The Best Mech Game – Phantom Brigade
After leaving its self-imposed exile on the Epic Games Store, the Phantom Brigade sneaked its way into Steam last year. More Into the Breach than XCOM, it’s a turn-based tactics game that rests on the premise that your units have some kind of time device that allows them to look 5 seconds into the future, see the enemy’s actions, and act accordingly to counter, intercept or downright prevent them from enacting their evil misdeeds.
Similar to other games in the genre, the action is slip between two layers: the world map, and the tactical plane. On the world map the usual suspects make an appearance: customization of your units, research and development, upgrades, and building new weapons and mechs, all the while going around looking for fights. It’s all pretty vanilla stuff. But the whole customization of all mechs is fantastic. Swap out arms, legs, and torsos, equip a lot of different weapons (each has a very specific use and optimal range), and create your dream squad. It’s all very well implemented and yes, you can even paint them too.
What sets it apart from the tactical battles is the unique mechanic where players can see a simulation of how the battle will play out before making their move, opening a lot of avenues for strategic planning and decision-making, not too dissimilar to what you would do in Into The Breach.
Phantom Brigade has excellent building destruction and after each battle, the maps will feel like a battle between big stompy machines really took place. There are some minor annoyances here and there, and the timeline control can be a bit finicky (place a move marker on the map, but to fire you have to place the fire action on the timeline first, then select where to attack on the map.
The waiting order must be placed on the map too. It’s really clunky and could use some work), but after a couple of hours with it, you get used to it. Also, some hitboxes are not very well made and there’s no saving mid-mission.
Best Stealth Strategy – Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew
Ask anyone what company can be considered a master at their craft, skillfully knitting intricate and complex stealth puzzles in the isometric stealth genre, and Mimimi is sure to show up. The team single-handedly revived a genre long dead since Commandos perished in the early 2000s.
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew story might be leagues above Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun and Desperados 3, but the gameplay certainly took a massive hit due to some questionable design decisions, two of which are the most egregious in my eyes: the generous amount of characters and replayable islands. These two factors, when in conjunction, meant that the carefully constructed dioramas of previous games had to give way to more generic challenges to accommodate for a wide range of different skills (that ended up not being that distinct), and the goals were still attainable.
Still, it’s an enjoyable and unique experience for a starved genre, but it failed to meet expectations. Unfortunately, Shadow Gambit is the last of Mimimi’s games, which have since gone extinct, with the main reason for the studio shutting down seems the be the rising costs of game development and the high risks of not generating enough revenue. The website already displays a gravestone saying “Making games and crying about it, 2008-2023”. Quite the shame, I was hoping they would eventually do a World War 2 title.
Best Beginner Friendly Wargame – The Troop
I know you’re probably raging and asking: where the hell is Battle Academy? Heck! Where the hell is Unity of Command? Well, move aside. Because after the launch of The Troop in 2023, I’m pronouncing it to be the most competent contender for the “Best Beginner Friendly Wargame” around. The Troop was – probably- the game that surprised me the most in 2023. The Troop is an approachable wargame and acts almost as a direct successor of Battle Academy, or at least, it would be if Battle Academy was ported over to the 2020s by a team of people who really love the Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan drab-green aesthetic. The Troop had big shoes to fill and mostly managed to. I went as far as to call it one of the best World War II from the last decade. A phrase that earned me quite a bit of criticism that I find unwarranted.
The sheer amount of content (36 hand-crafted missions playable by either side), 4 dynamic campaigns consisting of 7 missions each, and a unit pool that probably surpasses the 100-unit mark is a lot of D-Day for just 40 dollars. Add to that that the game features one of the most impressive AI I’ve seen in any game, ever, and a couple of great twists in traditional wargame mechanics that do the game’s realism a ton of favour, while at the same time streamlining the gameplay (movement and shooting, especially), and it’s not hard to see why it became a beloved game by fans of the genre.
Best Wargame – Graviteam Tactics: Mius Front
This is the ultimate World War II tactical experience with a 1:1 scale. No game does it better, not even Combat Mission. It’s hard to get into and it’s going to require some tutorial watching and manual reading but there’s nothing quite like it. Before playing this better learn how units will spend some time laying wires on the field, which squads are in shouting range, and which ones need radio contact to do their job. No line of communication? How will your artillery commander know when and where to fire? It’s that kind of game. And it’s better to go in with some understanding of WWII tactics and unit organization. Graviteam Tactics: Mius Front pulls no punches but it’s marvelous.
