(Impressions) Battalion 1944
“Hey look… another FPS…” you may be thinking. Technically, you would be correct. However, there is something a little different about Battalion 1944 than most of the other shooters out there (not too much though). The style and simplistic gameplay mechanics take the FPS genre back to where it should be (kind of near Day of Infamy, but smoother). Don’t get me wrong, there is something to be said about the frenetic shooters out there, but I’ve had my fair share of Call of Duty by now. Also, I love the World War II setting. Is it worth investing your time and money into though. It’s a little hard to tell at this point, but let me break it down for you.
The game is a smidge slower than other shooters out there, but Battalion 1944 is by no means a slow game. They have highlight reals of people pulling some quick-scoping Kar 98 shots (just check out their Twitter feed) and other slick/quick kill-streaks. The gun-play feels very smooth and is only getting better as development progresses. The maps aren’t too large and that keeps the action going as well. Everything almost feels as it should, but in the end there is something that isn’t right in my mind when it comes the meat and potatoes of the game proper.
To note: it isn’t the crashes that keep me from enjoying the game. It is not the most glitchless game I’ve played by far. In fact it can be a little rough around the edges. It can take a long time to load the game if it chooses not to crash after picking a region to play in. It seems fairly consistent on letting you do that at least. As of yesterday, when I loaded it up, the game crashed before the it even loaded (I didn’t even get to pick my region the first time). However, when I let it sit there the second time (after closing the crash pop-up) the game would pop up in the background and I can click on it. After a few blinks of the screen, the game would take over my main monitor and I could play. So essentially I normally have to wait for the game to crash to play. It’s a little funky, but I’m fairly sure that will be fixed. After it loads and you find a game with some people, Battalion 1944 is a more than solid enough shooter.
So what exactly is the rub here for me though? I hadn’t been able to put my finger on it until I found a specific server to play on. The thing is, Bulkhead Interactive and their PR people have been pushing it as like the classics that we grew up with. I’ve played a lot of Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Unreal and Day of Defeat. The thing is, I played with the same people all of the time in those games. Some of them would move from one to another and sometimes I’d have to find another group of people with the same mindset. I liked the slower-paced tactical mindset of always aiming before shooting and no bunny-hopping. Some may call this “restrictive” or “not a lot of fun”, but that is your own subjective opinion and we are all allowed to agree or disagree. When I found the HGH server it felt like home. It’s not always populated and the frantic pace that others play at just doesn’t do it for me anymore. I kind of felt led into Battalion 1944 as this was the main type of gameplay and that was on me for not fully researching the game properly. On the other hand, there is a place for me here on the dedicated servers. Thank you so freaking much for having dedicated servers. They allow for communities to build up and grow and I have a bit of hatred in my heart for FPS games that come out without them and the ability for players to create their own… just a little.
Further Reading on Battalion 1944: Facebook / Official Page / Steam / Twitter
