Buried in Backlog
Buried in Backlog
Broken Arrow is the latest real-time strategy game set in the modern day. The story for this game is the classic, yet highly plausible, scenario of Russia versus NATO that unfolds in the Baltic States. You can play on either side and experience the entire campaign. Each mission typically lasts around an hour. The story itself isn’t all that engaging, but that isn’t why you’ll play the game.
Image Source: Steam Store page
The gameplay itself is fantastic, and your decisions about where to place units and positions to hold do matter. Units have real-world weapons and tech with enough variety to keep you on your toes. Infantry plays a significant role in Broken Arrow as they can specialize in many areas, from CQC, Anti-air, Anti-tank, or Anti-infantry equipment like grenade launchers, HMGs, and recon. Infantry can inflict significant damage on armored vehicles and halt a convoy from deploying troops at the point of contact. The game also has a wide variety of Air, Armor, Artillery, and even Helicopters. You can set up for long-range engagements or shell the enemy position before making an assault.
Deck Building is where the game adds a layer of choice. Both Russia and the US have five specialties with different strengths and weaknesses. You pick two of these and start building a deck. A deck is capped at 10,000 points, and capping each section of your deck based on the specialties you picked out. In the deck builder, you select the units you want and outfit them with the desired armament. For any section of the deck, you can go up to 10% over the cap, giving you an extra unit or those anti-radiation missiles you thought about grabbing.
Image Source: Steam Store page
The online 5v5 is where most people will be. You will be matched with other players of a similar ELO to yours. Your team can earn points in each phase by killing the enemy team and maintaining a majority control of the map. This will require your team to collaborate to complete the task.
While this all sounds great, we have some significant issues with the game. The Biggest one is the Skirmish AI being way too strong. In multiple skirmishes involving three humans against two medium AI, it was an extremely hard-fought battle. The AI can give all units orders simultaneously, putting the player at a significant disadvantage.
Image Source: Steam Store page
Some of our minor complaints. While both factions are relatively balanced in capabilities, we’ve found it much harder to be successful as Russia. Air, as a whole, feels underdeveloped, from fighter jets to air defense. It’s nearly impossible for either side to use jets, bombers, or drones once both sides have air defenses up. It’s extremely rare to pull out jets outside of the start of the game, because they are expensive and will be shot down 75% of the time.
Overall, the game is fantastic. The modern setting sets the game apart from other RTSs, which are usually set in the Cold War era. The game launched with a substantial amount of content, including a deck builder, two campaigns, and PVP and PVE co-op modes, featuring 19 playable maps. We’ve experienced no crashing, bugs, or visual issues. So we’re going to give the game a 3.5 out of 5.