If you’re a regular, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I have been critical of Broken Arrow in the past. When examining online comments about it using Google’s Gemini, it cited Strategy and Wargaming as a main source of concern about the way infantry is implemented in the game. After spending a considerable amount of time getting to know its systems in more detail, I might have been slightly mistaken.
- Genre: Real-Time Strategy/ Real-Time Tactics/ Military-Sim
- Developer: Steel Balalaika
- Publisher: Slitherine Ltd.
- Release Date: 16th June, 2025
- Price: $49.99/ 48,99€/ £41.99
- Buy at: Steam
- Reviewed On: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3.70 GHz, 16GB RAM, NVIDIA GTX 2080
Let’s start with the basics, shall we? Broken Arrow is a real-time strategy (RTS)/ real-time tactics (RTT) and one of 2025’s most anticipated games, and the most wishlisted strategy game of the year with over 1,000,000 players anxiously waiting for a chance to finally give it a go.
Broken Arrow Basics and Inspirations VS Aspirations
Clearly drawing its inspiration from the likes of Wargame: Red Dragon, WARNO, and Regiments, with the base gameplay being pretty much the same, and planning on entering a fiercely competitive real-time strategy and military tactics with the aforementioned titles already occupying some solid positions within their player base, especially WARNO, which has a very active multiplayer scene with a vibrant community, Broken Arrow really needs to set itself apart in more ways than one. After playing it rather extensively, I think Steel Balalaika and Slitherine managed to create something that, while iterative, manages to offer a much different experience than the other titles.
This review is going to focus on what makes Broken Arrow different from the other games and to help you decide if this is worth your time, and especially your money, as Broken Arrow is the most expensive title of all. If the times were different, I would say that with triple-A pricing, I would be expecting triple-A quality, but quality is something most triple-A titles have been found lacking in spades, in 2025.
The Novelty of 21st Century Warfare
Broken Arrow wants to set itself apart by blending the complexity of realistic wargames alongside the action-packed real-time strategy gameplay of other, more traditional RTS games. Add to that a pinch of amazing graphic detail, deep deck and unit customization, and a modern-day setting with all the tactical complexity that it entails. I’ll let you know right away that Broken Arrow nails every aspect of this, and it presents a strong enough package that sets itself apart from all other games.
The most striking difference is the modern-day setting. While all other competing titles are set during the Cold War, Broken Arrow decided to kick things up a notch and trust players into 21st-century warfare. This modern-day setting isn’t only set-dressing, quite the contrary. It’s a deliberate design decision, as the tactical complexity of the battlefield increases exponentially with today’s technology, and the game went to great lengths to design mechanics that are specifically tailored to represent that in authentic ways. By doing this, the game immediately introduces a new set of tactical challenges and considerations no other competing title can match. Things like stealth fighters and drones, tanks with modern-day protection packages and active protection systems, laser-guided bombs, radar missile technology, and even modern small arms are just a few of the things you’ll get to experience and will need to adapt to.
Next up is the scope of its mechanical depth. While WARNO was a definite improvement over Wargame: Red Dragon in terms of complexity and making the game feel a bit more complex aside from a numbers game, I also think that Broken Arrow has WARNO beat in this department, and in my opinion, it’s not even close.
Army Builder: Building Decks and Unit Customization
This level of mechanical complexity starts out in deck management. In Broken Arrow, the decks are created by mixing two Specializations together. There are 10 at the moment, 5 for the United States, and 5 for the Russians. Each of these specializations has specific units and specific point allocations for whatever type of unit you can field. Say if you choose two specializations with a higher focus on infantry, you will have more points to deploy infantry. If you prefer rolling armor, then pick two specializations with a focus on armor. This system means that there’s never going to be an optimal choice of deck, at least most of the time, and compromises have to be made when deciding where you are going to specialize in, hence the name. These specializations can vary wildly between themselves, with some totally lacking certain types of units altogether, for example, the Mobile Infantry having no access to helicopters, or the airborne division having no armored vehicles. This methodology of doing certain concessions might have some of you scratching your heads and thinking that it might be a frustrating affair if you find yourself playing online while completely lacking a specific unit type. Well, I’ll talk more about multiplayer later down the line, but let’s say this system is supposed to work like this because of the multiplayer design itself as well.
