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.
Reviews
- The game has a unique concept that allows players to manage military operations from a drone perspective, providing a fresh take on strategy games.
- The graphics and atmosphere are immersive, enhancing the overall experience of commanding troops in a military setting.
- The developers are actively engaging with the community and working on updates, showing commitment to improving the game.
- The game is plagued with bugs and glitches, including issues with units getting stuck, air support not arriving, and crashes during gameplay.
- The AI behavior is often unrealistic, with troops failing to take cover or engage effectively in combat, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.
- The user interface is clunky and confusing, making it difficult to manage troops and resources efficiently.
- story239 mentions
- 5 % positive mentions
- 92 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The game's story is centered around military strategy and operations, with players managing missions that range from combat to humanitarian efforts. However, many players report significant issues with mission execution, including bugs that prevent mission completion, a lack of variety in mission types, and an overwhelming number of simultaneous missions that hinder strategic planning. While the concept is intriguing, the execution is marred by technical glitches and a clunky user interface, leading to frustration and a diminished overall experience.
“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.”
“There are multiple different missions/events to do in this game so far from doing recon on possible suicide bombers in town to scouting for enemy camps to sending troops on patrols and hearts and minds missions and more.”
“The freedom of not being limited to a single mission at a time and the fact that you can make your own free decisions on a big map would make me describe this game as sort of an open world RTS hybrid which is something rather unique and I'm all for that.”
“The tutorial doesn't actually work; I waited nearly an hour for my units to complete the tutorial mission, even then they failed because they couldn't destroy the enemy units in buildings, which I had destroyed with F-16 runs.”
“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.”
“The missions themselves seem okay, but with a lack of control, it just takes the immersion right out of the game.”
- gameplay63 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has been met with mixed reviews, highlighting a blend of unique mechanics and significant issues. While players appreciate the strategic depth and potential for engaging gameplay, many express frustration over bugs, a lack of clear tutorials, and repetitive mechanics that detract from the overall experience. Despite these challenges, there is optimism for future improvements and expansions that could enhance the game's core concepts.
“This game has a unique gameplay aspect to it which has a lot of potential.”
“The mechanics of the game make it immersive too.”
“Great concept, interesting gameplay, a lot of decisions to make, and a campaign based on the interesting mix of fixed and random missions.”
“The gameplay is very repetitive and there are game-breaking bugs.”
“Putting aside how clunky and poorly thought out the mechanics are, credit where credit is due for the concept.”
“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.”
- stability63 mentions
- 5 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 95 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a significant concern, with numerous players reporting persistent glitches and bugs that hinder gameplay, such as mission failures, freezing issues, and unresponsive units. 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 for players to fully enjoy the experience.
“Great concept, but if it weren't buggy, I'd be playing it all the time.”
“If you want a bug-free game, I apologize, but this game should be launched as early access; in this case, it's not worth it.”
“Definitely needs a lot of work, so do not buy this if you are looking for a complete, bug-free game.”
“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 honestly want to enjoy this game, but it is extremely buggy and that just sucks all the joy out of the experience.”
- graphics19 mentions
- 37 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally considered good, especially for an indie title, with some users praising the photorealistic elements and attention to detail in character design. However, there are notable optimization issues, leading to performance problems such as lag and high GPU usage, which detracts from the overall experience. While some players appreciate the visual quality, others express frustration over the game's performance and lack of updates from the developers.
“The actual gameplay graphics are fine, though.”
“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 game runs worse than it did before, and I had to drop all my graphics settings.”
“It's 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.”
“There are some optimization issues, including long loading times for some drone feeds and medium graphics quality, while still being quite acceptable for an indie game!”
- optimization17 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 35 % negative mentions
Overall, 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 CPU usage and long loading times, detracting from the overall experience. While some minor issues do not ruin the game, the consensus is that substantial improvements are needed to enhance performance and stability.
“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.”
“The only downside is because it is keeping track of so many operations and units in real time, all the time...it is very poorly optimized at the moment and that's what caps the amount of enjoyment I can get from this game.”
- grinding7 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 lack clear objectives and often require players to endure frustrating bugs and clunky controls. The gameplay involves a cycle of patrolling, ambushing, and airstriking, which can become monotonous and detracts from overall enjoyment, especially with the absence of meaningful updates from the developers.
“The terrorist hunting part is simplified to 'go sector by sector, until you can find the terrorist leader in the sector and then air strike him to oblivion', but all that does is just make the game very grindy - set up missions to patrol the region, wait until you are ambushed, air strike the ambushers, and repeat until security is at 100%, and then sometimes randomly you will get the opportunity to kill the local leader.”
“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.”
- monetization5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of "White Sands" has been heavily criticized by users, who describe it as a cash grab with minimal updates and a lack of genuine development effort. Many feel that the game is simply a rehashed version of previous titles, leading to disappointment and frustration over the perceived exploitation of players for financial gain. Overall, the sentiment suggests that the developers prioritize profit over quality and player 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, with no updates, no patches, and 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.”
- replayability4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is currently limited due to bugs and a lack of content, which detracts from its potential. While some players appreciate the nostalgic experience, many feel the high price does not justify the minimal replay value. Improvements in gameplay and features are needed to enhance its replayability.
“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.”
- atmosphere3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive setting and high-quality audio, effectively conveying a sense of place, particularly in its depiction of Afghanistan. However, while the concept is intriguing, some reviewers feel that the game mechanics detract from the overall experience.
“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), but the game mechanics need a lot of love.”
- music3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The music in the game is praised for its unique and immersive qualities, incorporating real-life mission audio and military brevity codes that enhance the overall realism. Reviewers highlight the soundtrack's ability to create an engaging atmosphere, complementing the game's focus on authentic combat experiences and the emotional weight of warfare.
“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, contributing to the game's realism and immersion.”
“The music in the game feels repetitive and lacks variety, making it hard to stay engaged during long missions.”
“I found the soundtrack to be uninspired and not fitting for the intense moments of gameplay.”
“The audio design is disappointing; the music doesn't enhance the atmosphere and often feels out of place.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by amusing scenarios, such as infantry squads dismounting from tactical vehicles to engage in foot combat, adding a lighthearted touch to battle dynamics.
“One of the funniest parts of the battle is when you send an infantry squad in a tactical vehicle; they dismount and attack the village on foot.”
“The humor in the game really shines through in the unexpected interactions between characters and the absurd situations they find themselves in.”
“I love how the game uses witty dialogue and hilarious scenarios to keep the mood light, even during intense moments.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is perceived as lacking, with some users expressing no emotional attachment or connection to the experience.
