White Sands

DO NOT BUY. Context, I'm usually not one for giant caps messages but don't buy it here is why. This is actually no joke a 1 to 1 ripoff and reskin of a game they've already made/abandoned called war room look it up, it was essentially a theatre management sim from a company or battalion commander level in a middle eastern country It showed a lot of promise except it was very rough and they never actually refined it. You can see this is the case in game when you accidentally run into a contaminated zone and it triggers an event that requires you medivac people, after this event you actually still get the "IED Report" detailing casualties. With this and even the basic UI elements still being the same just literally renamed (Not kidding support panel and munitions are even all still the same they just named them different thing IE instead of apache gunship it's now some weird post apocalyptic name) I see them doing the same thing they did in the last one because this is literally the last game just reskinned and considering they abandoned it I highly recommend you don't waste your time and money.

it is super clunky, and I feel like they are targeting consoles and using PC players as alpha testers. There is no click and drag to select units, you have to click directly on them which is extremely painful. There is no support for all resolutions, I have a wide screen, and it has no option in the settings. Even though my graphics are maxed out, every thing is BLURRY, so picking out the tiny buttons on the map is rough. This is early access yes, but compared to other early access games, it is Popsicle sticks and hot glue quickly put together to peddle. Obviously I will change this when things are fixed, there are a lot of fun ideas here.

Initially the learning curve is steep but do not be discouraged once you get past the 10-15 min mark it becomes downhill and quite clear what and how to do. My biggest complaint would be the current drone camera, which is constantly flying, making it difficult to select units and ordering them. Based on the info from the developer, I know they are working on this and proper camera control should make things much easier in tactical view. The atmosphere of the game is quite dark, which I personally like a lot and think it fits the Post Apo setting. There are a number of enemy categories from humans, human mutants and mutated insects. I liked the variety and would perhaps like to see more categories with different attack abilities. Perhaps grenades for human, and melee attacks. Also for insects more types of attack like a distance attack with some slimy substance for instance. Overall, such variety of unit categories and types as exists is a good start. There is a huge variety of units to chose from and some are very powerful like the MBT. I would like to see more specific tactical abilities, except from the current stances. So perhaps being able to deploy field artillery units. Being able to enter buildings is great. I noticed there are some unique rewards for entering some of them. It would be good to connect some recruitment units with building discoveries, perhaps to motivate player to more searching inside those structures. All in all this mechanic offers great future potential. Some air supports feel overpowered. I would suggest limiting them by a longer regeneration time. Also, I would add a specific unit for each category of Support, kind of like JTAC, so that if you want to have support available you need that specific unit in your battle group.  Missions and events have a varied quality, some are very interesting and engaging while others not so much, so I would suggest some more narrative polish. Having said that, the foundations are solid. I had a decent performance on: Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-10850K CPU @ 3.60GHz   3.60 GHz 64,0 GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 I realize some might have it worse and other better in this department. I really enjoy the state of the game so far, and I am looking forward to more in the near future as the game matures.