Before we get into the battlefield, we still need to go over unit customization, another distinguishing feature of Broken Arrow. While building your deck from the two specializations you just picked, you’ll also have the possibility of customizing the loadouts of each of your units. When I heard that Broken Arrow only had around 300 units, while something like WARNO is probably in the thousands, I was a bit confused as to why they would do this. Well, the reason why- I assume- is precisely because of this customization system. While the other titles have a unit number for each variant of a weapons platform, Broken Arrow gives you the basic weapons platform and the option of customizing it as you will. Let’s take the Stryker, for example There’s only one Stryker unit in the game, but what you can do is to customize it however you want. Need a Stryker with a Bushmaster cannon? Pick that weapon system. One with an M2 heavy machine gun? Choose that. MK19 Grenade launcher version? There’s that as well. While you’re at it, pick its armor package as well. Are you going to choose SRAT reactive armor? Or Trophy APS? You can even change the cannons in BMPs and the weapons of infantry squads. As far as your planes and helicopters are concerned, the same can be done to each pylon, allowing for unprecedented levels of customization. Yes, there’s a lot in here, a whole lot. If you’re someone who loves obsessing about customizing your force, this is the best you have at the moment. Oh, and if you like customizing the way your forces look, there are several skins for your units which you can unlock through challenges. This will most likely go unnoticed in the heat of the fight, but it’s a nice touch.
In-Depth Battlefield Mechanics Which Set Broken Arrow Appart
Now, let’s dive into the battlefield mechanics before we take a look at the game modes. The new level of tactical complexity Broken Arrow wants to introduce manifests itself in a few ways. Let’s start with my favorite: infantry! Long have I been complaining that games like WARNO and Regiments never did infantry justice, treating them like simple garrisons for buildings or cannon fodder. Now, Broken Arrow isn’t perfect in any way, and I have said that multiple times already, however, the inclusion of stealth, suppression mechanics, and the ability to occupy the rubble of destroyed buildings is a massive change in the right direction. I want to highlight the inclusion of suppression mechanics that are directly related to a unit’s combat efficiency. Let them become shocked or panicked by coming under heavy fire, and their combat effectiveness will decrease dramatically. This makes the otherwise uneventful infantry versus infantry engagements into something more complex than a numbers or statistics game, where positioning and cover can win the fight.
My penchant for unit vulnerability might sound like voyeurism, but that’s the reality of war, and once things are damaged or destroyed, there’s no turning back. The impact of the fighting can also be felt on the vehicles, due to the game’s modular damage models. Every hit counts and vehicles have different components such as tracks, sights and even loading mechanisms that can be damaged throughout a battle, and in some cases even completely disabled. This means that on the better side of things, your units can become less effective, but in extreme cases, they can turn completely useless if you don’t repair them. An expensive tank that can’t be moved or repaired can be a massive burden in the amount of requisition points you have available.
This brings me to another point which is supplies. In Broken Arrow supplies are not only for ammunition but also for repairs. There are specific units whose sole purpose is to go around the map, dropping supplies and moving existing supplies around to replenish necessities as needed. This means that you need to protect these supply convoys, but they’re also a massive target on the enemy’s back if you can take them out. These units come in multiple types, from trucks to helicopters.
Play Broken Arrow As You Want: Singleplayer, Multiplayer and Editor
A game like Broken Arrow can be quite daunting to get going, and if Wargame: Red Dragon and WARNO were already complex enough to put some people off, the barrier for entry in Broken Arrow didn’t go down one bit, and the game still demands plenty of time and dedication to fully understand all the mechanics, and minutia. But, fortunately, you don’t have to scale the barrier anymore, and now there’s a nice, smooth ramp to help you get to the top. Don’t get me wrong, the ramp is still quite the challenge, but at least it’s something.
You’ll begin your journey with a short, but useful tutorial that gets you familiar with each of the unit types’ main mechanics and systems, in a relaxed environment, without immediately overwhelming and throwing you into combat. You’ll learn the basics of infantry movement and suppression, logistics, tank combat, artillery, stealth, and how to best use your air assets. After that, you can start playing the game’s massive single-player campaign, where you play both from the United States and Russian POV as they fight for the fate of the Baltic states. This single-player campaign is going to be very familiar for those of you who have played World In Conflict back in the day and are looking for a similar experience. The campaign is long, with 16 missions in total, with each giving you a unique challenge, from stealthy infiltrations to desperate defenses, urban fighting, armored strikes, and even amphibious and airborne assaults. I think that the Broken Arrow campaign is probably the second best of all the strategy games that have come out in 2025, just right after Burden of Command, but that’s a totally different style of game.
