Everything in life seems to be circular. Classic fashions come back into style; remakes, sequels or reboots of classic TV shows and movies are often used to bring in nostalgic audiences, and World War II games come back more often than a ghoulish host of Nazi zombies. Battalion 1944 is no exception to this rule. Coming off of a Kickstarter campaign and on the heels of recent returns to the fray such as Call of Duty: World War II, developer Bulkhead Interactive and publisher Square Enix wish to recapture the fun and chaos of not only classic first-person shooters of the 1990s, but the World War II craze of the early to mid-2000s.
The first thing I can say in the game’s favor may also be a shot against it, depending on your tastes and point of view. Battalion 1944 plays exactly as you’d expect a World War II first person shooter to play. That’s a simple overview, and I will elaborate more below, but this may be either the reason a player may or may not like the game. Either you love it and want more of it, or perhaps you feel you have been there, seen it, played it. Either way, the game controls and feels fine, and if nothing else, is solidly built.
Battalion 1944 is not exactly a classic World War II shooter though. It feels a bit like a mixture of Counter-Strike, Call of Duty, and Day of Defeat. It definitely has the speed and quick scoping of Counter-Strike and much like the modern version, Global Offensive, it includes crates, skins and a competitive mode. The game has a major focus on 5 on 5 action, much like it as well, so teamwork and proper position becomes more important than just running around and blasting mindlessly. If you have ever wanted a fast-paced WWII shooter, this seems to be a great place to start.
The sound design is also very well done. The guns, screaming soldiers (in multiple languages), and explosions all sound on point, and I truly love the announcer sounding very Quake-esque. Both funny and nostalgic, it is a welcome design decision in an era when sometimes games may be taken too seriously for their own good. The graphics go along with this well – not exactly being cell-shaded, but definitely being more in the middle of the road rather than hyper realistic (again, more like the late 1990s/early 2000s era of gaming).
Overall, Battalion 1944 succeeds in what it sets out to do. Much like The Dirty Dozen, it reminds me of a ragtag group, in this case, of different types of World War II first person shooters all meshed together into one quick-paced, hot blooded package. If you enjoy any of the games above, the World War II setting, or just feel like a cheap, yet fun romp in the Eastern Front, give Battalion 1944 a look!
Gameplay – 7.5/10
Graphics – 8/10
Sound – 8/10
Story – N/A
Overall: 7.8
Check Out the Battalion 1944 Steam Trailer:
Battalion 1944 is available for PC via Steam.
Steam Review
Your local neighborhood nutjob, gamer, and teacher! I'm an avid fan of many genres such as platformers, shooters, horror, etc. I am also an avid tabletop gamer - hugely into the worlds of Warhammer and all of their spinoffs. I'm a big believer in being objective - even if something is not my cup of tea, I want to talk about it on the objective level - is it well made, crafted with love, and with care for the fans? If so, that's a good game in my book for someone and well worth their hard earned dollarydoos!
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