War Room
- November 18, 2020
- Wastelands Interactive
- 4h median play time
Get on Steam"War Room" is a real-time strategy game where players manage resources, recruit and command military units, and engage in battle with opponents in a variety of scenic environments. The game offers a single-player campaign, multiplayer mode, and a custom skirmish option against AI or human opponents. Players must balance base-building, troop deployment, and strategic planning to emerge victorious.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game has a unique concept of managing military operations from a drone perspective, which adds a refreshing twist to the strategy genre.
- The developers are actively working on updates and improvements, showing commitment to enhancing the game based on player feedback.
- The immersive atmosphere and realistic elements, such as the consequences of civilian casualties and the need for strategic planning, make the gameplay engaging.
- The game is riddled with bugs and glitches, including issues with units getting stuck, crashes during gameplay, and unresponsive support options.
- The AI behavior is often unrealistic, with troops failing to utilize cover or engage effectively in combat, leading to frustrating experiences.
- The user interface is clunky and confusing, making it difficult for players to navigate menus and manage units efficiently.
- story478 mentions
- 5 % positive mentions
- 92 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The game's story revolves around military strategy and operations, with players tasked to manage troops, conduct missions, and navigate complex scenarios in a war-torn environment. However, many players report that the narrative is hampered by numerous bugs and glitches, making missions unplayable and detracting from the overall experience. While the concept is intriguing, the execution suffers from a lack of mission variety and overwhelming mechanics that can lead to frustration rather than engagement.
“I very much loved the first mission where you drop bombs from an F-16 on a group of insurgents.”
“As the conflict has finally come to a close, I have had the opportunity to look at the overall story of the war and with a feeling of loss and regret come to terms with how it ended.”
“Great concept, interesting gameplay, a lot of decisions to make, and campaign based on the interesting mix of fixed and random missions.”
“The first mission is broken, no way to kill the units in the building.”
“Game is unplayable after first mission, do not buy!!!!”
“Unfortunately this game is one of the most broken I've played in a long time, it's impossible to get more than a mission or two before serious bugs occur that just make you want to quit immediately.”
- gameplay126 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
Gameplay reviews highlight a mix of potential and frustration, with many players noting the unique mechanics and strategic depth but criticizing the lack of clear tutorials and numerous bugs that disrupt the experience. While some find the core gameplay engaging and immersive, others describe it as repetitive and plagued by technical issues, leading to a generally mixed reception. Overall, the game shows promise but requires significant improvements to its mechanics and stability to fully realize its potential.
“This game has a unique gameplay aspect to it which has a lot of potential.”
“The gameplay is fantastic and very realistic.”
“Great concept, interesting gameplay, a lot of decisions to make, and campaign based on the interesting mix of fixed and random missions.”
“The gameplay is very repetitive and there are game-breaking bugs.”
“Apart from the major bugs, there are other gameplay-destroying bugs too, like when you go from pause to normal time, it sometimes just fast forwards to the future with mission completed or failed before you even have time to sneeze.”
“The developers outright ignore the requests of the player base for information and keep pushing for 'new' elements of gameplay over bug fixes that crash and stall ongoing games.”
- stability126 mentions
- 5 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 95 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a significant concern, with numerous players reporting persistent glitches, bugs, and freezing issues that hinder gameplay and mission progression. Despite some improvements in AI and UI, many users feel the game remains in an unpolished state, often likening it to early access. Overall, while the game has potential, its current stability issues make it difficult to recommend, especially at its price point.
“Definitely needs lots of work, so do not buy this if you are wanting a complete game, bug-free.”
“If you want a bug-free game, I am sorry, but this game should be launched as early access; in this case, it's not worth it.”
“Great concept, and if it wasn't buggy, I'd be playing it all the time.”
“4 years later and still clunky and buggy.”
“The game is fun, but the amount of glitches and bugs at this time is almost unbearable.”
“I'm annoyed because the game still feels like it's early access and is buggy as hell.”
- graphics38 mentions
- 37 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally well-received, with many users noting that they are good for the format and even excellent in some aspects, particularly in terms of realism and detail. However, there are significant optimization issues, leading to performance problems such as lag and high GPU usage, which detracts from the overall experience. While the visuals are appreciated, players express frustration over the game's performance and lack of updates from the developers.
“Love the graphics, especially FLIR modes.”
“Pros: great graphics, love the idea of controlling areas of the map with FOBs trying to win the hearts and minds of civilians while patrolling certain routes.”
“The good: graphics are good, and the game design is pretty solid.”
“The game runs actually worse than it did before and I had to drop all my graphics settings.”
“It is not optimized to the extent that it should be; sometimes my graphics card bumps up to 80% when this game should be using more CPU than the graphics card.”
“Some optimization issues including long loading times for some drone feeds and medium graphics quality (while still being quite acceptable for an indie game!).”
