Ukrainian Warfare: Gostomel Heroes Review Summary

Enjoyable gameplay and stunning graphics with a gripping story, but the short campaign, AI bugs, frequent crashes, and heavy propaganda undermine the experience.

Game is enjoyable overall: Players consistently describe the game as fun, engaging, and well-made, with positive emotions and addictive gameplay. The game is praised for being both challenging and satisfying.

Excellent RTS gameplay: The game is highly regarded as a top-tier real-time strategy title, with a solid formula and mechanics that appeal to both beginners and veterans. It is considered one of the best in its genre.

High-quality graphics: Reviewers frequently compliment the game's visual presentation, noting that the graphics are detailed, beautiful, and a significant improvement over previous titles. The visual quality enhances the overall experience.

Improvement over previous title: The game is seen as a clear improvement over its predecessor, with better gameplay, GUI, and reduced jankiness. Players appreciate the refinements made in this installment.

Strong story and gameplay: The game features a solid, engaging story that complements its good gameplay, keeping players invested throughout. The narrative is well-developed and interesting.

Campaign too short: Players consistently report the game is too short, with only 6 missions and a playtime of 7-10 hours. The lack of content and abrupt ending left many disappointed.

Pathfinding and AI bugs: Numerous reports describe poor AI pathfinding, with units getting stuck on fences, in buildings, or running in circles. Soldiers also get stuck in terrain objects, and allied AI behaves stupidly, missing shots at close range.

Crashes and save issues: The game frequently crashes, including blue screens, crashes on mission start, and crashes when loading saves. Save loading is unreliable, with only autosaves working after a crash, making the game practically unplayable for some.

Heavy propaganda narrative: Players criticize the story as blatant Russian propaganda, with preachy speeches about Russian superiority and revisionist history. The propaganda is present even in small details, detracting from the experience.

Worse than Syrian Warfare: Many players compare this game unfavorably to the previous title, Syrian Warfare, citing worse gameplay, story, perspective, and overall experience. The game also has more bugs and less variety than its predecessor.

Real-time strategy genre: The game is consistently described as a real-time strategy (RTS) title, often with tactical elements and a modern setting. It is compared to games like Sudden Strike and Warfare series.

Vehicle capture mechanics: The game allows capturing and repairing enemy vehicles, including tanks and BTRs. Captured vehicles can be used in subsequent missions, adding strategic depth.

Squad upgrade system: Units can be upgraded and customized with equipment and weapons. This system allows players to tailor their squads to their preferred playstyle.

Realistic difficulty settings: Players mention multiple difficulty levels, including a realistic mode where the player is heavily outnumbered. The game is challenging even on medium difficulty, with a 'heavy' difficulty option.

Campaign with long missions: The game features a campaign mode consisting of six very long missions. The missions are diverse and form the core of the single-player experience.

Frequent game crashes: Multiple players report the game crashing occasionally, frequently, or constantly, sometimes despite good hardware. Crashes occur during missions, between missions, after updates, and even at the main menu.

Long loading times: Loading times are frequently criticized as extremely long, even on fast SSDs and M.2 drives. This affects mission starts, quick loads, save loads, and returning to the main menu.

Poor game optimization: Many reviewers note that the game is poorly optimized, with weak technical performance, freezes, and low frame rates on various hardware. The engine seems to struggle with demanding scenes and high unit counts.

Slow shader compilation: Shader compilation on first launch and during gameplay is reported as slow and time-consuming, with some players noting it takes several minutes. This adds to the overall loading burden.

Mixed performance reports: While many complain about performance, some players report the game runs smoothly with no crashes or bugs. This suggests performance may vary significantly based on hardware and settings.

Recommended for strategy fans: The game is highly recommended for lovers of strategy and tactical games, including both veterans and newcomers to the genre. It appeals to fans of real-time strategy and tactics.

Game recommended overall: Many reviewers strongly recommend the game, with some buying it without hesitation. The overall verdict is positive, encouraging purchase.

Recommended for Syrian Warfare fans: Reviewers who enjoyed the previous Syrian Warfare game recommend this title to similar audiences. It offers a comparable experience for fans of the developer's earlier work.

Not recommended currently: Some reviewers cannot recommend the game at this time due to bugs or unfinished state. They advise waiting for fixes or future updates before purchasing.

Recommended for military history buffs: The game is recommended for enthusiasts of modern military history, especially those interested in the events of 2022. It provides a firsthand look at contemporary conflicts.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $15.00.

Game completion: 15.0h.

Story completion: 7.0h.

Session length: 3.0h.

The game starts with a steep learning curve and lengthy tutorial/loading screens, but once players master the mechanics it becomes addictive and engaging.

Friction: long loading screens; tutorial missions taking over an hour; steep learning curve; tedious planning due to unpredictable enemy spawns; overbearing propaganda.

Unlock drivers: getting the hang of the mechanics; persisting through the early missions; learning the game's systems.

Hardcore Realistic RTS Veteran: Methodical, uses pause and careful micro, invests in veteran squads and custom loadouts. Motivation: Realistic tactical challenge and persistent unit progression across missions. Stance: buy.

Frustrated Tactics Purist: Attempts to use tactical maneuvers but is blocked by rigid scripting, poor controls, and stat-heavy enemy compositions. Motivation: Desire for genuine strategic depth and fair, counterable challenges rather than scripted difficulty. Stance: no buy.

Content and Replayability Seeker: Seeks to extend play beyond the campaign, wants PvP or co-op modes and community content. Motivation: Replayability through multiplayer, skirmish, modding, and additional missions. Stance: sale.

Performance is largely negative across lower and mid-range VRAM cohorts due to optimization issues, crashes, and low FPS, while the highest VRAM cohort reports smooth performance.

Windows <8GB VRAM / <16GB RAM: negative. Users report frequent crashes, long load times, and low FPS despite recommending the game, with optimization issues dominating.

Windows <8GB VRAM / 16-31GB RAM: negative. Users report optimization problems and crashes after updates, leading to unstable performance.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: negative. Users report poor optimization, single-core CPU usage, and frequent frame drops below 30 FPS.

Steam Deck: The game exhibits severe stability issues, including frequent crashes on save/load and new game start, save corruption, and performance problems like frame drops. Linux/Steam Deck compatibility is poor, requiring manual setup and still risking crashes. Overall, the experience is broken for many users.

Linux and Proton: The limited Linux-specific feedback presents a mixed picture. One user reports a consistent crash on difficulty selection, potentially tied to Linux, while another confirms the game runs well on Linux after following a pinned setup guide for Wine and Proton. The requirement for a dedicated setup guide indicates that tinkering is needed, but the game is not universally broken or unsupported.

Frequent comparisons to Syrian Warfare: Players frequently compare this game to the developer's previous title, Syrian Warfare, with many noting it as a modernized or improved version, while others feel the gameplay or story is worse. This comparison is the most common theme in the feedback.

Improvement over previous titles: Many reviewers note that the game is a significant step up from the developer's earlier games, with improvements in AI, physics, graphics, and controls. This is seen as a positive evolution of the series.

Comparisons to other RTS games: The game is often compared to other real-time strategy titles like Company of Heroes, with mixed opinions on whether it is better or worse. These comparisons help players contextualize the game's mechanics and quality.

Anticipation for future DLC: Many reviewers express excitement for upcoming DLC, hoping for new vehicles, maps, and additional missions. They indicate a willingness to purchase more content for the game.

Developer identity noted: Players identify the developer as 'Cats Who Play' or similar variations, and often reference the studio's previous work when discussing the game. This suggests the developer's reputation is a key point of discussion.