Info about Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront:

Official game description:
Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront features the Eastern Front and its “Great Patriotic War” fought between the USSR and Germany. This RTS will take you from June 1941 until the end of the war in May 1945.
Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront offers a choice of game modes including Singleplayer, dynamic campaign, PvE, PvP and co-op.
With its instantly switchable views, there’s something for every type of player. First person gunner views for all vehicles, third person views for vehicles and infantry, classic top-down direct control of a single unit or classic RTS top-down; they are all available and instantly switchable.
Conquest (dynamic campaign) mode offers singleplayer and co-op modes to play with your friends. Both modes allow you to compose your own army group, research new units and strategically advance in different paths to dominate the battlefield. The dynamic campaign can range from short to unlimited campaign lengths.
PvP/PvE offers a wide variety of maps from 1v1 to 4v4, and the use of “Doctrines”. These allow you to choose your own special units that fit your individual playstyle. The stage of the war (Early/Mid/Late) can be selected, to experience the evolution of equipment and vehicles as the conflict progressed.
Single player campaigns take place at historical locations, painstakingly recreated and immersive as hell.
Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront offers:
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*   12 historical singleplayer missions that can also be played in co-op with friends.
*   30 PvE and PvP maps
*   PvE Dynamic campaigns in which you develop your own army and fight an ever- changing war across a big collection of maps
*   PvP multiplayer offers doctrines to specialize your armies
*   Instantly switchable 3rd person/ direct control view mode for infantry
*   Instantly switchable 1st person/ 3rd person / direct control view mode for vehicles
*   Over 250 vehicles and 100 heavy weapons at your disposal
*   Air support mechanics and off-map artillery support
*   Realistically armored vehicles with accurate armor layouts, historical ammo loadouts and fully modeled internal components
*   The most realistic armor penetration and ammunition mechanics of any RTS out there
*   Land mines, magnetic mines, obstacle-laying, foxhole-building, bayonets, smokescreens, medics and countless other game mechanics
*   Authentic sound design and visuals
*   A full in- game editor plus modding/ workshop support

Release date: 11 Jun, 2021

Categories: Real-time Strategy, Unit Management, Cooperative Multiplayer, Competitive Multiplayer, Mod Support, Character Progression, Strategic Combat, Vehicular Combat


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Highly Praised & Immersive (weight 0.6): Players consistently praise the game for its overall quality, immersive realism, and engaging gameplay experience. The game is frequently described as fun, addictive, and a standout title in the WWII genre, with many reviewers highlighting its detailed graphics and sound design as contributing to the immersive atmosphere.
- Detailed Unit Control & Realism (weight 0.49): A core strength of the game is its unparalleled unit control, allowing players to directly command individual soldiers and vehicles in first or third-person. This feature, combined with deep tactical gameplay, historical accuracy, and detailed combat mechanics like armor penetration and localized damage, creates a highly realistic and immersive battlefield experience.
- Top-Tier WWII RTS (weight 0.46): The game is consistently lauded as one of the best, if not the best, RTS game, particularly within the WWII genre. Reviewers appreciate its strategic depth, unique mechanics, and how it surpasses or offers a refreshing alternative to other popular RTS titles like Men of War and Company of Heroes.
- High Replayability & Content (weight 0.3): The game offers extensive replayability through its robust multiplayer, co-op modes, and dynamic campaign. Players highlight the continuous developer support, regular content updates, and an active community as key factors that keep the game fresh and engaging for hundreds of hours.
- Superior Men of War Successor (weight 0.22): Many reviewers consider this game to be the true spiritual successor and a significant improvement over the Men of War series, especially Men of War: Assault Squad 2. It is frequently cited as what Men of War 2 should have been, offering enhanced graphics, better balance, and more refined gameplay while retaining the beloved core mechanics.
- Excellent Mod Support (weight 0.2): The game benefits significantly from its strong mod support and active modding community. Reviewers frequently mention that mods enhance replayability, add new content, and can even transform the gameplay experience, making the game even more enjoyable and versatile.
- Challenging & Rewarding Gameplay (weight 0.19): The game offers a challenging yet rewarding experience, particularly in its Conquest mode and on higher difficulties. While it has a learning curve, players find it satisfying to master the complex mechanics and strategic thinking required, with tutorials helping new players get accustomed to the gameplay.
- Impressive Visuals & Sound (weight 0.17): The game features impressive visual and sound effects, particularly for explosions, gunfire, and environmental destruction. Reviewers note the significant graphical improvements over predecessors, realistic sound design, and detailed particle effects that enhance the battlefield atmosphere and immersion.
- Satisfying Tank Combat (weight 0.12): Tank combat is a highly praised aspect, described as cinematic, realistic, and incredibly satisfying. Reviewers enjoy the detailed damage models, realistic ammunition types, and the immersive experience of directly controlling tanks in first or third-person, making vehicle destruction particularly gratifying.
- Active Developer Support (weight 0.07): Developers are consistently updating and improving the game with regular patches, bug fixes, and new content. This ongoing support is highly appreciated by the community, ensuring the game remains stable, evolves over time, and addresses player feedback.