- optimization34 mentions
- 9 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 35 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with users reporting poor performance even on high-end hardware, frequent bugs, and a clunky user interface. Many players noted that the game struggles with high CPU usage and long loading times, which detracts from the overall experience. While some minor bugs do not ruin the game, the overall lack of optimization remains a major concern for players.
“This game is a true real-time strategy game where you have to make hard choices about what units you will commit to what action and then accept their performance.”
“There are a lot of minor bugs and performance issues in the game, but they don't ruin it.”
“I so far enjoy the game, though it does feel rather unoptimized. As a game that is in full release, I feel like there are performance issues and areas that could use some TLC. I do look forward to the future development and where it goes.”
“My main issue is that the game is horribly optimized.”
“Game is very poorly optimized and several features do not work properly.”
“It uses a colossal amount of CPU usage and it's not hard to see why, but a solution has to be found and that needs to be what they work on. The optimization is terrible, however, no other way to put it.”
- grinding14 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be overly tedious, characterized by repetitive missions that involve patrolling sectors and waiting for ambushes, which can lead to frustration due to bugs and poor AI performance. The lack of clear endgame directives and clunky controls further exacerbate the grind, raising concerns about long-term engagement and enjoyment. Overall, while the game has potential, its current execution makes the grinding experience feel monotonous and frustrating.
“Becomes very tedious and rinse and repeat same scenarios over and over again with no clear concise end game directives.”
“The only interesting thing you can do is incredibly tedious.”
“Third attempt, still found elements not working and there is no apparent way to skip tedious intro phases to get back up to speed with the gameplay.”
- monetization10 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of "White Sands" has been heavily criticized by users, who describe it as a cash grab and an asset flip of previous projects. Many feel that the developers have failed to deliver meaningful updates or improvements, leading to a perception of neglect and empty promises regarding the game's development. Overall, players advise against purchasing the game, viewing it as an unfinished product primarily aimed at generating revenue rather than providing a quality experience.
“In addition to all of this, the developer decided to just create another cash grab that is 'White Sands' and is the same story all over again: no updates, no patches, empty promises.”
“The basis of this game is great; however, the developer is just cash grabbing.”
“Ah well, the devs are getting all this funding from their game and have previously claimed that they are looking to get back into it (almost 2 years ago now). It only feels to me more and more like they aren't even bothering about this game anymore, which seems like a bit of a cash grab at the least.”
- replayability8 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
Overall, the game shows potential for replayability but currently suffers from significant bugs and a lack of content, which detracts from the experience. While some players appreciate the nostalgic elements, many feel the high price does not justify the limited replay value. Users recommend waiting for future updates to improve gameplay before investing.
“All that being said, it has some real potential. If they can fix the bugs and liven up the gameplay to make it more replayable, this could be a real gem of a game.”
“The game has a very good concept and can provide some stimulation while you decide how to tackle the many threats Afghanistan throws at you, but the game lacks features and replay value.”
“The price for it is a little high for so little content and replayability; but since it does give someone like me a nostalgic kind of experience, I'll be giving it a thumbs up.”
“All that being said, it has some real potential; if they can fix the bugs and liven up the gameplay to make it more replayable, this could be a real gem of a game.”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its immersive setting and realistic audio, effectively conveying a sense of being in Afghanistan. While the concept is intriguing, some players feel that the game mechanics require improvement to fully complement the strong atmospheric elements.
“Great atmosphere and setting.”
“Fantastic audio, great atmosphere, all around solid idea.”
“The concept is interesting, and the atmosphere of the game really does give the feeling like you're in Afghanistan (and this is coming from someone who has actually been there).”
- music6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game is praised for its immersive quality, featuring a unique blend of real-life mission audio, military brevity codes, and a varied soundtrack that enhances the overall realism and emotional impact of the gameplay. This combination of elements contributes to a deeply engaging experience, making players feel connected to the game's military themes and the consequences of war.
“I think it is very unique to use drone feeds, together with realistic missions, real combat radio sounds, and music makes the game feel real.”
“Incredibly immersive soundtrack featuring real-life mission audio and military brevity (code words and vocabulary)!”
“A more varied mission audio soundtrack enhances the overall experience and immersion in the game.”
“The music in the game lacks variety and fails to enhance the overall experience.”
“The soundtrack feels repetitive and does not match the intensity of the gameplay.”
“There is a noticeable absence of engaging music, which detracts from the immersion.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find humor in the game's battle mechanics, particularly when infantry squads dismount from tactical vehicles to engage in foot combat, creating amusing and unexpected scenarios during gameplay.
“One of the funniest parts of the battle is when you send an infantry squad in a tactical vehicle; they will dismount and attack the village on foot.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The reviews indicate a lack of emotional attachment to the game, suggesting that it does not evoke strong feelings or connections for the players.
