Many RTS games feel very targeted to a multiplayer audience in their focus. The Usonia campaign is an incredible highlight of Operation Eagle, With its ability to bring a compelling story as well as function as a tutorial for the Usonia faction. The story is told over the course of several missions that run on average for 20 to 30 minutes depending on your skill level. But this is because the performances feel so natural that it was so easy to fall into the world of Iron Harvest as this believable part of history. I do not mean to sound diminishing, but there was not a standout performance from a particular character or unit. This carried by some incredible voice acting performances from a wide cast of characters. It is a minor detail but it made me feel more attached to my troops and humanized these small digital units, which is an interesting feeling in an RTS game. What’s impressive is Iron Harvest‘s ability to make you feel attached to your units, in between missions and objectives your hero will banter with the units under his command. However, with Usonia’s hero William Mason at the helm, the campaign threads a great narrative story, while also teaching you a variety of tactics. In many games, especially RTS games, tutorials feel very guided and forced, ultimately making them boring and forgettable. It acts as a good introduction for both new players as well as veterans. Luckily enough, the new single-player campaign was a great place to start. With over 20 new units at my disposal, I quickly got to work figuring out the overall playstyle that Usonia favored. Usonia is an American faction that joins the already established factions of Rusviet, Polania, and Saxony. This means players can continue to choose whichever faction that they prefer to play, versus picking the most powerful faction. However, King Art Games did a fantastic job of creating a bridge between the new Usonia faction as well as the original factions. As someone who plays a lot of MOBA’s a new “OP” character can absolutely ruin the experience for many players. In many games, when they try to introduce a new mechanic, character, or faction, developers spend a few updates trying to balance the experience. One particularly impressive aspect of Operation Eagle was how incredibly balanced the new faction was as well as how the air combat simply felt like the next natural step. Previous factions have been updated with their own airships as well as anti-air-focused defenses that will help you protect your troops from being wiped from the battlefield. While the new faction of Usonia brings the heat with a variety of different airships. While players had to deal with elevation-based ambushes before, aerial units add a whole new level that players can take advantage of. These changes are very friendly for newcomers, though more seasoned players will have to spend some time retooling their strategies. However, after a few matches, I quickly adapted to the new verticality of the combat and was using a combination of mechs and airships to punch through enemy lines. To say this brings a massive change to how players will play Iron Harvest is an understatement, I found myself overwhelmed at first with the changes. These new machines add a whole new layer of combat to Iron Harvest, as players will have to think about infantry, mech, and air superiority to dominate their opponents. From massive cannons to flamethrowers that leave a path of destruction beneath them. With the introduction of the new American faction, Usonia, players will now be able to control incredible airships with a variety of unique abilities. What made the base experience of Iron Harvest so incredible, was its fast-paced mech combat. But how does all this new content measure up to the base game, and is it worth your steel and oil? Taking to The Sky Alongside these changes, players will be able to experience a brand new single-player campaign following the new faction Usonia. It makes players change and adapt to a whole different style of combat. Operation Eagle takes the battle to the sky and throws the game’s rule book out the window. While the base game of Iron Harvest focused heavily on mech and infantry battles based on the ground. This new expansion brings the new faction of Usonia to the battlefield, and they also bring with them giant mechanized airships. During this past week, the first stand-alone expansion, Operation Eagle has officially launched. Iron Harvest is the dieselpunk RTS by developer King Art Games that launched back in the Fall of 2020 to great reviews.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |