The game is a ton of fun and has a lot of potential. I've been a Total War fan for a long time and spent a good bit of time in HOI4. I've always wanted a more modern version and I think this game accomplished that. However, there are some serious issues with the game right now.
[h1] Cons [/h1]
[h2] AI Behavior [/h2]
The AI, unlike other games, do not really have to mass forces or obtain new research. You do. This means they can rapidly generate a max size unit that is well equipped with vehicles while you are unable to keep up in terms of production, researching new vehicles/weapons/etc. or recruiting new units. This can lead to some balancing issues right out of the gate. If it takes you two months to research a vehicle and another one and a half to produce one, you're automatically at a huge disadvantage when they automatically get the tech and begin producing at unreal speeds.
The AI is also not helpful if you're in an alliance. They will not help you at all if you get into a fight. However, if you get into a fight, you will instantly cause multiple other countries to go to war with you and they will start storming your cities in rapid succession to the point that you can not possibly maintain them or keep your units supplied. You can use Diplomacy to set up a cease fire, however, they will break it minutes later and continue the fight - or one of their buddies will roll in and start trying to steamroll you and by the time you get that calmed down again, they're back to attacking you.
The AI also is not remotely concerned with other nations. Only you. You are their number one priority at any given time. They will traverse across the map just to hit you. Unlike Total War, you won't see much warfare between other nations or changing ownership of territories. They will specifically seek you out every time, no matter how illogical it is to do so.
Much of this game is spent trying to take territory from one nation, only for another to roll in and start taking back whatever you just took and haven't had time to build a garrison. So, you'll constantly be either pushing forward knowing you have to turn around and do it again or taking two areas only to have to turn around and retake the first one, resulting in the second one being taken by someone else. You call ceasefires so you aren't the only hostile nation in what now appears to be World War III, and, similar to certain real-world countries, they immediately break the cease fire, leading to you, once again, being the center of attention for five different nations with fully stacked units. Your ammo dwindles as well as your forces, but this is not a problem for anyone else except for you. At no point can you just focus on one group and resupply your units. Once you're at war, that's it. You are now in a non-stop ongoing conflict with half of the map. If it takes a month to produce one vehicle and you lose four in a fight, meanwhile the enemy instantly regenerates vehicles, you can see how this eventually becomes a problem. You can't really strike down their largest units and know that you've significantly hindered them or had any impact at all on the battlefield.
Auto resolve is also stacked against you often times. The game does not take into account the composition of enemy forces, only the numbers. A max stack unit of guys with only a pistol, one magazine and prayers will beat your half full unit of APCs and tanks full of guys with ARs and RPGs if you auto resolve. This means you're constantly having to fight the fight, even if it's boring due to it being a total steamroll - where the game will also likely crash right after anyway. I have had a max stack unit of IFVs and armor be defeated by a grand total of ten troops in an auto resolve. Yes, 300 soldiers losing to ten. I'm not sure what kind of roll of the dice insanity that is or if I accidentally repeated the Wagner Group assault on US SOF in Syria.
This is my main complaint. Diplomacy feels useless and you genuinely can not have the upper hand.
[h2] Crashes [/h2]
The game crashes constantly. There is no autosave feature. Numerous times, I lost progress because the game hard crashed after I'd taken a province or two. It loves to crash either loading into a fight or directly after. It's pretty obnoxious having to take the same province six times in a row because the game keeps crashing every time you win the fight. I suggest saving the game very often, especially before a fight and immediately after, as that's the most common window for crashes. I haven't had any issues with crashing outside of loading into a fight, during or immediately after except for maybe once or twice, but the crashes with fighting happens about 80% of the time. It's pretty rough fighting a pretty rough battle only to have everything crash and reset to before the engagement took place seconds after the fight ends and before you have a chance to get to the menu to save.
[h2] Display [/h2]
The game has recently developed a unique issue in which the brightness drops to minimal and all audio is muted. Once you adjust these settings, the audio never returns. The display then reverts back to minimal brightness anytime there is a loading screen, such as when entering or exiting a fight. It does not mater how often you adjust it, it will automatically reset itself.
[h1] Pros [/h1]
[h2] C2 [/h2]
Command and Control is a ton of fun and it's nice being able to rapidly and smoothly transition between the tactical view and ground fighting as your units. Moving guys around is easy and, if you know how to use your guys and how the enemy functions, you can win against a vastly superior force. Plenty of times I've been in an armored vehicle that's been immobilized essentially running an Audie Murphy Simulator gunning down a hundred guys running at my position.
[h2] Logistics [/h2]
Logistics work well and it's a nice feature. It's also nice that you can adjust this to be as easy or difficult as you want, depending on the experience you're looking for. If you want to have to manage logistics very in depth, you can. If you don't want to worry with that, you don't have to.
[h2] Gameplay [/h2]
The game is pretty fun, overall. It's a good combo of Bannerlords, HOI4 and Total War. I just hope they fix the issues soon. It does seem like they're active and trying, atleast. The communication between your guys and callouts are a nice feature. AI Troops do tend to move in some unusual ways at times that lead to hilarious or inconvenient situations, but they are also at times the clone of Chris Kyle with an RPG. It's up in the air on who you're working with or going against and can lead to some fun experiences. Having your vehicle immobilized and you're forced into having an Audie Murphy stand against a hundred guys blindly rushing towards you is a common event and it's pretty fun every time.
