Awesome write-up. I’m even more excited for it now.
Thanks for the write-up!
CDKeys is offering Iron Harvest for $36.69 right now. Their discount is a bit misleading at they have it listed at $60+, but it is only $49.99 on Steam.
Did this just release a day early?
I reloaded Steam and it is letting me download now. So…I guess so? =)
Yep, it is live. Initial impressions:
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A great deal of the content is the same from the beta client but…
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New heroes for each faction (now there are 3 per)
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New Season with a unit skin as the last reward (nummy on both parts)
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Lots and lots of achievement level stuff and tabs that I don’t understand yet
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Same maps for skirmish and challenge missions as the beta (darn)
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The pacing feels a bit slower, but I could be wrong
I am very much enjoying it this. Of course, I already crested my weird enjoyment arc during the beta that had me really liking the game from initial disappointment. I now realize how dead RTS is as a commercial model. Technically it is still around with some great titles. You just need to dig into game catalogues for gems in the 10ish year range unless you either want a micro-fest like Starcraft or a MOBA. And, I realized now that I didn’t outgrow one of my favorite genres, it just had gone away. Besides that though, I really dig the world here. It both historic and fantastical science fiction. Plus it is accessible. It is fast and real time, but (and I watched some Starcraft streams today to check myself) not lightening clicky speed that an ol’ dude like me can’t enjoy anymore. I am way outside of the seemingly online mainstream view, but darn it, I do like Iron Harvest.
I’m happy it is seeing a little bit of a revival. Looking forward to seeing more about AoE4.
Ign liked the campaign
I am enjoying the campaign. I have seen streamers bag on snowball fights and the rest, but, as someone that nearly never plays an RTS campaign, I really like this one. I like the world and I appreciate a tutorial that, even if it was somewhat annoyingly teaching me what I already knew, is showing a peaceful time before the main story and is foreshadowing the change to come. As I played further on in the campaign, I was noticing that this game is not just a war RTS, but it is telling a story about war. Yes, there are cliches and some campy, but it is not just a parade of designers trying to invent reasons for units to clash with all the other assets-- er, I mean units. There is a sad tone in this world. The game could have been called Steamforge Glory or Rivets of Duty or whatever. However, it is called Iron Harvest. It is perhaps subtle, but there is a unique pallet and feel to this “1920+” universe. It seems to try to capture, at least a bit, some Great War(s) sentiment before we were soullessly clashing digital Shermans and Panzers with the click of a mouse. I don’t know if it is a This War is Mine, but it isn’t Warcraft or Spielberg echoed Company of Heroes either.
Beyond that, even 6 or so missions in, the game is not falling back on the usual troupes of build a base, destroy the enemy, cut scene, repeat. As I have said up thread, RTS as a genre is sort of decimated with some key oldy but goodies at this point. I think Iron Harvest is worth a solid look for any former fan that used to haul PCs around to LAN parties for some C&C or Total Annihilation. Just know, it is indy and a tad rough around the edges. It took me a bit to warm up to it, but now I love it.
This has a demo now… been having fun for the first hour, though it’s plenty linear.
Dev’s have kept on patching this, I’ll probably grab it during the summer sale.
Lots of changes, looks like they are up to change log 20:
Yeah, they have been pretty active with it and made many improvements and tweaks. It has a lot going for it that many RTS games do not with skins and achievements to chase. Even though it released in the fall, it feels like it was still working through early access and they maybe wanted to be part of the holiday shopping window. There have been a LOT of changes over the months with a fairly active roadmap. There is still a big reveal on the horizon too.
The game play is closest to a Company of Heroes type game, but I think they step away from that series in a lot of significant ways. I think it is one of the best offerings for the RTS genre in the last few years. It possibly would have been a very popular game 15 years ago, but the genre has fallen out of favor.
I need this game, looks like Scythe, but for real. Just watched the tutorial intro, genius. A snowball fight between kids. I love it when designers put some thought in how to open their game.
edit:
looks like the world of 1920+ was created by Jakub Rozalski
cool! Didn’t expect this crossover between board games and video games.
Yep. It is the same world as Scythe. You will find the same characters, units, etc. in both games as both are based off of the 1920+ world.
Was this ever any good?
I remember Three Moves Ahead were really positive on the campaign and the game overall. Really need to make some time for this.
Dev’s listening to me I see. 50% off Sale / Patches / New Faction (Murrica!)
Well that is surprising. I fully expected Japan or the Nordic faction to be the next DLC.
For those new to the game. It has a fairly involved system of seasonal challenges, rewards, and special modes that are above the usual RTS offering.
I want to like Iron Harvest, but that units don’t work for me because their design seems so inefficient. I get that mechs are freely available, but I would still expect to see more wheel units, or even track units for more more mundane functions. And the mechs that are available, I would expect them to more more efficient. Not some having 3 legs. Or odd wheeled bomb thingies.
I know its a fantasy game of sorts, but it still is predicated on a real world of sorts.