समीक्षा

• gamedeal user

  Oct 30, 2019

  Airship Dragoon is a typical indie project made in solo. Despite all the nice concepts this software piece presents, for the "mainstream" gamers it is barely just a bit more than an engine demo. Especially if you're playing the games for the world immersion and good stories, and not for the "pure gameplay" only (like we had in the '80s). Therefore I suggest thinking not even twice, but at least 7 times before buying yourself into it. Even with 75% and more discounts. Good thing is that you can download the freeware trial version right from the store page, and try the game pace by yourself (it is slow indeed, the question is how do you feel about it?). So, Airship Dragoon. Accurate combat simulator where you control a group of soldiers fighting in turn-based mode with other groups of soldiers. In full 3D on the big procedurally-generated maps of some presumably dystopian world made in steampunk aesthetics. The game has a major campaign mode, plus another one bonus campaign, plus the most default game mode, one-highly-customizable-battle-long only. There is no multiplayer option, which is no wonder, for it's kinda heavy for the one-man-game-studio to provide worldwide server support. In the main campaign, you have 6 nations to choose from, all based on the late-19-early-20-century real-world-empires... but it is not going any further than the colour of the banner and the set of names for your soldiers. You start on some quite big map made up of hexagonal cells, which you need to conquer before other PC-controlled nations will do it. And it means hundreds of battles, all following one pattern. Yes, there will be some randomness in the quantity and quality of enemies, in the terrain features and the current amount of your funds and reserves. But in any battle, after you know how many people you and your opponent have after you set inventory (weapons, ammo, and armor which they carry) for each of your soldiers in a strictly manual manner... And considering some variety of weather and terrain conditions on the battle site... It is the same fight again and again. Same goals, same collisions, same tactics from the opponents. So please, don't raise any high expectations about Airship Dragoon. Yes, visually tactical map where you move your troops looks somewhat like Valkyria Chronicles... But that doesn't mean Airship Dragoon is somewhere close to Valkyria serial. It's a totally different title, where all where you spend your time on is about battles... and preparing for them by a very long manual process of arming and re-arming your squads, one man at the time. And it is normal to have battles there like 20 on 20 men or more... However, as a pure wargame, without any story as a side dish - the game's good. Boring, if you're not a big fan of turn-based tactical firefights, but deep enough to give the game 5.8/10 mark and my personal upvote - for gameplay only. PS: read all the manuals - it is the only tutorial in the game!
• gamedeal user

  Sep 21, 2014

  Airship Dragoon is an old school squad tactics game. This game is not for everyone. It is really only for hard core wargamers. I love this game, but I have been playing games like this for a long time. The graphical interface is a bit clunky and difficult to use, but it gets easier after you are used to it. There is a map, but you have to switch screens to access it (maybe this adds to the realism since it feels more like reading a map). This game is frustrating at first when your squad consists of militia. Tactical gameplay elements like morale and accuracy mean that the conscripts will have trouble hitting anything and will run away when shot at. But once you separate the men from the boys, you can build an effective squad. The game has well thought out promotion, class, and technology systems, so your squad will improve in capability over time. Eventually your men will be able to hit distant targets and will keep fighting even after being wounded. This also means that it can be a major blow if one of your veterans is killed in action. Fortunately, critically wounded soldiers can be evacuated if one of their comrades can reach them in time. Like many tactical games, the strategy aspect is mainly a mechanism to make the battles significant and give them some context. But the strategy game is also well thought out in terms of game elements and play balance. There are some imporant strategy elements like dirigibles, garrisons, and terrain types. They each play a role in strategic operations and game economics.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 28, 2016