Common complaints:
- Poor & Unreliable AI (weight 0.33): The AI, both friendly and enemy, is consistently criticized for being unintelligent and unreliable. Units exhibit poor decision-making, pathfinding issues, and often fail to engage targets or utilize their abilities effectively, requiring constant player intervention.
- Technical Issues & Performance (weight 0.31): The game suffers from significant technical issues, including frequent crashes, poor optimization, and an outdated engine. These problems lead to a frustrating and unpolished experience, with performance drops and graphical shortcomings.
- Unrealistic & Inconsistent Combat (weight 0.27): Combat mechanics suffer from realism issues, inconsistent unit behavior, and balance problems. Units often fail to engage targets, prioritize incorrectly, or exhibit unrealistic durability/vulnerability, leading to frustrating and illogical combat scenarios, especially with tanks.
- Excessive Micromanagement & Controls (weight 0.26): The game requires excessive micromanagement of individual units, which becomes tedious and overwhelming, especially with larger forces. The control scheme is often clunky and unintuitive, making basic actions and unit commands difficult to execute efficiently.
- Repetitive Campaign & Skirmishes (weight 0.21): The campaign and skirmish modes are often described as repetitive, unengaging, and lacking variety. Missions frequently follow similar patterns, and the dynamic campaign can become monotonous, with some missions also suffering from poor design and balance.
- Broken Multiplayer Experience (weight 0.18): Multiplayer is severely hampered by technical problems, primarily due to a poor P2P connection system. This results in constant lag, frequent disconnections, and crashes, making online play often unplayable and frustrating for all participants.
- Problematic Mod Support (weight 0.09): Mod support is problematic, with frequent game updates breaking mod compatibility and causing instability. Users report crashes when using mods, difficulty managing them, and issues with save file corruption, making the modding experience frustrating.
- Steep Learning Curve (weight 0.09): The game has a steep and punishing learning curve, making it difficult for new or casual players to grasp its complex control systems, unit management, and strategic depth. This high entry barrier can lead to initial frustration and a lack of accessibility.
- Overpriced & Numerous DLCs (weight 0.08): The game's pricing model, particularly the large number of expensive DLCs, is a significant point of contention. Many players feel that essential content is locked behind these DLCs, making the full game experience overly costly and discouraging.

Gameplay feedback:
- Diverse Historical Units & Factions (weight 0.22): The game offers a wide array of historically accurate units, vehicles, and weapons across multiple factions (Germany, USSR, Finland, USA), with additional content available through DLCs, enhancing strategic options and historical immersion.
- RTS and Direct Control (weight 0.22): The game uniquely blends RTS and direct control, allowing players to switch between commanding armies from a top-down view and directly controlling individual units in third or first-person, offering deep tactical flexibility.
- Hardcore WWII RTS (weight 0.21): The game is a hardcore, realistic World War II RTS/RTT with a strong emphasis on strategic depth and micromanagement, building upon the foundations of the Men of War series.
- Dynamic Co-op Campaigns (weight 0.14): The game features robust campaign modes, including a dynamic campaign that can be played solo or cooperatively, offering significant replayability and varied mission objectives.
- Scavenging & Capturing Equipment (weight 0.09): A key mechanic allows players to scavenge equipment, weapons, and even repair and commandeer enemy vehicles and artillery from the battlefield, adding a layer of resource management and tactical opportunism.
- Steep Learning Curve (weight 0.08): The game has a steep learning curve due to its complex mechanics and detailed controls, requiring patience and practice for new players to master, despite a short tutorial.
- Realistic Damage Model (weight 0.08): The game features a highly detailed and realistic damage model for vehicles, particularly tanks, simulating modular damage, armor penetration, and critical hits, requiring precise tactical engagement.
- Conquest Mode & Progression (weight 0.08): The Conquest mode is a significant feature where players progress through battles, earning points and researching new units via a tech tree, allowing for army progression and strategic choices.
- Intensive Micromanagement (weight 0.04): The game is very micromanagement-heavy, requiring players to constantly manage individual units, their inventories, and tactical decisions, which can be overwhelming for some.
- Consistent Developer Support (weight 0.04): The developers consistently update the game with new content, including free updates and paid DLCs, and maintain an active community presence, indicating ongoing support and a commitment to the game's longevity.

