Five Nations Review Summary

Offers classic RTS gameplay, a varied campaign, and distinct factions, but suffers from bugs, no multiplayer, and limited keybind options.

Extensive campaign content: Players highlight the campaign's length and volume, with reports of 30 to 90 missions, and describe it as massive, huge, and worth the price. The long campaign with voiced missions and cutscenes is a significant positive.

Diverse faction design: Players appreciate the variety among the five factions, noting distinct playstyles, mechanics, and visual differences. This diversity enhances replayability and strategic depth.

Nostalgic old-school RTS feel: The game successfully evokes the classic RTS era of the 90s, blending nostalgia with modern graphics and mechanics. Many reviewers mention a strong resemblance to StarCraft and appreciate the faithful old-school design.

Enjoyable and fun RTS: Reviewers consistently describe the game as fun, satisfying the RTS itch, and being a great entry in the genre. The core gameplay is praised for its solid mechanics and overall enjoyability.

Beautiful 2D visuals: The pre-rendered 2D graphics are repeatedly praised as beautiful, sleek, and refined. The art style contributes positively to the overall aesthetic experience.

Bugs and glitches: Multiple players report bugs, ranging from minor annoyances to more serious issues like save corruption and mission-breaking glitches. The game lacks polish.

Lacks keybinding options: There is no menu to remap controls, and hotkeys are unfamiliar or nonsensical. Players expect standard RTS keybinding flexibility.

Missing multiplayer mode: Players report the complete absence of LAN, P2P, or any multiplayer functionality, limiting the game to single-player campaign and skirmish. This is a major feature gap for an RTS title.

Voice acting poor: Voice acting is criticized as stiff, phoned in, or AI-generated, particularly in the human campaign. This reduces immersion and narrative quality.

Pathfinding issues persist: Units often fail to navigate complex paths, can get stuck, and struggle with small gaps, especially before certain tech unlocks. This negatively impacts both micro and macro gameplay.

Classic RTS gameplay: The game is repeatedly described as an old-school real-time strategy game, reminiscent of Command and Conquer and Starcraft, with a retro atmosphere and modern touches. It features base building, resource gathering, and classic RTS mechanics.

Extensive campaign mode: Players highlight a massive single-player campaign with over 50 missions, divided into chapters, featuring voiced mission briefings and scripted story events. This appears to be a core strength of the game.

Multiple distinct factions: The game offers five asymmetric factions or races, each with unique units, traits, and play styles, with a sixth available in an expansion. This variety is consistently mentioned as a positive feature.

Single-player focus, no multiplayer: The game is currently single-player only, lacking a multiplayer mode. Players note this as a limitation, but it does not detract from the single-player experience.

Skirmish mode available: The game includes an AI skirmish mode in addition to the campaign, offering additional replayability for single-player fans. This mode is separate from the main story.

Performance issues: Multiple reports indicate the game experiences significant performance issues such as lag, stuttering, and unstable frame rates, which can occur randomly or later in play, making the game feel unoptimized and sometimes unplayable.

Random freezes and glitches: The game can flash white or freeze after too many reloads, and screen switching or scrolling outside the active window can also freeze the screen, leading to glitchy and buggy experiences.

Optimization remains problematic: Despite some resolutions being acceptable, general optimization still has issues, with players experiencing stutter and lack of fluidity, indicating ongoing technical challenges.

High population causes stutters: Players report microstutters and lag when there is a high population in the game, as well as significant FPS drops when many events occur on the map simultaneously, which can disrupt gameplay.

Graphics need optimization: Some players feel that the graphics require further optimization, and at the maximum resolution of 2560x1440, the game appears blurry on 4K screens, indicating a need for improved resolution scaling and texture updates.

Recommended for classic RTS fans: The most common sentiment is that the game appeals strongly to fans of classic real-time strategy games, especially those who enjoyed StarCraft, Command and Conquer, and similar titles. Many reviewers highlight its nostalgic value and old-school gameplay style.

Great StarCraft alternative: Many reviewers recommend the game as a solid alternative to StarCraft or classic RTS titles, with one calling it the best StarCraft alternative on the market. It seems to fill a niche for players seeking similar gameplay.

Not for general audiences: Some reviewers caution that the game is not for everyone, catering to a niche audience of 90s RTS players, and hard to recommend for general audiences. It may be too dated or lacking in polish for mainstream players.

Awaiting fixes or sale: Several reviewers mention they will wait for fixes, a sale, or a lower price before purchasing, citing issues that need addressing or the game not being worth its full price. This suggests the game has notable flaws despite its appeal.

Low price justifies purchase: Several reviewers mention that the game is worth its price, especially when on sale, with one noting it is appropriately priced at $20. This suggests that value for money is a positive aspect for many.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $15.00.

Game completion: 40.0h.

The game begins with a slow, unfriendly introduction featuring poor readability and a weak story, but enjoyment increases after progressing through early human missions into alien missions where the story and variety improve.

Friction: slow pacing; boring introduction; difficult terrain and unit differentiation; lack of tutorial; weak story.

Unlock drivers: alien missions; story progression; mission variety; new challenges.

Nostalgic Campaign Enthusiast: Plays through lengthy single-player campaigns and skirmish against AI, embracing retro mechanics and storytelling. Motivation: Nostalgic campaign experience and classic RTS design. Stance: buy.

Bug-Aware Indie Supporter: Cautiously plays campaigns, often encountering bugs and missing features; still enjoys core gameplay. Motivation: Supporting indie development while tolerating flaws for the old-school feel. Stance: deep sale.

Multiplayer-Limited Frustrated Player: Completes campaigns while wishing for multiplayer; would engage in competitive play if available. Motivation: Desire for multiplayer to enhance the already solid single-player foundation. Stance: deep sale.

Frequent comparisons to StarCraft: Many reviews directly compare the game to StarCraft, describing it as a clone or carbon copy set in space. Others note similarities to StarCraft: Brood War and StarCraft 1, particularly in atmosphere and gameplay.

Comparisons to classic RTS titles: The game is frequently compared to classic RTS games like Command & Conquer, Age of Empires, and Red Alert, with some reviewers noting nostalgia value. It is also compared to Star Trek: Armada and Conquest: Frontier Wars, which some reviewers see as the true reference points.

Multiplayer currently unavailable: Several reviews note that the game has no multiplayer at the time of review. This is seen as a limitation, but some reviewers mention that it is in development and expected in the future.

Developer support is active: Reviewers highlight that the developers actively update the game with patches and improvements. This ongoing support is viewed positively and reassures players about the game's future.

Small development team: Multiple reviews mention that the game is developed by only a two-person team, which is seen as impressive given the game's scope. This fact is often noted as a remarkable achievement.