Forged Battalion (PC) Preview

Comparisons to big names in the genre are going to be unavoidable. It is very similar to older Command and Conquer releases, or maybe even Total Annihilation for those that have been around for a long time. Essentially, the player starts with a small base that they build up resource gathers, expand their buildings, crank out units, and kill the enemy.

Here is one difference, though: the units are those that the player has personally design. After each map, they are awarded points they can spend on various things, like a new laser cannon, or new armour. Then designs for each of the base units (infantry, light vehicle, tank, air) are done to range everything from machine guns to heavy cannons or lasers. This is selected on a 'tech tree' upgrade path that is unlocked as the game goes on.

The game itself plays out incredibly fast; units can be made in seconds, and even the big tanks only take around 20 seconds to make. This leads to strange situations where armies can literally be built in a base while it is being attacked.

The graphics are a little weak. While it would be easy to tear it apart for looking more '90s than anything, the real issues are that it is hard to figure out the difference between various units that have a big impact on fights, whether you are trying to target one unit compared to another with a deadly weapon on it.

The difficulty is incredibly high, and this is not said lightly by a veteran of RTS titles. Even playing on normal, the early levels are overwhelming, with multiple attacks on flanks, rapid computer expansion, and unrelenting pressure that feels more akin to playing 'insane' computers back in StarCraft.

A problem with the way Forged Battalion works is the tide can swing very hard one way or another, especially if the right or wrong units are chosen. The pacing is a bit too fast for how much information is needed to be processed. Being attacked from multiple areas, it is like 'okay, tanks on the right, are those flamethrower tanks, or wait are they laser tanks…no I think they are artillery tanks' and a wrong choice can spell serious disaster. Likewise, having the wrong units created can lead to the same problem.