Performance notes:
- Frequent Performance Issues (weight 0.16): The game frequently experiences significant frame rate drops, especially during intense battles or with many units on screen. This leads to stuttering, freezes, and crashes, indicating poor optimization and high hardware demands.
- High RAM Usage (weight 0.05): The game is very memory-intensive, with many players recommending 32 GB of RAM for optimal performance, especially on ultra settings. Players with 16 GB of RAM often experience stuttering and performance issues.
- Long Loading Times (weight 0.03): Loading times are excessively long, with some players reporting waits of several minutes. Installing the game on an SSD is highly recommended to significantly reduce these loading times.
- Graphics Settings Need Tweaking (weight 0.01): While graphics are generally considered good, some default settings, particularly shadows, can negatively impact performance and visual comfort, requiring manual tweaking.
- Multiplayer Lag Spreads (weight 0.01): Multiplayer performance is negatively impacted by individual players' PC performance, causing lag and freezes for the entire lobby. More players in a match generally lead to lower FPS for everyone.
- Laggy Unit Pathfinding (weight 0.01): The pathfinding system for units can be very laggy, especially when calculating paths for hundreds of infantry units, leading to significant FPS drops.
- Improved Performance Post-Update (weight 0.01): Recent community updates and a new engine have reportedly improved the game's performance and made it more comfortable to play.
- Water Quality Causes Crashes (weight 0.01): Reducing water quality settings can resolve crashing issues in specific game scenarios, such as Operation Downfall.
- Overwhelming Sound Design (weight 0.01): The game features overwhelming and immersive sound design due to two large-scale sound updates, including detailed spatial audio.

Recommendations:
- Highly Recommended Game (weight 0.3): The game is highly recommended by players, often receiving high ratings (8-10/10). Many reviewers emphasize its value for money, especially when purchased on sale, and express overall enjoyment and satisfaction with the game.
- Ideal for WWII RTS Fans (weight 0.24): The game is strongly recommended for fans of World War II history and real-time strategy (RTS) games, particularly those who enjoy realistic tactical combat and titles like Men of War or Company of Heroes. It's considered a must-have for this niche.
- Potential, but Needs Fixes (weight 0.12): While the game has significant potential, some reviewers find it hard to recommend due to issues like weak AI, multiplayer bugs, and performance problems. They suggest waiting for patches or playing with a powerful system and good internet.
- Buy on Sale, Get DLCs (weight 0.1): Reviewers frequently advise purchasing the game and its DLCs during sales due to their value. Many recommend acquiring all DLCs for the most complete experience, though some note they aren't strictly mandatory.
- Deep, Realistic RTS (weight 0.06): The game is praised for its deep strategic gameplay, historical accuracy, and immersive combat, making it a top-tier RTS experience. It's recommended for players who enjoy challenging tactical warfare and micromanagement.
- Needs More Recognition (weight 0.02): Reviewers believe the game deserves more attention and players, hoping for a more successful future. They note it requires strategic thinking and attention to detail, suggesting it needs further refinement.
- Compare to Other RTS (weight 0.02): Some reviewers suggest playing Men of War or Company of Heroes instead, or recommend Call to Arms alongside Men of War. This indicates a preference for other titles in the genre or a comparison of experiences.

Other player notes:
- Ongoing Development & Potential (weight 0.13): Players consistently express a desire for ongoing development, including bug fixes, optimization, and new content. The game is perceived as having significant potential that can be realized through continued updates.
- More Content & Factions (weight 0.07): There's a strong demand for more diverse content, specifically new nations, factions, campaigns (e.g., Pacific, Italy), and additional skirmish missions. Players also want the inclusion of air and naval units.
- Map Design & Strategy (weight 0.02): Players suggest improvements to map design and strategic elements, such as adding strategic attributes to regions and modifying building restrictions.
- High System Requirements (weight 0.01): The game requires a significant amount of hard drive space (60-70 GB) and a fast PC, which can be a barrier for some players.
- Mixed Music Reception (weight 0.01): Opinions on the game's music are mixed, with some finding it unremarkable or even bad, while others consider it acceptable or good background music.

