Wargame: Airland Battle

About

"Wargame: AirLand Battle" is a real-time strategy game set in 1985, where players can command military resources from 12 nations and engage in large-scale battles with 750 available units. The game features a new graphics engine, dynamic campaign, and extensive multiplayer options for up to 20 players. It offers strategic depth with the addition of air forces and battles on huge battlefields.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

87%

Audience ScoreBased on 2,709 reviews

gameplay98 positive mentions

story10 negative mentions

The game features a vast array of units and nations, allowing for diverse strategies and tactics.
The graphics and attention to detail are impressive, providing an immersive experience.
The multiplayer mode offers intense and engaging battles, especially in large-scale matches.

The AI is often criticized for being overly difficult and cheating, making single-player frustrating.
The steep learning curve can be overwhelming for new players, with a lack of comprehensive tutorials.
The campaign mode is seen as lackluster and repetitive, with time limits that detract from the experience.

gameplay
242 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
57%
2%
The gameplay of this title is characterized by its depth and complexity, offering a steep learning curve that rewards players who invest time in mastering its mechanics. While the graphics and unit variety are praised, many users note the lack of comprehensive tutorials, making it challenging for newcomers to grasp the intricate systems. Overall, the gameplay is engaging and strategic, appealing to fans of realistic military simulations, though it can be frustrating due to its demanding micromanagement and balance issues.
- “Despite its age, the gameplay is good and the attention to detail and overall depth means it stands up well against more modern titles.”
- “The gameplay is really nice and the graphics are awesome.”
- “Very solid gameplay, looks beautiful, fun and challenging campaign, nice mechanics.”
- “The gameplay is poor.”
- “Wargame lacks a clear tutorial, and the 'unit deck' mechanic just makes this game impenetrable to beginners.”
- “The singleplayer levels are boring and there is almost no explanation whatsoever on how to at least understand gameplay mechanics and controls.”
graphics
206 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
66%
32%
2%
The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim for their stunning detail and vibrant presentation, often described as beautiful and impressive even on lower-end systems. Many users appreciate the high-quality visuals that enhance the tactical gameplay experience, although some have noted issues with brightness and graphical bugs. Overall, the game's graphics are considered a significant strength, contributing to its appeal as a modern real-time strategy title.
- “The graphics are beautiful, the maps are expansive, the units are diverse, and the models are unique and interesting.”
- “The graphics are stunning for such a strategic game and at first I'm reminded of Battlefield.”
- “Wargame manages to combine stunningly beautiful graphics with deep tactical gameplay.”
- “Can't get working in 2022, graphics are extremely overly bright; dropping the gamma to 0 doesn't work. Not suggested unless you want to research your way into fixing that in 4K!”
- “The graphics of the game, and the sound are not astonishing, but they are great.”
- “The graphics to me are a step back from the first European Escalation. The campaign is horrible, really not explaining to you what to do and how to do it.”
story
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
78%
13%
The story aspect of the game is widely criticized for its lack of depth and coherence, with many reviewers noting that the campaign feels more like a series of skirmishes than a narrative-driven experience. Players mention the absence of a cohesive storyline, minimal character development, and reliance on random snippets during missions, leading to a shallow and unsatisfying storytelling experience. Overall, the game is recommended primarily for its multiplayer features rather than its single-player campaign, which is seen as lacking in engaging content.
- “They were well-crafted, well-balanced, encapsulated all sides of the war, and they even had a nice background story tying the missions together.”
- “The single-player missions are like a true story of a modern war, as shown by TV news.”
- “A shame that compared to Warno, this one is pretty much dead. The campaign is a glorified skirmish game with almost no story at all, and because of that, I don't recommend it as it relies on multiplayer.”
- “Well, first of all, there is absolutely no story at all, apart from some snippets that pop up during the campaign map phase, and they are completely random.”
- “The campaign feels like a sandbox, as there is not a cohesive narrative in the operations, making for a lesser story experience compared to European Escalation.”
replayability
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
36%
12%
Overall, the game offers high replayability, particularly in its multiplayer mode, where players can engage in varied and dynamic battles. While single-player experiences may lack depth and variety, the inclusion of a dynamic campaign and a wide range of units enhances replay value significantly. Players appreciate the strategic complexity and the engaging nature of the multiplayer, making it a worthwhile investment for those seeking a game with lasting appeal.
- “The doubling of available units over European Escalation adds a nice variety and replayability to the campaign.”
- “Excellent game that makes a perfect match between replayability, balance, and fun.”
- “Dynamic campaign gives almost infinite replay value.”
- “Single-player has just about zero replayability, though.”
- “Its not an easy game to play, the learning curve is steep and while singleplayer will teach you the basics it has little replayability and is dull compared to the vibrant multiplayer.”
- “The replay value in this game is not in the single-player, but in the multiplayer portion, as you get to test your skills against others, and every battle is seemingly different.”