  First things first. there is a DEMO - so please play that before deciding you want to buy this. This game is NOT for everyone. Only the most hardcore lovers of turn based strat games need apply. This game is pretty baller if you ask me. Sure, it could be expediated a little bit - and the first two turns of moving everyone in place does get pretty tedious. HOWEVER. Someone mentioned something along the lines of 99% of war is boredom, and 1% is terrifying. Yeah. That's true. It's 'boring' if you don't think. Because the enemy IS out there. And he's waiting to take your life. There's sappers with mines, there's (in the later researches) friggen lazer rifles - one shot rail guns that shoot through mountain sides and straight through GODDAMNED CASTLES. Artillery Barrages (Which makes one think the Ships' gunners are all Imperial Stormtroopers.) I thought Xcom was a deadly unforgiving game. Then I played Xenonauts. And I thought 'Yeah, nothing could be more cruel to my random red shirts than Xenonauts.' Sometimes, You have really good games - hold 15 invading assholes from the damned Zulu Nation off with only 7 brave warriors. And other times.. You bring 10 guys to route out 3. And lose Two to mines, One to a death laser which causes the other two to freeze in place and die next turn, two more flee but the last three manage to somehow bring victory to you by sacrificing your last conscript in a brave attempt to draw the enemy's fire so your gunner and grenadier can kick his ass and LITERALLY take his stuff. Yes. The graphics are Meh. The gameplay is slow (bring a book, or play turns in between commercial breaks of a tv show) And the mechanics are hard to understand at times. But it's probably been one of the more rewarding games I've played in a while. The challenge is there. It's not impossible or stacked against the player - but it IS a challenge. But there is one thing you ought to remember. It was just one guy who developed this. So cut him a little bit of slack. With that said, I love it. 10/10 would get sniped through a hillside again.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 2, 2016

  I've only been playing 5 hours. WARNING: This game is very slow paced. MAPPING: It's easy to get disorientated. Needs a minimap on the battle screen to quickly reference where your units are in relation to each other. The large Map function should show landmarks (buildings, roads, environment, fauna) and not just show blips as units and a "T" as a flag. BATTLE: The pistol shooting sound is wrong. Pistol sounds like a rifle imo. Needs more background sound effects. Like stepping sounds of the soldiers. Soldiers need to make more vocal noise too. When locking on an enemy it should give you the percentage of chance of hitting an enemy, not just the distance. This is so you you don't waste ammo on impossible shots. Soldiers need the ability to lie in a prone shooting position if there is no cover around them. Grenades should show their possible throw arcs to make sure the path to the target is clear. One of my units tried to throw a grenade from a top of building down to the enemy from a crouching position. The grenade hit the wall right next to my unit and killed my unit. Lame. Grenades travel in upward arcs, not straight lines. GOVERNMENT: The governing screen that shows resources and the like is very confusing. I barely figured out how to buy new guns for my units. I don't know even what I CAN do in the govening screen! There is more things wrong with this game but I still like the overall idea. But it is NOT ready in order to be a popular and good game. IT JUST NEEDS MORE CONTENT, A BETTER USER INTERFACE AND MORE POLISHING! ^_^
• gamedeal user

  Aug 28, 2014

  This game is absolutely bang on the das kapital for being created by a single man in his bedroom. The amount of content available and the quality of the graphics is brilliant considering the game is compacted into 250mbs. I love the authentic uniforms used by the British Royalists and the steam punk zeppelin setup, the gameplay is very fluid and works well on release which is a nice change from allot of games I have bought recently that have been broke on release. There is still room for improvement though, I would like the option to issue movement orders to a single troop and have him carry them out while I swap to another unit and do the same with him. It would be also handy to have some sort of mini map so I could know the general direction in which to send my troops. In all the game is great though and I hope to have many hours of fun. If you would like to see some footage check The King of Funk on youtube doing his thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNIMy-CPY9s
• gamedeal user

