I can no longer recommend buying Broken Arrow in its current state.
The core concept is excellent. Building and managing a combined-arms force made up of infantry, armor, artillery, aircraft, and support units creates engaging and tactical gameplay. At its best, the game offers a level of strategic depth that is difficult to find elsewhere.
Unfortunately, recent balance changes have moved the game in the wrong direction. Support units have been hit especially hard, greatly reducing their value on the battlefield. Anti-air systems have received range reductions, engagement behavior changes, increased firing delays, and limitations on what threats they can engage, leaving many of them feeling ineffective.
Artillery has also become less useful through increased costs and longer reload times. Armor balance has changed as well, with tank armor being adjusted while Stryker vehicles continue to feel too vulnerable against most threats.
The single-player campaign also continues to lack mission save points. Many campaign missions can take a considerable amount of time to complete, and being forced to restart from the beginning after a failure is frustrating and feels like an outdated design decision. It's hard not to question what the developers were thinking by omitting such a basic quality-of-life feature.
Balance updates are expected in any multiplayer game, but many of these changes leaves the community wondering what the developers were thinking. Instead of addressing what much of the community was asking for, these updates feel disconnected from player feedback and have made the game less enjoyable overall.
Broken Arrow still has an outstanding foundation and tremendous potential, but until the developers reconsider their balancing philosophy and address long-standing quality-of-life issues, I can no longer recommend purchasing it.
