The once dominant RTS genre has waned in popularity as of late, mainly due to a lot of the heavy hitters on the scene fading away into the abyss. Home console gaming has become the norm and so, those developers who once had their eyes on the prize via PC because they found it challenging to transfer that genuine RTS experience to console. However it seems as of late that PC gaming is making it’s much deserved resurgence, with more companies coming out of the woodwork to prove that PC is still the go to hardware for gaming. Win that War is one of those titles that’s trying to win back the hearts of those who once turned their backs on the RTS scene, paying homage to such classics as Command and Conquer and the iconic Starcraft franchise. If you’re a true die hard fan of the slow, meticulous yet rewarding genre that is real time strategy then Win that War is certainly one space adventure RTS you don’t want to ignore. As a heads up, Win that War is still in Early Access and so updates are expected to occur, so please take consideration when reading ahead.

Win that War is part of a genre that has not garnered much attention these days simply because not too many developers are willing to take that dive. Those days of the RTS grind were over in their eyes and it just seemed like it wasn’t a worthy investment. Developer Insane Unity thought otherwise and has now created a massively multiplayer online RTS experience for all of those devoted fans who never backed out. You must put in the hours and grind online in order to discover new planets, develop a stronger arsenal, and strive to be the best to become the dominant leader. It’s an RTS unlike no other because this is perhaps the first time that we’ve seen an RTS played on a MMO type scale, where your skills and decisions really make an impact long term. Choose between three mega-corps, N.A.S.C.A, Atlas Corp and Jet Blum Consortium. Take your selected mega-corp and bring them to the top to dominate the world.

The more we spent time with Win that War it brought back those great memories of spending hours upon hours farming away in Command & Conquer, working diligently to ensure our success was solidified. Much like C&C, Supreme Commander and Starcraft, you must build a small colony of your own and gather materials to ensure your survival long term. Not only that but you’ll need to trade resources so that you can further upgrade your equipment, and make sure that your offensive force doesn’t dwindle. Win that War does a great job of taking you through the steps of how to play an RTS, for those who aren’t really familiar with how to play. As we stated earlier, RTS games typically have a very slow approach to it, and so this type of formula may not sit well with everyone. Be that as it may, if you do find RTS games to be intriguing then Win that War is a great start to get you geared up for the long haul. You start off the game as a low ranking official who must now work their way up the corporate ladder, while trying to expand the industrial empire.

Most of the time you’ll be jumping from planet to planet, trying to take out as many enemies as you can so that you can obtain land and further your progression towards domination. There’s definitely a lot to swallow and absorb as you play, but the great thing about RTS titles is that they don’t put you on a timer and it encourages you to come up with effective ways to win. Building one or two colonies on a planet isn’t good enough since enemies will send out their diplomats to scout your base, and will eventually send over light tanks to infiltrate. This is where the fun begins because as you continue to build more ground factories and create more Engineers, more tools become available to you which makes taking out the opposing side much easier. If your Light Tanks can’t keep up with all the commotion then simply build some turrets to ensure no one crosses the line, while using your buggy cars as bait to lure enemies out.

Win that War shows no fear and it goes back to its roots without disappointment. It certainly takes a lot of references from previous titles and creates an atmosphere that’s worth absorbing yourself in. The soundtrack is very fitting of the environment you’re situated in and it isn’t obtrusive in the way that, it doesn’t divert your attention away at all. Often times in games the soundtrack creates a lot of noise which can potentially create a lot of imbalance, especially when trying to come up with an action plan. Fortunately for Win that War, everything blends well and the battles and music feel seamless. While the graphics are nowhere near perfect, Win that War successfully creates a world that feels great and its visuals are satisfying enough that you don’t pay much attention to the small little texture issues. Perhaps the only gripe that can be said about Win that War is that, while it succeeds in creating an immersive experience for fans of the genre, there lacks a lot of units and factions for you to work with. A lack in normal single player campaign also hurts the score a little bit because not everyone wants to take part in the MMO experience, and if we’re going back to those good old RTS days a lot of the work was all solo and offline. Be that as it may, Win that War certainly wins in our eyes because it does a splendid job of sticking to what it knows, and doesn’t go off tangent trying to implement functions that simply don’t correlate to the genre itself. With a pretty nice progression tree and fun base construction to keep you occupied, Win that War allows you to cooperate with others to gain cash and contest territories which is a nice way to promote teamwork.

Win that War isn’t going to win over everyone’s hearts but that should never be the focus of any developer. Doing so would run the risk of ruining the authenticity and create too many overlaps that would only hinder performance in the end. We like the direction Insane Unity has taken and we hope that they continue to add more content into the game, because it certainly can do with more content. Throw in more variety pertaining to units and we’ll be pleased. Every battle feels meaningful and as you continue to develop your economy and establish your dominance in war, the game becomes more of a thrill since it’s like planting a seed and watching that seed slowly blossom into something beautiful. Win that War is still gaining traction and so the amount of players online isn’t as much as we thought it to be, which could potentially hurt the brand, but perhaps once more people hear about the title then it’s possible to see more action online. Insane Unity actually just released patch that implements PvE so that may help things out a bit, along with major bug fixes so at least they’re taking initiative to keeping things moving.

With all that being said, we hope you found our preview/impressions of Win that War to be resourceful and informative. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and if you’re currently playing Win that War then give us a shout and perhaps we can jump online together to play on stream! Speaking of stream, be sure to follow Honey’s Gaming on Twitch so that way you don’t miss a beat on all the latest titles we’ll play. Also follow us on Twitter and Discord to know when we ever go live, but to also be part of the wonderful community we’ve built. We hope to see you in the stream chat!

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