Best Medieval Strategy – Crusader Kings 3
My favourite Paradox title, Crusader Kings III is a grand strategy game set in the medieval world, where players can control a dynasty and rule over their lands. The game offers a deep and immersive story, with a complex web of relationships and politics to navigate.
It’s one of the few games where it is at its best when armies have their swords sheathed, and court spies and assassins carry their blades and vials of poison close to them. It’s probably the most complex and unwieldy game on this list but if you have the time and learn it and enjoy the subject matter it’s going to be one of the most fulfilling gaming experiences you’ll ever have.
If you want it more simply: It’s the closest thing you’ll find in videogames similar to Game of Thrones. Crusader Kings 3 isn’t your thing, you can always look up the Best Medieval Games List.
The Best Real-Time-Strategy – Company of Heroes
The quintessential game of the RTS genre, Company of Heroes is unmatched even after a decade and a half of its release.
Emerging at the tail end of the World War 2 trend that swept the gaming industry in the late nineties and early two-thousands, Company of Heroes not only pioneered the genre but revolutionized it. Stripping away excess and honing in on combat mechanics, this game strives to encapsulate the tactical intricacies of small-scale engagements.
A beacon of innovation, Company of Heroes flawlessly incorporates the four Fs (Fire; Fix; Flank; Finish) of infantry combat. The cover system, a brilliant addition, introduces a new layer of depth and realism previously unseen in games. It remains a magnificent spectacle, witnessing US paratroopers skillfully navigating obstacles while under fire from German MG 42s.
With a flanking element deploying grenades into the enemy position, the vivid imagery evokes memories of Saving Private Ryan and the acclaimed HBO series, Band of Brothers.
While Company of Heroes 3 might have not lived up to the expectations set by the original and the several years of updates of Company of Heroes 2, I still think it’s a competent entry that tried to do things its way, for better or worse. Experience the unmatched excellence of this enduring RTS masterpiece, still reigning supreme as the Best RTS on PC.
The Best Turn-Based Strategy – Jagged Alliance 3
Sometimes, you just got to admit you were wrong. And how wrong I was. When Jagged Alliance 3 was first unveiled at the tail end of 2021, Strategy and Wargaming reacted more with “ugh!” than “yay!” – “Again, similarly to what was said about Men of War II, I don’t think Jagged Alliance 3 will ever be able to capture the magic that made the previous games so great when they first came out. The landscape of gaming just isn’t the same anymore, especially when it comes to the turn-based-tactical sub-genre, where there are so many great games out there that JA3 won’t get away without being compared to XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Gears Tactics, Phoenix Point, Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate- Daemon Hunters, Marvel: Midnight Suns and so many other. Can the team behind JA3 differentiate their game enough to make it stand out? By the looks of their 2022 showcase trailer, the answer is firmly negative“-However, after spending more than two dozen hours with the game, it’s fair to say those first impressions were totally wrong, and Jagged Alliance 3 is fantastic. A serviceable meta-layer that’s more tycoon-management/RPG, interwoven with complex turn-based tactical skirmishes creates the basis for one of the year’s best turn-based tactical games.
Jagged Alliance 3 is a fantastic return to form, and proof that in competent hands, the turn-based tactical genre can always get better. Finally, after all these years, we can say that Jagged Alliance is no longer a strategy series that had its high point in the mid-90s, and everything that came after is just the result of untalented studios riding the IP to snatch an easy paycheck.
Jagged Alliance 3 is not only one of the best games in the series but one of the best games to come out in 2023. I wholeheartedly recommend it, even at the full price of $44.99.
Best Tycoon Game – Cities Skylines
Cities: Skylines is the city-building simulation game to have if you’re into urban planning or just miss the good old days of SimCity 4. It’s a game that empowers players to unleash their creativity and embark on the journey of building whatever city, small village, or seaside hamlet pleases them. With one of the largest modding scenes in gaming (available through the Steam Workshop), the possibilities are endless. It also features gaming’s most realistic traffic simulation mechanics, if you’re one of those people that fail to see how that can be engaging, then it’s your time to give Cities: Skylines a whirl and test your planning mettle as you watch your vision come to life in this highly acclaimed (highly, highly acclaimed) city-building game.
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