Another week goes by and plenty of news about our favourite strategy and wargames have come out. In this week’s round-up we have the release of the anticipated Commandos: Origins, the arrival on Steam of Armored Brigade 2, and a new look at Stormbinders, a 13-year-old mod for Battle of Middle Earth reached its final version, and the Critical Moves Podcast disagree on which is better: RTS or Turn-Based Strategy.
Become a Hollywood Superstar With Hollywood Animal
One of the more intriguing management simulation games I have seen announced for 2025 has finally come out, and it looks like it’s a hit. Having played Hollywood Animal quite a lot during the last Steam Fest, I was impressed with its depth and the fact that it decided to delve into the less savoury parts of Hollywood, making you feel like a part-time producer or mobster.
Commandos: Origins Stumbles On Release Day
When I received an email letting me know that I wouldn’t be getting a review key I thought to myself “Maybe I’m still just a small website for the likes of Commandos: Origins“- but deep down- on the back of my mind- my suspicions were that the game might not be all that great. It looks like this was the case, with the game’s Steam review currently sitting at an uncomfortable “neutral” rating of around 54% positive reviews. For a series as iconic as Commandos, this isn’t very pleasant.
Fight The Cold War With Armored Brigade 2 On Steam
Jumping on to talk about sequels that are worth your time and money, Slitherine just released Armored Brigade 2 on Steam. This real-time strategy wargame set during the Cold War takes the formula that made the previous game so successful and adds to it a much-needed third dimension. I reviewed the game when it came out at the Slitherine store some months back.
Nordhold Is An Hex Tower Defense Game
I saw Nordhold on Steam and going by its trailer and the very positive Steam reviews it looks like a blast. I wishlisted it just in case, so you might want to do the same.
Burden Of Command Out After 8 Years In Development
That’s right, I never thought I would live to witness the day when Burden of Command would see the light of day. Despite its massive development cycle, I’m glad it did, because to me the game is an instant classic, and the game does well enough so that we can keep having new story DLC. I gave it a 10 ou 10 and named it my new favourite World War 2 game, and you can find out why here.
Wargame Design Studio Game of the Week
This week World War 2 aficionados have been eating up rather well, first Burden of Command comes out to a raving review from yours truly, but if you’re the kind of guy that would rather be a General instead of a Captain, then Wargame Design Studio’s Spring Awakening ’45 might be the game for you. The game zooms into the last major German offensive of World War 2 against the Soviets. The game has 85 scenarios playable by both sides and detailed Orders of Battles and maps.
Battle for Middle Earth Gets New Lease On Life With Mods
The Middle-Earth Extended Edition mod was first released in 2012, but 13 years later it’s still being updated. The most recently expanded the set of playable maps, added new features, tweaked and polished the AI, and did a ton of balance changes and bug fixes. If you want to revisit this classic alongside one of its more complete mods you can do it with the 1.0 version of the mod.
Critical Moves Disagree On Which Is Better: Real-Time or Turn-Based Strategy Games?
If you follow the Critical Moves Podcast you’ll be aware that I’m the strategy gaming Chad who plays all kinds of strategy games, while my terrible, uninformed and beta co-hosts prefer playing just RTS. If you disagree with them (like you should) go and leave a comment saying they’re wrong and nobody likes them.
Warside Looks Cute
If you have found memories of playing Advance Wars on your Gameboy, then you’re going to want to take a look at Warside, a spiritual success to the classical series that follows the original formula so closely they look like the same game. Warside is coming out on the 14th of April, 2025.
Sherman Commander Partners Up With Daedalic Entertainment
Sherman Commander looks like it’s going to emerge from its development like a very unique take on World War 2 tank-commanding, going for a more grounded approach and focusing on armoured and infantry working together to achieve victory. They have just announced that the game found a publisher in Daedalic Entertainment, and hopefully, this will allow them to release the game in 2026 and feature battles from Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of Aachen.
Slitherine Showcases Stormbinders
Stormbinders is the most recent game announced by Slitherine and last thursday they finally allowed us to take a look at their new Heroes of Might and Magic-inspired title.
Field of Glory: Kingdoms Has A Date For DLC
The Rajas and Tribes DLC for the only other alternative we have to Crusader Kings and Total War: Medieval- I am, of course, talking about Field of Glory: Kingdoms- is expanding the game map into the Asian continent and well into Africa. With this new geographic expanse come new mechanics, new civilizations, new buildings, new perks and new scenarios. A lot of new stuff! The DLC is coming out on May 15th, 2025.
Victory At Sea Atlantic Gets Mod Support
Fans of the naval combat strategy game Victory at Sea: Atlantic will be happy to know that the game now features Steam Workshop integration, making mods easier to share and discover! A couple of new units were added as well with this update, such as the USS Alabama, the HMS Repulse, and the dive bomber Junkers Ju 88.
Battlefield Commander WWII Out Now
I don’t know what to think about Battlefield Commander WWII. This real-time tactical game just came out on Steam Early Access with little to no fanfare around it, and the screenshots don’t do a great job of selling it. I searched about it on YouTube and found very little about it too. At least the 3D models look decent.
Xenonauts 2 Reaches A New Milestone
The new update for the best XCOM clone out there, Xenonauts 2 came out and it’s quite a large one. This update introduces several new Geoscape mechanics that add more depth to the strategic layer and also bring a ton of new end-game content, like new types of aliens, a new Battlship UFO, and three new plot missions. In fact, you can now finish the campaign by unlocking Operation Endgame!
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