United 1944
EA SCOUT the last line of defense for buying on Steam's Early Access
by Dan Lenois
previewed on PC
As we lurch into the boundless depths of both fortune and disaster 2024 will inevitably bring, let's take a closer look at this peculiar case study.
Loading up and moving out...
Upon launching for the first time, United 1944 immediately throws you into a brief tutorial that does an admittedly decent job of introducing you to the game's more original mechanics. This isn't one of those single-digit IQ tutorials common in all too many AAA games, where the game spends most of its time introducing you to WASD and mouse controls.
United 1944 instead focuses on familiarizing new players with mechanics such as weapon and explosives crafting, constructing/destructing placeable walls and other line-of-sight barriers, capturing points of interest, etc.
Keep your rifle by your side...
Weapons are responsive and reasonably well-balanced, with excellent sound effects and decent firing/reloading animations. While the game doesn't present itself as anything akin to a next-gen visual spectacle, its graphical fidelity and art style are decently detailed and distinct.
The maps are each quite varied, in terms of both visuals and layout. The in-game UI provides players with everything they need to know, and nothing more. This minimalistic approach allows the player to focus on what's right in front of them, without becoming distracted by pointless clutter.
Alone and forgotten...
The problem with creating an online-only PVP game with no alternative means of play, such as a Player VS AI mode, is that if no one else is online to play, then neither can you. In the past three weeks, I've only ever been able to participate in one single PVP match with other human players.
Given that the game will not allow you to begin a match without a minimum of 5 players, in a game whose average concurrent playerbase in the past 30 days has been 2.9 players, there's no reason whatsoever to recommend United 1944 as a game worth buying, unless you wish to spend $30 on nothing but a single offline tutorial and a private shooting range mode.
Overall:
Without either human players or any in-game AI bot support, one would get more entertainment value from pulling out a wad of cash, dousing it in gasoline, and setting it on fire than you could get playing a game that, for all its virtues, is effectively a virtual ghost town, devoid of either life or hope, unless the developer somehow manages a miraculous about-face between now and when the game exits Early Access at some point down the road. It's a sad, unfortunate situation, as unlike many other games, United 1944's failure appears more to be a failure of marketing rather than of design.
It would be amazing to one day hopefully recommend this game wholeheartedly if it re-launches and proves a cult classic, but right now, that doesn't seem too likely.
As always, follow us on Instagram for news updates, reviews, competitions and more.
Avoid
It pains us to say this, but we don't see how this game will mesh. At the current stage of development the game should be much farther ahead than it is.