Ground of Aces
Preview
Winning the war
by Howie Howard
previewed on PC
Build an airbase and eventually win a war!
Ground of Aces, the new strategy base building simulation by developer and publisher Blindflung Studios has finally hit Steam Early Access after a number of months in alpha and beta form. Ground of Aces is a base builder war simulation where the game player assumes the role of commander of a British Royal Air Force air base. The game begins in the early days of World War 2 where the goal is to rebuild a small remote airfield and turn it in to a force that is able to push invading German Luftwaffe out of the skies in the Battle of Britain. Your mission - should you choose to accept it - is to take this abandoned RAF airfield with a small runway and a few buildings and personnel and turn it in to a well established fighting force!
The game contains a rather large variety of period accurate fighters, bombers and support aircraft such as the famous Spitfire and Hurricane fighters, the Lancaster heavy bomber and many others. Once suitable runways have been built along with other required infrastructure, pilots can be assigned and missions can be accepted. In the beginning there are 8 crewmen available that will serve as resource gatherers and builders. Some of the war fighting materials are provided by HQ Command but other resources such as wood will need to be gathered by the crew, which is pretty standard for this style of sim game. After the base is built to the point where missions can be undertaken, pilots and plane crews can be assigned to fly missions. While that is happening, aircraft mechanics, cooks, laborers, etc. will be assigned an appropriate job and they will serve as support personnel.
How could war possibly be a pleasure?
The game is actually a pleasure to play for those of us that might be World War 2 military buffs and enjoy building things in a military setting. The game is presented in a comic book style of graphics. But don't let that fool you, because everything is very realistic and detailed in nature. The aircraft look great and base personnel carry out their orders as necessary to fend off enemy attacks on the base as they should. Anti-aircraft weaponry will be expanded as game development continues over time. Of course the developers can't forget the defensive part of warfare because having a bunch of guns set up around the base can save the crew a lot of time from needing to repair a damaged base. We expect many new and exciting features to be added as the Early Access process marches on.
Yes, the mechanics will fix damaged planes, cooks will prepare the necessary meals and pilots and air crew will fly missions. However, like in real war situations, combatants can die, and as commander it is your responsibility to handle and manage the losses. Certainly the first step as commander is to get replacements for the lost personal - but what about the survivors? The survivors moral will be effected by the loss of their compatriots and the commander needs to address that issue. There are ways to improve crew moral and happiness, with one method being to build a club entertainment facility where airmen can go to relieve moral damaging stress. Other methods to improve moral is by improving food quality and believe it or not by erecting a flag pole and flag on the base so personnel can salute it. This will improve morale a lot. Completing missions successfully is the best way to maintain moral though and that is accomplished by having skilled combatants and by using sound battle tactics. Just about every detail is addressed in Ground of Aces!
War in general is always very detailed...
We have talked a bit about the detailed level of the war being fought in Ground of Aces as far as building a base goes and managing it. The concept of keeping the airbase crew's moral and happiness high is a fully developed part of the game and it appears to be set. However, like with most all Early Access projects what you see now is just the beginning and may not be what you ultimately get. Content right now is lacking and how the end to this war actually happens is a bit sketchy. By that, I mean the building part, the personnel actions and reactions, the war fighting equipment concerning aircraft and other weapons even though sometimes buggy looks very good. The problem that I see right now seems to be the concept of: "I have built my base and I went on some missions, now what do I do next?"
With that said, there doesn't seem to be a well defined progression yet as to how we actually get to the end of this war. As a result the game stalls out because there isn't much else to do other than to go on increasingly difficult missions. The real Battle of Britain eventually ended and we know who won, but who will win the war in Ground of Aces? Personally I would like to see the possibility of having alternative paths to victory or have defeat happen if you really mess up. Perhaps have the Germans win, or introduce American intervention or something else that serves to turn the tide of war. Doing something like that would add replay-ability to the game which is always nice. We will see how it goes in the future. From what I have seen so far, along with the fact that everything looks good, I am confident that developer Blindflung Studios will come to a solid decision on how the war progress past just flying missions. Hopefully we will have a sound end to this battle. The potential of this game is just too great for the studio to fail going forward. I can definitely see a potential winner with Ground of Aces!
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