As expected, where Broken Arrow is truly going to live or die is in its multiplayer matches, as players start to test their tactical acumen against real human beings and not just silicon opponents. For those of you, there are the 5vs5 competitive matches across 19 maps based on real-life locations. There have been quite a number of playtesting sessions before, but if you don’t know how the game mode is going to work, is that every match lasts 45 minutes, with 3 15-minute rounds where plays must capture the largest amount of possible objectives or kill the most amount of enemy units possible. At the end of the match, those points are counted to define who’s the winning team. The twist lies in the fact that the points for achieving one objective in round 1 are just 1, in round 2 each objective counts for 2 victory points, and in round 3 each objective is worth 3 victory points! This is meant to keep the tension high and to prevent early steamrolling from completely obliterating players early on. It’s a great match structure and a cool idea, but I’m curious to see its longevity, and I think Broken Arrow would greatly benefit from having, at release, 1vs1 and 3vs3 matches with a basic game mode. There’s also a skirmish mode for players to practice against the AI, but you need at least two other players to get a game going. Quite an odd choice, that one.
But where Broken Arrow really sets itself apart in this department is by giving players its powerful scenario editor. While this might sound a bit too generic, it is, in fact, the same tool used to craft the game’s campaign, cutscenes included. Not only that but there’s also Steam Workshop integration for players to share their missions and campaigns. Have played a bit with the tool, there are plenty of options, and I can see imaginative players putting in some really cool missions.
Graphics: Broken Arrow Is An Undeniable Looker
WARNO, Regiments, and Wargame: Red Dragon all look pretty damn good to me, but it wouldn’t be a fair thing to say that they’re all at the same level. WARNO is clean, easy to read at a massive scale, and has a nice color palette. Regiments is a bit rough, but for a game made by one guy, it gets the job done and doesn’t hog a lot of resources. Broken Arrow is a massive beast of high fidelity, but this comes with the caveat that you need a semi-decent machine to get it to run at a bare minimum of 60FPS while still enjoying its graphical quality. Units are extremely detailed, even to the scratches on the paint of the armor. The animations are great for both vehicles and infantry. The explosion and smoke effects will be the most resource-intensive, but if your machine can handle it, they are really good, and if you can’t, then they look jarring when compared to the overwhelming graphical fidelity of everything else.
The maps are not the most graphically varied, but I can give that a pass because the game is all centered in Eastern Europe, and it’s going for a realistic kind of map, so there’s only so much you can do. They are, however, quite huge, with hundreds of buildings, trees, and all kinds of objects and small details. These maps can be broken into bits when playing around with the scenario editor, so in all honesty, the maps available are more like a canvas for you to pick from.
Some Cracks Showing Up
I have sung Broken Arrow’s praises long enough, and even though I consider it to be an amazing experience, and one of the best real-time strategy games of 2025, one must also come to realize that the game isn’t flawless, and some of the decisions leave a lot of room for improvement.
While mechanics wise the game is really damn solid, and what the team has done with the infantry mechanics is something I have been enjoying a whole lot, I also recognize that the game could have done a bit more. I would like to see a dynamic cover system similar to Company of Heroes, where vehicles, the terrain, and even small walls and other obstacles could offer cover. I also think that the inclusion of things like activatable hand grenades and other abilities could be a nice touch.
With so many options in the way players can enjoy the game, it genuinely makes sense to me why one can’t play single-player skirmish matches against the AI, if the AI is already in place to play as the enemy. This can be a massive turn-off for a lot of people, so hopefully this will get fixed soon. The lack of 1vs1 matches is also somewhat annoying. This means that unless you have at least two other people to play with you, you’re out of luck at the moment. This point seems to be the one most negative player reviews are focusing on, but there are also almost 30,000 people playing it, so if you can stomach playing this with other folk, I don’t think you’ll have a problem finding new players.
Final Score 8.5/10
Broken Arrow is not a perfect game, but in its genre, it is the new undisputable king in my eyes, only time will tell if there’s enough meat on its bones for a multiplayer community to be built around it. On paper, it has everything going for it, especially when compared to Eugen titles, as it is without a shadow of a doubt the most in-depth, the most up to date and the most complete experience, especially if, you’re someone like me, who enjoys a lot more the setting of modern-day conflicts instead of the Cold War ones and love a good singleplayer experience. Pair that up with a fantastic and well-executed campaign, a great deck-building system based around specialties that allows for endless customizability, then Broken Arrow not only stands out as the best game of the genre but also as one of the best strategy experiences you can have in 2025. I would highly recommend Broken Arrow if you enjoy all of the titles mentioned here but, like myself, were waiting for a modern-day version of them, with amazing new mechanics to boot. Were it not for the previously mentioned flaws pertaining to the lack of AI teammates to play in skirmish, and at least having 1vs1 matches, I would give Broken Arrow a 9 without thinking twice. I’ll update this review once that’s fixed.
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