Steel Division: Normandy 44 (PC) - Reviews

(3.7)

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27.5.2017

There are two types of RTS; the base building, resource gathering ones where the winner is the one who can afford the required end-of-game rush quickest (command and conquer et al) and the rock-paper-scissors kind, where you have to use the right units at the right time.This is a rock-paper-scissors kind of thing, very much like the other Eugen games (RUSE and the Wargame series), Total War, and the Men of War series.So what’s the difference in real terms? Well, if you like your games fast moving, its probably the rush games you should go for, but if you like a bit more strategy, no resource gathering, and a more slowly evolving game, then its something like Steel Divisions or the Total War series.In steel Divisions,you have to field units in groups where the skills overlap (so there are no rock-paper-scissors chinks), but can also mean you move slowly up the map, because one weak but well positioned infantry unit can take out unsupported King Tigers. As we have seen in real life recently, even advanced but unsupported MBTs can be taken out if they stray into urban areas with lots of hiding places!In fact, the game goes out of its way to avoid rushes and promote a more realistic build up and order of engagement….There are three phases to any game, and each phase allows heavier units to enter the game. This makes sense; the first phase is about recon, infantry, fast tanks and AT cannons, and you get the slower (but usually more powerful) units at the end. Doesn’t mean there is a big rush at the end though, because those early, lighter units will now be well placed in strategic choke-points or ready to strike at range! A lot like the RUSE ‘Total War’ mode (where you could pick units from later in the war as a game went on) but Steel Divisions actually makes a lot more sense; units appear for deployment in the order you would expect them to in an increasingly bloody engagement.Gameplay is good, with a very believable flow to it; slow but suspenseful sections where its all about deployment, recon and manoeuvre, then contact and a building skirmish, or sudden retreat from one side (things don't just blow up; units will retreat so you often have to give chase to actually destroy them, mindful that it might be a feint to pull your units out of cover)… then back to recon. Thats not to say there are no big battles; there are also strategic choke points to ensure just the right amount of total mayhem.Special note on the campaign missions where you can't lose almost all your units to win the battle; some units are carried over for both yourself and the enemy so you actively have to seek out and destroy strategically important enemy assets. For example, there is a Pegasus bridge mission that is very hard or a cakewalk depending on how many tanks break out from the D-Day landing in the previous mission.Its not really about set pieces though, and more about strategy and build up. In fact, the front-line is shown visually as moving graphic overlay, and it has real strategic implications (it can affect local unit morale considerably). Also, the 'resource unit' of Steel Division is 'territory held' rather than build resources, which is a brilliant game mechanic because territory is simply more realistic and avoids 'gamey strategies' like rushing or camping. Winning involves moving the entire front-line forward via a series of (more true to life) pushes, ambushes, feints and chokes so you cannot win by simply going turtle and waiting for a stupid AI to rush.Which brings us nicely to the AI. The AI is also very good. I have not seen any way to game it yet in the same way I can with other strategy game AI's. Unlike the Total War AI, which doesn't seem to understand the power of combined forces, the Steel forces AI will hit you with well interlocked forces; tanks with infantry, or a ranged cannon with spotters to direct fire. Any rush will have back-up, and even a failed AI rush does not mean you succeed, because you have to give chase and hunt the retreating units! Even on easy and medium, the AI is a challenge (I was playing skirmish mode at medium for several games before I got a win, and I have played all the Eugen Wargame and Creative Assembly Total War games before!), and can be made to play significantly differently from game to game.Some have complained about the unit balance, but I think its a non problem. In Steel Divions, you should expect to lose simply because you have not chosen the right unit types or not committed to your main force’s make-up until you know what you are up against. Further, a good AA doesn't mean you will shoot down enemy planes (its a deterrent, not an offensive capability - you usually have to have