Emotions:
- Satisfaction (weight 0.32): Players expressed satisfaction due to the game's high overall quality, deep tactical gameplay, and historical authenticity. Key factors included engaging campaigns, realistic graphics, extensive mod support, and continuous developer improvements, providing excellent value and replayability.
- Frustration (weight 0.19): Frustration stemmed primarily from persistent technical issues such as frequent crashes, poor optimization, and long loading times. Additionally, players were frustrated by incompetent AI (pathfinding, targeting, friendly fire), tedious micromanagement, and unbalanced gameplay mechanics.
- Disappointment (weight 0.12): Disappointment was largely driven by the game's unpolished state, technical issues like poor optimization, and a perceived lack of content or innovation in the base game. Players also expressed disappointment with AI shortcomings, DLC pricing strategies, and unfulfilled promises from developers.
- Excitement (weight 0.07): Excitement was generated by the game's visceral and engaging combat, particularly the powerful tank units and unique direct unit control. Players were also excited by the game's tactical depth, immersive realism, extensive mod support, and the potential for future content.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.04): Players found enjoyment in mastering the game's strategic and complicated mechanics, especially after overcoming the initial learning curve. The fun factor was enhanced by the dynamic campaign, engaging core gameplay, and the ability to control individual units in third or first-person.
- Anger (weight 0.04): Anger arose from severe technical issues like game-breaking crashes and poor optimization, often exacerbated by updates. Players were also angered by perceived unfair game design choices, such as unlimited enemy resources, incompetent AI, and aggressive DLC pricing policies.
- Joy (weight 0.03): Joy was experienced through the overall fun and engaging gameplay, often enhanced by playing with friends. Players particularly enjoyed the dynamic campaign, the ability to steal enemy equipment, and the nostalgic feeling of finding a long-awaited, high-quality game.
- Admiration (weight 0.02): Admiration was expressed for the game's impressive detail, high overall quality, and excellence within the RTS genre. Players admired the game's unique mechanics, historical representation, and the developers' skill in creating a deep and visually stunning experience.
- Appreciation (weight 0.02): Players appreciated the robust modding community and the quality of available mods, which significantly enhanced replayability and content. Appreciation was also extended to the developers for their continuous support, historical research, and attention to detail in game features and visuals.
- Hope (weight 0.02): Hope was centered on the game's future potential, with players desiring further improvements in optimization, AI, and content. There was a strong hope for continued developer support, future updates, and the addition of new factions or game modes to enhance the experience.
- Desire (weight 0.01): Players expressed a desire for more content, including additional skirmish missions, campaigns, and units. There was also a strong desire for missing features like bunkers and trenches, improved AI optimization, and more realism in certain gameplay elements.
- Challenge (weight 0.01): The game's challenge was a significant factor, stemming from its steep learning curve, demanding micromanagement, and strong AI. Players found the campaigns and overall gameplay to be difficult, requiring strategic thought and skill to overcome overwhelming odds.
- Love (weight 0.01): Players expressed love for the game's core gameplay, its unique blend of realism and challenge, and the extensive mod support. The Conquest mode and the game's overall quality, especially its improvements over previous titles, fostered a deep affection among players.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.01): Enthusiasm for the game stemmed from its overall high quality, immersive experience, and its standing as a top-tier RTS. Players were enthusiastic about the innovative mechanics, direct unit control, and the captivating nature of its intense battles.
- Amusement (weight 0.01): Amusement was derived from absurd AI behavior, humorous soldier comments, and unexpected gameplay outcomes. Players found humor in quirky mechanics, micromanagement failures, and the general absurdity of certain in-game situations.
- Annoyance (weight 0.01): Annoyance was caused by persistent bugs, performance issues, and specific developer design choices, such as the Soviet stealth mission. Players also found the minefield mechanic, infantry AI, and DLC content reuse to be annoying.
- Confusion (weight 0): Confusion arose from the game's initial learning curve, complex controls, and unclear unit management. Players also experienced confusion regarding developer choices, mod compatibility, and the randomness of game performance across different systems.
- Nostalgia (weight 0): Nostalgia was a strong emotion, as the game evoked childhood memories of playing with toy soldiers and fulfilled childhood fantasies about WWII. Comparisons to older games like Men of War also contributed to this feeling.
- Engagement (weight 0): Players felt engaged by the game's strategic depth, detailed mechanics, and its time-consuming, addictive nature. The Conquest mode and the emotional connection to units further contributed to a deep and sustained engagement with the game.
- Anticipation (weight 0): Anticipation was driven by the prospect of new DLC, upcoming factions, and future updates. Players looked forward to continued content development and potential improvements, such as a native first-person view, which promised to extend the game's longevity.}