Warside

About

Welcome to Warside, the fast-paced turn-based tactics game. With a single-player story campaign, multiplayer support, and a built-in map editor, the fight for victory never ends. Choose your Commander, assemble your forces, and battle your way to victory.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

63%

Audience ScoreBased on 364 reviews

story22 positive mentions

music10 negative mentions

The game features beautiful pixel art and engaging gameplay that captures the essence of classic turn-based strategy games like Advance Wars.
The unique unit mechanics, such as the Rhino Tank's ability to push enemies into obstacles, add a refreshing twist to the gameplay.
The developers are responsive to feedback and have already patched several critical issues since launch, showing commitment to improving the game.

The game launched with significant bugs, including a broken economy system that prevented players from earning income, and many promised features were missing.
The AI is poorly designed, often making predictable and illogical decisions, which diminishes the challenge and strategic depth of the game.
The campaign feels incomplete, with an abrupt ending and a lack of meaningful story development, leaving players unsatisfied.

story
168 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
83%
4%
The game's story has been widely criticized for its abrupt ending and lack of depth, with many players describing it as simplistic and incoherent. Despite claims of a lengthy campaign, players report that it concludes prematurely, leaving them without closure or a satisfying narrative experience. Overall, the character writing and dialogue are seen as generic, detracting from the potential for a more engaging storyline.
- “Whether you're surviving story-driven missions or clashing minds online, Warside rewards sharp tactics and punishes hesitation.”
- “The only single-player content available is via a campaign that functions as a very long tutorial, but the story for said campaign is much more polished than when I played it in the demo.”
- “The story is serviceable at best—a classic good vs. evil showdown told through brief snippets before and after each mission.”
- “The abrupt ending of the campaign mode storyline makes this game feel like a half-baked product, lacking animations and special settlement pages; the campaign just ends abruptly.”
- “The plot of the campaign is often totally incoherent, with references to unique unit types that never appear and powers that the AI never uses.”
- “Writing and storytelling lacks any charm; it feels like it's written by AI, but I actually think AI would do a better job at writing.”
gameplay
110 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
59%
3%
The gameplay is generally enjoyable and reminiscent of classic turn-based tactics games like Advance Wars, featuring solid mechanics and beautiful pixel art. However, many players note a lack of polish, with missing functionalities, bugs, and a clunky UI detracting from the overall experience. While the core gameplay is fun and addictive, it suffers from balance issues and some controversial design choices, particularly regarding city capture mechanics, leaving players hoping for future updates to enhance the game.
- “The pixel art is beautiful, and it's clear that attention to detail was paid to the visual art at every turn--muzzle brakes flash when rounds pass through them, lights on the side of rocket-launchers flicker right before the salvos are fired, machine guns are prepared before being fired--and overall the rock-paper-scissors mechanic works pretty well in this format.”
- “The gameplay is addictive.”
- “When the game works (as it did for me), it's a fun evolution of the Advance Wars formula with some interesting new ideas, mechanics, and units.”
- “The gameplay is just not ready / fleshed out.”
- “The very core of the gameplay is there (because it was all taken from Advance Wars) but everything is completely and totally lacking polish.”
- “There are no counterplay systems, no momentum shifts, no clever mechanics.”
music
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
62%
21%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it unmemorable and repetitive, often likening it to background noise or elevator music. The use of licensed tracks has also raised concerns, particularly regarding copyright issues for streamers, as the communication about a streamer mode was unclear. While some players appreciated certain themes, overall, the soundtrack is seen as lacking engagement and not fitting the game's style.
- “The music in the game is also pretty good and reminds me of early 90s video games.”
- “[*] music's pretty good.”
- “Would like to see better, maybe more appropriate songs added in later on.”
- “The soundtrack is plain/safe, the gameplay is just not ready / fleshed out.”
- “The music is not very memorable, just fairly short loops for each character and their themes become very repetitive very quickly.”
- “I've also been made aware the game uses licensed music, there is a streamer mode in the settings to turn it off, but this hasn't been communicated clearly and content creators have already been struck by the game's use of music, this does happen but is even more embarrassing when, sorry, the music actually isn't that good to begin with.”
graphics
