Warborn Review
Some very advanced wars
Influences are funny because sometimes they are nuanced and lie underneath the skin of something, sometimes they exist at the very core of a game, and sometimes they were them like the skin that the bug in the original Men In Black dons. Thankfully, Warborn wears its influences in a more convincing manner than the giant cockroach, but it’s no less subtle about what it loves.
Set in a world where battles are fought using gigantic mechs known as Variable Armour, Warborn is a story of four warring factions. Each of these factions has their own challenges to face, and the story follows along with them as they try and overcome them. The story is pretty good, as is the writing, though there are one too many tropes for my liking. That being said, that seems very intentional given how obvious the influence of mecha anime like Gundam is here. There’s politics, there’s drama, there’s intrigue, it’s got it all. The characters feel ripped straight from the 90s era, and the graphical style fits in nicely with that. The lack of voice acting here hurts it a little bit though, but you do adjust.
Everything looks very clean, not in a “free of dirt” way, more in a “kind of minimalist” way. There are a lot of big blocks of colour and cartoon-looking trees and mountain ranges. Even the cities look futuristic in a way that fits what we assumed the future would be 30 years ago.
Special beam cannon
Of course, the main attraction of Warborn is the gameplay, and I’m happy to report that it’s good fun. This is where it feels rather Advance Wars, which is obviously not a bad thing. You control your units as they move about a hexagonal map. You can move, then use an action, then wait to end that unit’s turn. The actions aren’t just attack though, each unit has an array of actions they can use.
Take the long-range artillery unit, for example, who can either fire dual cannons across multiple squares, or use twin-lasers to take out something closer. Maybe you prefer debuffs, in which case the unit that can stop enemies attacking, stop them moving, or drain their health slowly is for you.
It’s a more involved system than a lot of games that bear a resemblance to Advance Wars, and I really like how each unit can fulfil multiple different roles depending on what you need from them. The combat is slightly different though, as you attack and they don’t get to retaliate until their turn. This makes unit placement more essential than ever, but can also lead to some frustrating losses as well.
Spice of life
Then you’ve got the split between different factions. Each one specialises in something different, which allows you to focus on those strengths for different tactics. It’s not always essential to lean into the differences, but they make enough of an impact to always be worth considering. This is apparent in the campaign, but far more so in multiplayer and skirmishes. This is where the longevity of the game will be, it’s not that the campaign is bad, just that this is how it goes with tactics game in the modern-day.
Choosing different maps and the faction you want is a lot of fun, and the maps present a lot of different challenges from one to the another. There’s also the fact that there’s a map editor, which allows you to build your perfect battlefield.
Overall, Warborn is a colourful and fun tactics game. It takes a little bit from a few places and does good things with them. The gameplay is good, the tactical options are varied, and the soundtrack will drill its way into your brain and never leave. It feels a lot like this will do very well if there are a lot of people keeping the multiplayer alive, but it’s a great game regardless.
[Reviewed on PC]