humor
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as a mix of hilarious mechanics and memorable experiences, with players finding both the gameplay and multiplayer interactions amusing. While some reviews highlight the game's potential for humor, others note a lack of comedic elements, suggesting that humor may not be the primary focus of the game. Overall, players appreciate the funny moments that arise during gameplay, even if the game doesn't fully capitalize on its comedic potential.
- “The 'decks' are a hilariously misplaced mechanic.”
- “It was hilarious when we took the reinforcement point allowing me and my teammates to call in heavy armor right behind enemy lines.”
- “Funny and challenging game!”
stability
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
54%
Overall, the stability of the game is mixed; while many users report smooth performance and minimal glitches, some highlight persistent bugs that remain unaddressed. A few players experienced rare freezing during loading, but overall, the game is well-optimized and runs effectively on various systems, including Linux.
- “Ps it runs great on Linux, which is huge for me because I refuse to run the crap-fest that is Windows under any circumstances, especially with Steam now supporting Wine essentially.”
- “It is also very well optimized and runs great.”
- “Playing on an iMac i7 with NVIDIA 750m, runs great!”
- “Buy the first one to see why everyone loves wargame or buy Red Dragon to get the latest and best; because in both EE and ALB, bugs or glitches haven't been fixed, even though they're known for a long time (Raketenjagdpanzers 2 model comes to mind, for a small, but in my opinion, telling example).”
- “It freezes.”
- “Terrible, has so many glitches.”
music
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
45%
27%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the soundtrack and sound effects, while others find it repetitive and lacking in epicness. Although the background music can be annoying during gameplay, it is noted that the overall audio design is well-executed, enhancing the game's aesthetics. Ultimately, while the music adds some value, it does not reach a standout level.
- “Mechanics-wise the age is starting to show a bit, but still the soundtrack, aesthetics, and pacing beats hands down.”
- “The sounds are also very well done, and the game has a nice soundtrack too.”
- “Made little cinematics with the replay bit, which looks great, and finding the right music is amazing.”
- “So forced to play in window mode... sound settings unable to change... so I got annoying music playing when I try to play a war game.”
- “Multiplayer is totally dead, background music is horrible.”
- “For me, the only drawback is the soundtrack and the scale: both could have been much more epic.”
optimization
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
18%
27%
Overall, the game's optimization receives mixed reviews. While some players praise its impressive graphics and smooth performance on various setups, others report significant issues, particularly on older hardware, leading to crashes and the need for upgraded components. Despite these concerns, many users find the auto-optimization feature effective, allowing for playable experiences even on less powerful systems.
- “It also features a beautiful graphical upgrade over European Escalation that is appealing and has no notable impact on performance.”
- “What I can say right now is that this game is optimized.”
- “The graphics of this game are not only impressive, but also very well optimized for such a huge game.”
- “Terrible game, zero support, not optimized for anything but the devs' own computer setup.”
- “Cons: had to buy a new video card to play it; my old GTX 9800 was fine in terms of performance but resulted in serious 'random' crashes in-game after 10 minutes.”
- “Has some optimization problems, especially with computers older than a year or two or lacking at least a $120 video card (lower cards of high tier tend to perform okay).”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews on the aspect of "grinding" highlight a mixed experience; while some players appreciate the strategic depth of managing large infantry forces and engaging in massive multiplayer battles without economic management, others find the single-player campaign tedious and unfun, criticizing it for being a series of skirmishes with a time limit and challenging AI. Overall, the game seems to cater to both those who enjoy grinding mechanics and those who find them frustrating.
- “Then they made the single player campaign in this one un-fun and tedious; it's just a series of skirmishes with a time limit and cheating AI.”
- “Apparently there are people who really enjoy this game, but I found it really tedious.”
- “I have been in farming; I know what to do, just can't get the wretched game to do it.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
150%
The emotional aspect of the game is polarizing, with some players finding the storyline boring while others experience strong feelings of anger and irritation, particularly in multiplayer modes. It is advised that those who are easily affected emotionally should approach the game with caution.
- “The emotional depth of the storyline feels lacking compared to the original game.”
- “I found the emotional moments to be predictable and uninspired.”
- “The characters' emotional arcs didn't resonate with me at all.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of battles is highly dynamic and engaging, as players can create unique experiences through diverse unit combinations tailored to their individual fighting styles. This variety enhances the overall immersion and excitement of each encounter.
- “The atmosphere of each battle is unique thanks to the large number of unit combinations (deck) that you can bring to the frontline to support your particular style of fighting.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate that users feel the monetization strategy lacks sufficient advertisement, suggesting that the game may not be effectively promoting its in-game purchases or features.