Iron Harvest Review: Real-Time Strategy with Feeling
"A fun real-time strategy game that is slowed down by a lack of polish and content."
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A heartfelt story
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Strong design ethos
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Plenty of mechanics
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Excellent destruction physics
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Steep difficulty curve
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Certain gameplay with no polish
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A small selection of content
Iron Harvest is a real-time strategy game set in an early 20th century European alternate story where the wildest creations of steampunk became a reality. While the game attracts you with its huge, lumbering mechs, it's the surprisingly personal story at the heart of the campaign that keeps you going along with an excellent visual design.
With a variety of ways to deal with the various conflicts, Iron Harvest is a fun RTS. Still, its steep learning curve could put new players off to strategy games, and its rather limited selection of content could turn RTS veterans away.
A heartfelt, if predictable, campaign
Real-time strategy games are about controlling multiple units at the same time in large conflicts. Therefore, the campaigns included in these games usually work at the macro level and deal with the bigger picture of the combat forces. Iron Harvest shows these conflicts, but at the heart of its story is Anna Kos, a young citizen of the fictional Eastern European nation of Polania. At a very young age, her brother leaves her village to fight in the First World War. What was intended as a short engagement spans years, and the wreckage of mechanical war machines eventually pollutes the country and creates the eponymous iron harvest. Anna and her favorite bear Wojtek are embroiled in the aftermath of the crisis, which, like the story of the real world, ignites the flames for a second, even more devastating conflict.
While the game attracts you with its huge, lumbering mechs, it's the surprisingly personal story at the heart of the campaign that keeps you going along with an excellent visual design.
It's an emotional story of loss, duty, and sacrifice that fits surprisingly well with some of the game's crazier elements, such as the weirdly vicious Lev Zubov, leader of the opposing Russian forces. While the beats of the story can sometimes be seen from a mile away, strong appearances by the main characters help sell the narrative. Unfortunately, part of the voice of supporting characters and NPCs is far weaker, which detracts from immersion a bit. That, and the stiff animations during the cutscenes, made me wish the developers had a slightly bigger budget to iron out some of the kinks and provide a more polished presentation.
Provided by Deep Silver
The graphics in the cutscenes leave a lot to be desired, But when the game pulls out the camera for gameplay, the world really comes together, and some of the missing detail is lost in the wider, well-executed level design. What makes the world funnier is how destructible it is. It's incredibly satisfying to attack enemies with a mech and watch it storm through a warehouse, leaving a pile of bricks behind.
The game's aesthetic is inspired by the Polish artist Jakub Rozalski and his collection of paintings from about 1920. Playing the game is like bringing one of Rozalski's works to life, which is a visual delight as variations of brown contrast with the bright orange of exploding missiles or the deep blue of the Polish rifle uniform.
The gameplay is deep but difficult to master
Provided by Deep Silver
Iron Harvest makes a point of taking cover and flanking the enemy, something few other games in the genre involve. Adding mechs to the fight that can wipe out that cover in seconds makes for an incredibly active RTS. There is always something to do and you will be constantly reacting to the turn of the battle. While in some strategy games you order orders, wait to see what the outcome is, and then mess up your armed forces, Iron Harvest offers no such respite, which makes it a refreshing entry into the genre.
It is incredibly satisfying to see real-time physics in action.
However, I often wish that my armed forces would respond with the speed necessary to carry out their duties. Sometimes I would click on a unit to offer an order and then watch as it took them a few moments to carry it out. When they finished, I needed something other than them. The enemy A.I. was also frustrating at times. I would have troops firing from behind cover at enemies who were only noticed in the open air and returned shots in vain. In some places they even took cover behind the same stone wall my troops were on, and I just had to wait and see which troop outlasted the other. Moments like this really spoiled my experience with generally decent gameplay.
The campaign is a slow introduction to game mechanics, and I highly recommend completing it before venturing into the standalone A.I. Battles – and certainly before you try to face another real strategist in multiplayer. Even so, the insane juggling of controlling the field of play, managing resources, maneuvering opponents, and building my army, even after getting familiar with the gameplay, was often overwhelming. Publisher Deep Silver offers a nearly 100-page guide that goes into the details of the various game mechanics. In order to face some of the more difficult encounters, it is necessary to understand all of them.
Provided by Deep Silver
A lack of content
In contrast to the wealth of mechanics, there is a poor choice of content. After I finished the story, I switched to the A.I. Conflicts and multiplayer offers and exclaimed audibly: "Is that all ?!" The game only has a handful of maps and mission types to choose from, which pale in comparison to many other RTS titles. Future content is planned for the game, but a fee will be charged.
After I finished the story, I switched to the A.I. Conflicts and multiplayer offers and exclaimed audibly: "Is that all ?!"
Those looking to explore the various game modes and forego the story will have a hard time familiarizing themselves with the many facets of Iron Harvest. It's easy to get annoyed at the difficulty, especially if a player is new to RTS titles. The difficulty can be in the A.I. Skirmishes and challenges on offer, but found the medium setting too easy and the difficult setting way too challenging. I was as dejected in the latter as I was in the former, and I wish the game was a middle ground between the two.
Our opinion
Iron Harvest is a solid real-time strategy game where the developer's passion for the genre flows into the story and design. However, there are some unfortunate missteps when it comes to the difficulty that will put off more casual RTS fans and a lack of content that might put seasoned players off.
Is there a better alternative?
The game is heavily inspired by Company of Heroes, which is a more polished game by comparison, but lacks some of the more exciting concepts like the steampunk mechs. Age of Empires II: The Definitive Edition is currently very popular with RTS players and offers one of the most extensive packages in the genre.
How long it will take?
The campaign lasts around 15 hours, but as mentioned earlier, there isn't much variety with the additional missions. Only players who want to test their skills with some of the higher difficulties will play for ten hours.
Should you buy it?
Finally. Wait for the game to add more content and tweak elements like the difficulty curve and unit responsiveness.
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