sudden Strike 4" receive mixed reviews, with many praising the detailed vehicle models, destructible environments, and overall visual fidelity, which represent a significant improvement over previous titles in the series. However, some players criticize the graphics for being inconsistent, with reports of bugs and performance issues, particularly on certain hardware configurations. Overall, while the visuals are generally considered good and immersive, they are not universally acclaimed, with some players expressing disappointment in the lack of realism and detail compared to other modern strategy games.

    • “Graphically, Sudden Strike 4 is a noticeable improvement over its predecessors, offering detailed vehicle models, destructible environments, and varied terrain types that not only look good but also impact gameplay.”
    • “The graphics are gorgeous, sound is excellent, effects are excellent, voices, missions, units, etc. I bought 2 of the DLC but I'll probably end up getting the rest too.”
    • “The graphics are incredible, as are the sound effects, and the attention to detail is fantastic, with features like terrain damage and tank tracks left behind.”
    • “The graphics are straight up nightmare fuel and somehow appear worse than much older titles.”
    • “I didn't enjoy it; the graphics seemed to be painful to the eye, and it would crash or bug out on me.”
    • “The big downside, if you care about these things, is the lack of cinematics (the graphics are perfectly pretty on an RTX 1070), which means the story is told through voiced written interludes, and they're good enough but could be better.”
  • gameplay
    273 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of Sudden Strike 4 has received mixed reviews, with many players noting that it retains some classic mechanics from earlier titles while introducing modern graphics. However, criticisms include a reliance on tedious fuel management, overly simplistic unit mechanics, and a lack of depth in strategy, leading to repetitive and sometimes chaotic gameplay. While some appreciate the nostalgic elements and improved visuals, others feel the game falls short of delivering a compelling and engaging experience compared to its predecessors.

    • “Rather than relying on resource gathering or base building like traditional real-time strategy games, Sudden Strike 4 demands that players manage limited units and make intelligent use of terrain, flanking, and line-of-sight mechanics to achieve success.”
    • “The game's attention to detail, engaging gameplay, and immersive experience make it a must-play for anyone looking for an enjoyable gaming experience.”
    • “Great fun, challenging, many hours of gameplay and many expansions.”
    • “Gameplay is 80 percent driving all over the damn map searching for fuel for your vehicles.”
    • “Matches take too long because of the fuel mechanic and are mostly boring.”
    • “The gameplay feels odd; for example, the units have special skills that seem designed for a more tactical game, but the gameplay makes the use of these skills very tedious.”
  • replayability
    42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game offers a mixed experience in terms of replayability. While the campaign features various doctrines and commander skills that encourage different tactical approaches, some players find the skirmish and multiplayer modes lacking in depth, limiting long-term engagement. Despite these criticisms, many users appreciate the fun and challenge of the missions, which can provide replay value, especially for those seeking to achieve higher scores or explore different strategies.

    • “This system adds a layer of customization and encourages replayability, allowing players to experiment with different tactical styles even within the same campaign.”
    • “Even if you finish the campaigns, the skirmish and multiplayer modes are very entertaining - giving the game infinite replayability.”
    • “The doctrines and their unique abilities as well as the way they affect your starting units can vastly change your playstyle and the way you approach the missions allowing for greater replayability.”
    • “Play scripted campaigns that have absolutely no replay value.”
    • “The skirmish mode has zero replayability and the game ends up becoming a one-fight game every time.”
    • “It is, however, let down by limited AI which leaves missions feeling more like set problems to solve rather than dynamic battlefields, limiting any replay value.”
  • stability
    30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many users reporting numerous bugs, glitches, and game-breaking issues, particularly in multiplayer and AI functionality. While some players have experienced smooth performance without significant technical problems, the overall consensus highlights a frustratingly buggy experience that detracts from gameplay enjoyment. Frequent crashes, poor unit control, and matchmaking issues further exacerbate the game's stability concerns.

    • “The base game of Sudden Strike 4 is great and not buggy, if a bit short to get through.”
    • “Runs great on Linux with Mesa.”
    • “Because it has the heart of a true RTS and all the glitches of an independently developed game.”
    • “A buggy mess of a rushed game.”
    • “But damn, the amount of game-breaking bugs and glitches is just crushing.”
  • music
    25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game has received high praise for its exceptional quality and ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, with many reviewers noting its dynamic nature that adapts to in-game events. The soundtrack is described as beautiful and epic, effectively complementing the historical context and sound design, while some players appreciated the immersive sound effects and thematic elements. Overall, the music contributes significantly to the game's engaging experience, with ratings often around 8.9/10 or higher.