fighters in the air to make consistent air kills) and a line of hidden anti-tank doesn't guarantee you will get lots of tank kills (you only cripple them, and often have to chase the retreating armour down to prevent regroup). Strategy and associated push-feints rather than unit types is the thing in this game!Graphically, the game when maxed out is good when looking at the terrain but disappointingly, not that different from Wargame for units when you get close up. If you want better buildings and unit detail whilst keeping terrain looking decent, uncheck 'grass'; that one setting is the decider between 'spend performance on units' and 'spend it on nice terrain'. (NB - yeah, there are GPUs that can give you both, but I'm on a rather old GTX 770 for at least a few more months!).Also, don’t rely on video auto-detect; on my 4k screen, it picked UHD rather than more detail, and that made the game look a bit flat. Go for better textures and effects and a FullHD or WQHD resolution to pretty it all up if you don't have GPU power to spare). For performance and looks, go to 1080p and you get a very pretty and very fast game (that seems to be the sweet spot for my 770, although my 4k screen is wasted - but thats really for Photoshop and DaVinci Resolve).Downsides?Some of the voice acting feels like I’ve heard it before in other Eugen games (they seem to like the perennial ‘Someone call a Taxi?’ for troop carriers!). and the unit/character UI images seem to be a lower resolution than they should be.Although navel battles have already been done in Wargame Red Dragon, Eugen seems to have left them out of this game. Expect to pay again later for this; I'm guessing the Pacific theatre. Lets hope they come up with something that allows aircraft to take off from their own in-game carriers this time rather than just appearing at the edge of the map.Perhaps too slow for some RTS gamers, and perhaps even a little too towards Russian style games (hard as hell, you have to fight strategically because the enemy always has better units, etc) rather than More Western (Company of Heroes) style games, where you can win just by persisting or rushing. Unlike some of the Russian games though, you get well designed UI, so you are fighting against enemy strategy rather than poor interfaces (mentioning no names!).I've seen enemy tanks line up to cross a gap in a hedgerow literally one after another, right into my waiting hidden anti-tank gun. To be fair, this is the only immersion breaking mistake I've seen in an otherwise believable enemy AI.To conclude, a very nice strategy game (and actually one of the best), but one that takes time to master; you will fail a lot in this game, because there is no Company of Heroes ‘work out the weakness in the enemy base and you win’ style maps; the enemy is always strategic and always frustrating you, so you have to move units together in the right formations to give defence in depth, provide proper recon coverage, plan your breakouts, and employ proper flanking whilst denying enemy recon, and know that units do not just die when they fail - you have to chase them down.Just fielding fire power will not do it!I absolutely love it. The closest thing to Steel Divisions is probably the Total War games, but there you always seem to be fighting ‘the same general in different time—zones’. The vanilla AI has been the same in every game for years, and that has finally become far too samey to ignore any longer. In Steel Divisions, the strategy is far more in-depth than just rock-paper-scissors once you play it a few times, and the battle is a lot more fluid. You feel you are fighting lots of different units backed by a real command structure rather than a single AI, which makes it far more interesting.A strategy game for those of us who have weaned ourselves from console game ports competing series where the only real changes are cosmetic period piece re-skins. This is for those who want a real and fresh strategy challenge.EDIT Oct 2017: I have now got a better video card than the GTX770; I now use a GTX1080 with both a 4k Dell screen (configured in Windows 10 as primary) and a 1080p 144Hz HP screen (secondary). All working much better, and I can go ultra at 1440p or a notch down from ultra to get good frame rates at 4k, or go for ultra at 1080p with 144Hz (which is probably better for twitch shooters). Only slight issue is that the GTX1080 really warms up at the higher loads; 82degC, which is pretty much the highest it gets in ANY game (usually 60-70degC).I also now have a gaming laptop (GTX1060, 1080p screen), and that also gives me good frame rates at ultra, but I take it down a notch to prevent the high fan whine.This is a game that really seems to heat up your graphics card as the game throws a lot of detail onto the screen!