This Is The Warno Competitor We Needed!

Back in the 90s, when I thought of RTS games, Command & Conquer, Total Annihilation, Starcraft, and Warcraft were the games that came to mind. A lot has changed since then in the RTS genre, with more recent releases like World In Conflict, Wargame, and Warno. Gone are the days of base building and sending little pixel people to collect various ores and minerals. It’s much more streamlined now, focusing more on combat and tactical ability. Although the RTS titles of the 90s still hold a special place in my heart, this is a welcome change to me and to many people in the community. Modern RTS games being developed in 2023 look to be red hot, and many are slated to be released this year. One of these games has been on my radar for quite some time now, and it deserves to be in the spotlight.

Actual Gameplay Footage

Broken Arrow, developed by Slitherine Software, is looking to disturb the current RTS giants by bringing its own take on the modern RTS genre. They boast over 200 military units to choose from, from aircraft to ships to armored vehicles and infantry, which provides a lot of variety and the ability to deploy different tactics to every mission and scenario. Broken Arrow devs have also implemented a vast and extensive customization system. You can customize your aircraft by choosing weapons, fuel tanks, designation pods, counter-measure devices, and decoys. You can customize your armored division by changing out armor plating and adding various defensive systems. They’ve also added the ability to customize some of the infantry units to utilize things like explosives, suppressors, and thermal targeting capabilities. All these things combine to form a welcome addition to the genre and increase the replayability factor, which is huge in this type of game. Not everything will seem unfamiliar to you though…

There are a lot of similarities between this title and its major competitors. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but there seem to be more than a few features that are too close for comfort. The gameplay objectives are the same as we’re all used to: go to A, hold A, and then go to B, and hold B. The UI and overall presentation are very similar to Warno and other titles, as if they all sat at a table together, broke bread, and said this is IT! Many of you will read this saying, “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” and I understand that, but I would have liked to see something a little more streamlined and unique to Broken Arrow. They still have time to implement changes as they see fit, so we’ll have to follow development. Broken Arrow also gives off a World In Conflict sort of feel and atmosphere, although I’m not complaining about it.

Broken Arrow does many more things right and in its own way. Micromanaging isn’t a scary word anymore, as found in Modern RTS titles. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to worry about whether my rifleman has to use the bathroom. The attention to detail in the presentation and visual aspect of Broken Arrow will make this title stand apart from the pack. Aside from the vast customization, this game feels nice, polished, and pretty. Vehicle tracks can be seen on the landscape, and smoke effects and fire are some of the best in the past year in these games. The unit models are highly detailed, from the aircraft down to a single soldier. The landscape and water are fantastic, and everything seems very “full” in terms of utilizing the vast maps and populating them with dense forests, landmarks, outposts, and buildings. Speaking of buildings, they do an excellent job at making urban and rural areas look and feel as they should in real-life scenarios. It’s almost as if someone took a pre-made city in Cities XL (2009) or Cities Skylines (2015) and plopped it into the landscape. With Broken Arrow being produced in Unity, I’m looking forward to seeing if the devs open up their doors to the modding community to see what types of maps the community can produce.

Seeing your armored units fire shells into an apartment complex hiding enemy infantry, watching a cruise missile hit an artillery target from a destroyer offshore, sending in a Black Hawk helicopter to save a downed pilot from a previous dogfight in the skies, and watching would-be defenseless infantry running to cover in a dense forest from an open field never gets old. The ability to actually control your aircraft in dogfights makes a huge difference and was a feature not seen before in previous titles. If you’re looking for a different take on Modern RTS, then get your eyeballs laser-focused on Broken Arrow. Boots on, rifle loaded, flares out. I can’t wait to see what new content they provide us. Be sure to follow the development team for updates and release date info! https://www.slitherine.com/

All Images Posted From Official Youtube Gameplay Video and Steam Page