  Feb 19, 2017

  I actually bought this game twice. I Greenlit it on Steam and then found a copy online. Knowing that not all games I vote for ever get approved, I purchased it direct from the publisher. As I always buy games I vote for, I bought it when it came available on Steam. It takes some getting used to, and it is sometimes hard to find the info you need. I'd like to see a mini-map so I don't have to swap between the map and the screen. I'd also reccomend that you deploy your troops left to right (or visa versa) so that as you cycle through your units, you're not jumping all over the map. Battles can take awhile and depending on how many airships you have, a "turn" could take quite awhile. Also reccomend you save after every successful battle in case you accidently quit without saving (only did it twice, was in a big hurry so it was my own fault). Additionally, keep a decent cash reserve, Tempting as it is to upgrade tech every turn, you need money when the AI does its turns. Say 1000 to 1500 per AI you border. More, I imagine later in the game when they have more airships. Remember that fielding troops and arming them take cash. Offensive troop numbers are determined by the size of the attacking airship (5-10-15), defending numbers are determined by the type of terrain. AND how much money you have to spend! Combat is sequential, but the non-moving side can do opportunuty fire if it has reserved action points from it's previous turn. APs are used for moving, attacks and reloading. Units have weight restrictions on how much they can carry. Reloading has to be done manually, so while you may fire at a target of opportunity if you have enough APs remaining, you cannot do a "reload of opportunity", so to speak. A word of caution: attacks of opportunity with explosive weapons can be hazardous to your health. If you are too close to a wall, rock, tree, or even a slight rise, your weapon could impact that, killing yourself. Visibility ranges from 50 to 300 . The attacking trooper has to be able to see the target himself in order to fire at it. And has to be within his weapon's range. There's a helpful counter that tells you how many enemies your active trooper can see. Click on it and a range will appear to the right. Click on the range and you will turn to face that target. You need to keep an eye on that counter while you are moving. You also get reports during the AI's movement phase if something enters your viewing range, so don't use the AI's turn as an opportunity to refresh your beverage or make room for more, you might miss something important. That's the mechanics. I have only played the P. campaign where you chose one nation (for ease of recognition, they resemble UK, USA, France, Zulu, Far East and Germanic) and fight the rest. Each side has distinctive uniforms. All sides have the same initial equipment (rifle, pistol, grenade, first aid kit). Every turn, cash allowing, you may research an item for specific class troopers. There are 4 ot 5 developments per class. Classes are Sapper, Reccon, Gunny, Grenadier, Marksman and Fusiler. All sides have access to the same developments. It gets progressively more expensive as you progress up the tech tree. For example, at Medium difficulty the first tier weapon research costs 1000, the second tier in the same class cost 3000. The AI does its own research. In my current game, the Chinese AI developed grenade launchers before I did (Grenadier tier 1). It was NOT a pleasant surprise.
• gamedeal user

  Jul 30, 2015

  Fantastic game if you're a fan of xcom or any other turn-based strategy games. It is very hardcore and has a very cool late 1800s, early 1900s steampunk vibe to it. It has an awesome arsenal from your standard smgs, rifles, lmgs, all the way up to mortars, atomic death rays, and artillery strikes from an array of unique factions. Many who dislike this game don't enjoy it for what it is. It's hard but in a fun way, like dark souls it's all about the challenge. You can have some very cool epic tactically driven moments, ones where you are pinned down my machine gun or mortar fire and need one of your squads to flank the enemy position, or where you need to run in a medic to save a teammate before he bleeds out and need to cover him with supporting fire. My only complaint is that the graphics are somewhat meh, but it honestly won't take much from an experience like this. But otherwise for an indie game I am very impressed and am really glad I picked it up. 8/10
• gamedeal user

  Sep 4, 2014

  I've played the game a good amount and count on logging in more and my first impression was rather good! Granted it is far from the best game out there but you can tell it was made "with love" as they say. I'll start this off by saying this game could do with some more work, although this might be a little harsh, it simply did not feel like a completed game; the campaign map is overly simple, the soundtrack gets repetitive (and so I decided to turn it off and add my own background through playlists), the information on the campaign map and how everything functions is a little hard to figure out and finally but most of all, the AI seems a little "simple". It was not overly hard to defeat, I had to figure out the mechanics more than outwit my opponent. Now with all that said I still think this is worth picking up. Though a little on the pricy end, the game is fun and slightly nostalgic in it's take but very enjoyable. The tatical combat is nice, the setting is too and the overall idea and execution are very good! I would consider this a potential diamond though very rough indeed and am very interested in what this game could become. P.S Steve (I think it's your name) Yorkshire, if you could add a comments section to your website I think it might be useful since people who, like me, are fond of this game and would like to see it grow, could maybe give you points we think could be improved. This is entirely up to you but I would be ready to give you everything I thought was good, what needed improvement and my ideas on what could be done! Of course I don't consider myself an expert but hey if you want my help I'd be happy to give it!
• gamedeal user

  May 22, 2016

  This game needs polish, but apart from that, its great. Really great. Will be looking back into it in a couple of months time but we need to remember that this is an indie game and someone said its a one man team. Meaning give him some slack!
• gamedeal user

  Jun 15, 2015

  Brilliant fun. Open spaces have never been so terrifying.