    • “The music and sound are much better than Blitzkrieg, creating an immersive experience.”
    • “There is obviously a lot of work put into the sound design, be it the bang of the guns or the tense soundtrack, which sticks around in your head long past finishing a play session.”
    • “The soundtrack adapts to specific moments inside the game, such as when you approach enemy units, triggering a cool action-thrill music that enhances the gameplay.”
    • “The soundtrack is decent, if nothing special.”
    • “Music is okay, atmosphere and controls are great.”
    • “The music and sound is much better than Blitzkrieg though.”
  • grinding
    18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The grinding aspect of the game has been widely criticized for being tedious and frustrating, with many players noting that missions often feel repetitive and require a singular optimal strategy to achieve success. The need for constant refueling and rearming of units adds to the grind, making gameplay feel slow and unengaging. While some appreciate the historical journey, the overall sentiment is that the game suffers from a lack of variety and balance, leading to a tedious experience.

    • “The entire game is an amazing journey into WWII history with no farming or time wasting.”
    • “Campaigns are unengaging, tedious, frustrating, and boring to the point of brain rotting.”
    • “The gameplay feels odd; for example, the units have special skills that seem designed for a more tactical game, but using these skills is very tedious.”
    • “I'm 5 missions in and I feel this game is a beautiful slog at best and a boring, tedious shoot-the-same-units-from-as-far-away-as-possible-for-a-few-minutes-to-a-half-hour-until-you-can-advance snoozefest.”
  • atmosphere
    17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its authentic wartime setting, impressive visuals, and immersive sound design, effectively capturing the essence of large-scale historical battles. Players appreciate the depth and realism, noting that the atmospheric elements enhance the overall experience, despite some criticism regarding the single-player mode. Overall, the combination of strategic gameplay and a well-crafted environment contributes to a compelling and engaging atmosphere.

    • “Developed by Kite Games and published by Kalypso Media, the game brings large-scale, historical battles to life with a strong focus on positioning, tactical execution, and an authentic wartime atmosphere.”
    • “Its one of the very few games that manages to capture the atmosphere so well.”
    • “Excellent levels of realism for units and battlefields make for an impressively atmospheric strategy game.”
    • “There's no atmosphere in the single-player mode at all.”
    • “Atmosphere is well done.”
    • “Detail to landscapes adds to the WWII atmosphere.”
  • optimization
    16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The optimization of the game receives mixed reviews; while some players praise its excellent graphics and smooth performance even on older hardware, others report significant bugs and performance issues that detract from the experience. Overall, the game's optimization appears to be a strong point for some, but many users feel it is currently lacking and not worth its price due to the incomplete state and performance inconsistencies.

    • “This is a great RTS game for those who really commit to it and go for the 3-star performances and challenge mode.”
    • “I'd give Sudden Strike 4 some credit for their good optimization on using the Unity engine, though.”
    • “Really fantastic performance, even with a lot of units on screen.”
    • “Very bad optimization.”
    • “It's hard to recommend the game in its current state; the game is full of bugs and performance issues.”
    • “With a significant lack of content and performance, it's not worth $50, or even $30 in its current state, as it feels incomplete.”
  • humor
    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is noted for its quirky and often absurd elements, such as the comical behavior of units and exaggerated physics, like bodies flying through the air and tanks behaving illogically. While some players feel the game could benefit from more humor, they still find enjoyment in the funny interactions and dialogue, particularly in specific scenarios like the German troops' antics. Overall, the humor adds a lighthearted touch to the gameplay, despite some frustrating mechanics.

    • “Great game, it's very nice and funny.”
    • “There are a few cons, your units' view distance is hilariously bad; sometimes tanks will prioritize shooting at infantry over tanks that they are actively engaged with.”
    • “The physics on explosions vs infantry can be quite funny too, just seeing bodies flying.”
  • monetization
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users express disappointment with the monetization strategy, perceiving it as a potential cash grab, especially given the disparity between advertised graphics and actual performance on high-end hardware.

    • “Seems like this is going to be a cash grab, which is really unfortunate.”
  • emotional
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the emotional aspect of the game to be a mix of tension and satisfaction, as they navigate challenging scenarios that evoke a sense of urgency and accomplishment. The experience is described as "wholesome," suggesting that despite the challenges, there is a rewarding emotional payoff. Overall, the emotional engagement is rated positively, with a score of 7/10.

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59%Critics’ scoreBased on 10 critic reviews
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20h Median play time
47h Average play time
6-70h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 13 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Sudden Strike 4 is a real-time strategy game with warfare and historical themes.

Sudden Strike 4 is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5, Mac OS and others.

On average players spend around 47 hours playing Sudden Strike 4.

Sudden Strike 4 was released on August 11, 2017.

Sudden Strike 4 was developed by Kite Games.

Sudden Strike 4 has received neutral reviews from players and neutral reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its stability.

Sudden Strike 4 is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront, Iron Harvest, Men of War II, Wargame: European Escalation, Company of Heroes 2 and others.