[i]As soon as I was given the ability to call in airstrikes, I accidentally committed a war crime. Within seconds of unlocking all the other support abilities, I attempted levelling entire landscapes, disregarding the safety of all inhabitants. It’s safe to say the tutorial taught me an unintended lesson and that I shouldn’t be given similar powers in the real world.[/i] [h1]📝 Main Pros, Cons, and Suggestions:[/h1] 🟩 Pros: + Brilliant artwork + More in-depth version of Rebel Inc. + Drone camera modes assist with visibility + Support abilities allow for on the fly gameplay decisions + A large number of units (infantry & vehicles) with various specialisations + Not limiting players to a single mission at a time is a brilliant choice for such a game + Patrols are an interesting addition 🟥 Cons: - Performance issues - Horrid UI due to menu stacking - Poor onboarding experience as the tutorial isn’t always clear - Unit orders can only be given to individual units rather than larger groups - Outside of using support abilities, combat feels slow, janky, and ultimately, unrewarding - Support abilities feel overpowered, and I could complete several missions without the need for ground troops - I experienced a handful of bugs and technical issues (e.g. audio settings not applying correctly, units getting stuck in terrain) - Aims to deliver a tactical experience but fails at executing at any true strategic decision making due to poor combat implementation - Made by the same developers of War Room, which not only has mixed ratings and many comments of being abandoned, but it also presents like an identical copy of the game, albeit a different setting 🏷️ Suggestions: ~ Improve the tutorial by providing more guidance and highlighting what is required of the player ~ The player shouldn’t start with everything unlocked, explain systems slowly as they are introduced rather than delivering everything without explaining anything [h1]There's no better pairing than a UAV and an orbital cannon[/h1] White Sands delivers a unique twist on the traditional RTS formula. If you’re looking for a standard RTS with base building and macro/micromanagement (think C&C, SC, WC etc), steer clear. This plays like an open world RTS hybrid - If this sounds like something you’re interested in, read on. You are a commander of the Union, an organisation tasked with rebuilding humanity after a solar flare destroyed the world. As the commander, you play a support role with your main interface being an overhead view of the Cheyenne Mountain. Using drones, you will survey points of interest, discovering threats which need to be resolved to increase security in the region, while hopefully boosting your popularity at the same time. [h1]Onboarding leaves a lot to be desired[/h1] Initially, I was very interested in what White Sands aimed to deliver, however, this interest quickly dwindled into resentment. After multiple attempts, along with reaching out to the developers, I finally completed the introduction. Unfortunately, this was just the first in a series of onboarding hurdles which I faced. Due to the inability to save the game, or return to the menu (during the opening), every mistake I made (at the guidance of the game) had me needing to reboot the game from the very beginning, time and time again. When it works, it is an enjoyable experience, but my time was cut short due to the poor onboarding experience. There is a severe lack of explanation of systems and lack of guidance regarding what to do and how to do it (for example, entering buildings). In its current state, unless you’re a diehard fan of War Room, I personally recommend adding White Sands to your wishlist until it is fleshed out further. Only once patches are released to improve performance and correct technical issues would I recommend purchasing. [quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44931904-Bite-Sized-Reviews//]Follow [b]BSR[/b] for more bite sized reviews.[/url][/quote] [quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]Follow our curator page: [b]IndieGems[/b] if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.[/url][/quote]

Needs a LOT of work. The UI is bad. Unit selection is almost impossible because there's no way to even tell how many units you have on a map. The drone camera is annoying and clunky.

It's pretty mind-blowing to release an RTS game where the game doesn't really show what units are yours, what unit you have selected, or pretty much anything resembling functional controls. Command and Conquer and WC2 were both released in '95 and had already solved these problems. Absolute trash

Definitely not ready for release. Wait until it's patched. Several times.

played this and refunded...atm the UI is a dumpster fire and the tutorial doesn;t really help much in that it doesn't point out what you're supposed to click. It was so badly made I almost lost the intro battle on easy. Wait till it improves and gets out of early access.

Started this up and had no idea what was going on... I was looking through a drone camera circling a battlefield. There were dudes shooting at each other on the ground. Which side is my side? No idea! So I start ordering air strikes on buildings... I quickly burn through my 3 airstrikes and they go on cooldown... estimated time to the next airstrike... 160-something seconds. Proceed to just... circle the battle field on rails (I'm not actually controlling the drone) while trying to figure out what's actually going on. Turned the game off and asked for a refund.

The original "War Room" Was the same concept overall. Maps, FOBs, missions, everything. They literally changed people to zombies and bugs. They dropped War Room like a sack of bricks and everyone was left to dry. This game has all the same bugs and even with updates, it is so laggy and slow it's embarrassing. The only credit I will give them, is they're on the right track. So many devs create a game and abandon it to find the next big ticket item. Take a page from Rimworld's book, continue to update and advance your current game that people enjoy. Add DLC after you have created a self sustaining game. DO NOT abandon to create a washed out copy of previous game.