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
50%
10%
The graphics of the game are characterized by a charming retro pixel art style that appeals to fans of classic tactical games like Advance Wars and Final Fantasy Tactics. While the visuals are generally praised for their clean and readable design, some users noted issues with character portraits and a lack of initial presentation. Overall, the game's aesthetic captures the spirit of its inspirations, offering enjoyable animations and a fun visual experience, despite some minor shortcomings.
- “Love the animation and graphics for this game; gameplay reminds me of Final Fantasy Tactics.”
- “The combat system and beautiful pixel graphics make it so fun to play, and the fast pace of the battles keeps it from taking too long for a battle.”
- “Warside has great potential and offers a lot of fun, especially for fans of the Advance Wars-style animation and graphics — a clear inspiration that's sure to appeal to strategy lovers.”
- “Visuals and character designs are nothing to write home about.”
- “It's the first impression and thing you see when you open the game; there's no intro, no animation, no cool artwork (there is, but it's hidden by the giant useless square menu).”
- “Wargroove and Wargroove 2 both cost less and those are complete games, although they lack the modern combat aesthetic.”
stability
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has been criticized for its significant stability issues, with numerous bugs and glitches affecting gameplay, particularly in the campaign. Many players report game-breaking errors and unfinished features, alongside localization mistakes that detract from the overall experience. While some aspects of the game are enjoyable, the overall stability at launch is considered poor, indicating a need for substantial updates and fixes.
- “The game is suffering from some major teething pains at the moment, with multiple game-breaking glitches present at launch.”
- “Played through to the end but it's buggy and unfinished.”
- “The combat has a lot of innovations over the Advance Wars series that I really like, but it's mired in glitches and missing features.”
replayability
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
50%
33%
The game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players find it stylish and endlessly engaging for strategy enthusiasts, others criticize its lack of multiplayer options and community features that could enhance replay value. Suggestions for improvement include adding online challenges and user-generated maps to increase longevity. Overall, the potential for replayability exists, but current limitations leave some players disappointed.
- “It’s tactical warfare with teeth—stylish, smart, and endlessly replayable for anyone who loves their strategy served with a shot of adrenaline.”
- “No replayability.”
- “If players could challenge each other online or through local multiplayer, it would bring a whole new level of replayability.”
- “Adding this would really improve the replayability, especially with community maps.”
humor
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by frequent quips and a lighthearted tone, intentionally prioritizing fun over serious narrative elements or character development. Players find the comedic moments, including localization errors and absurd mission objectives, to be a highlight, contributing to the game's overall silly atmosphere. The humor is likened to a blend of playful absurdity and visual charm, making it enjoyable despite its lack of depth.
- “Every other line is a funny quip; there's absolutely no world-building or character growth going on here. It feels very much like that's the intention: a silly game with no stakes, just here for the fun.”
- “One of the earlier missions has a hilariously broken win goal; you need to save a bunch of scientists by walking them to the exit zone, and doing this will spawn the next wave of scientists and a bunch of enemy units.”
- “The French localization has some pretty funny mistakes (no, 'réservoir' doesn't mean 'tank' in this context, and 'poussette' definitely doesn't mean 'buggy', even in the U.K. sense) that I see getting fixed a few at a time.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game lacks optimization for the Steam Deck, with users expressing a desire for improvements in this area. Additionally, there are no accessibility options for key rebinding or screen shake, which may be significant drawbacks for some players.
- “I would love to see it optimized for the Steam Deck.”
- “There are no accessibility options for key rebinding or screen shake if those are deal breakers, and it doesn't seem very optimized for Steam Deck.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The reviews indicate that the character development in the game is lacking, with visuals and character designs failing to impress or stand out. Overall, players feel that the characters do not offer a memorable or engaging experience.
- “The visuals and character designs are nothing to write home about.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy of the game is widely criticized as a cash grab, with many users expressing frustration over its exploitative nature, while a minority attempt to defend it.
- “This was another cash grab attempt, and unfortunately there will always be jaded consumers trying to defend this.”