Iron Harvest Review Summary

Praised for its quality, good story, and engaging campaign, but suffers from terrible pathfinding, abandoned development, and unbalanced gameplay.

Overall game quality praised: The game is consistently described as excellent, fun, and well-made by a large group of reviewers. Gameplay is highlighted as particularly enjoyable and captivating.

Good story appreciated: The story is frequently described as good, interesting, and well-written, contributing positively to the overall experience. The lore and background are also noted as fun.

Engaging campaign experience: The campaign is found to be fun, entertaining, and engaging both narratively and gameplay-wise. Levels are interesting and the narrative keeps players invested.

Mechs are well-liked: Mechs are a favorite feature, praised for their cool design, powerful feel, and impressive animations. They are a highlight of the gameplay experience.

Dieselpunk setting appeals: The dieselpunk theme and atmosphere are major selling points, with many reviewers finding the aesthetic unique and well-executed. This visual style is a key attraction.

Pathfinding is terrible: Multiple users report that unit pathfinding is poor, causing units to get stuck, take inefficient routes, or fail to engage enemies properly. This is a widespread issue affecting gameplay fluidity.

Development has been abandoned: Players note that the game has received no updates, patches, or DLC for years, and developers have abandoned it. This leaves bugs unaddressed and content stagnant.

Unbalanced gameplay: Balance is criticized as out of whack across units, mechs, and factions. Some units are seen as overpowered regardless of cost, and the cover system does not function reliably.

Multiplayer population is low: Players note that the multiplayer scene is barely active, leading to long matchmaking times or an inability to find games. This makes the multiplayer mode feel dead or unviable.

Weak Company of Heroes clone: Many players compare this game unfavorably to the Company of Heroes series, calling it a less polished, slower, and blander imitation. The comparison suggests it fails to capture the pacing and quality of its inspiration.

Real-time strategy steampunk mechs: The game is a real-time strategy (RTS) title set in a steampunk/dieselpunk alternate World War I world. Players command mechs, infantry, and vehicles in tactical battles.

Campaign and story mode: The game features a single-player campaign with many missions, a story mode with integrated tutorial, and a guided main story. Players can play through narrative-driven content.

Infantry and mech synergy: Despite being mech-focused, infantry units play a significant role and work synergistically with mechs. Combat involves combined arms tactics with infantry, vehicles, and crew-served weapons.

Steampunk World War setting: The game is set in a dieselpunk alternate version of World War I, combining historical aesthetics with giant steam-powered mechs and advanced technology.

Base building and combat: Core RTS gameplay involves building a base, capturing resource points, and commanding units to attack enemies. It includes micro and macro management with a cover system.

Poor optimization causes lag: Poor optimization causes low FPS, stuttering, and severe lag during combat or when many units are present. FPS can drop from over 100 to below 30, and high-end hardware still suffers, indicating a need for performance patches.

Frequent crashes block progression: The game experiences frequent crashes, often during missions, cutscenes, or at launch. Specific errors like 'Simulation Failed' and Unity popups block progression, even on high-end systems like an RTX 4090.

Black screen and AMD bugs: AMD graphics cards face compatibility problems, and black screen bugs occur during cutscenes, mission starts, and after tutorials. These issues make portions of the game unplayable on certain hardware.

Server connection issues persist: Server connection issues and sudden disconnects have plagued the game since launch, disrupting multiplayer and online play. These problems prevent stable access to online features.

Game-breaking bugs reset missions: Game-breaking bugs force mission resets, preventing progress. These issues are severe but appear less frequently than crashes or performance drops.

Worth buying on sale: Multiple reviewers consistently state the game is only worth purchasing when discounted, often recommending a 80% off or similar sale price. Full price is not justified.

Recommended for RTS fans: Strategy game enthusiasts, especially those who enjoy real-time strategy titles, are frequently told to try this game. It appeals broadly to lovers of the RTS genre.

Highly recommend overall: Some reviewers give very strong positive recommendations, calling the game very recommendable or highly recommended. This indicates a satisfied segment of players.

Not worth full price: Many reviewers advise against buying the game at its full retail price, describing it as not worth the money or pain. Discounts are essential for a fair value.

Compare with Company of Heroes: Reviewers often compare this game to Company of Heroes, suggesting it is a worse value or that players should choose Company of Heroes instead. However, fans of that franchise may still enjoy it.

Community fair range: $20.00 - $30.00.

Story completion: 33.0h.

The game is widely criticized as boring and a slog, failing to become fun for many players due to slow pace and clunky mechanics.

Friction: slow unit movement; clunky controls; boring campaign missions; tedious combat; pathfinding issues; cover system problems.

Story-Driven Campaign Enthusiast: Slow, methodical, enjoys cutscenes and mission variety; not APM-heavy, focuses on narrative immersion. Motivation: Immersive story and single-player narrative experience. Stance: buy.

Disappointed Competitive Multiplayer Enthusiast: Competitive, focused on PvP, seeks balanced meta and responsive controls; uses micro-management and tactical positioning. Motivation: Competitive PvP and ranked play with balanced factions. Stance: deep sale.

Clunky Control Critic (RTS Veteran): Precise, expects responsive unit control, smooth pathfinding, and clear tactical feedback; micro-oriented. Motivation: Polished, responsive RTS gameplay with depth and meaningful unit interactions. Stance: no buy.

All three hardware cohorts report severe instability, including crashes, freezes, and black screen bugs, with no reported positive experiences.

Windows <8GB VRAM: negative. Players with less than 8GB VRAM report frequent freezes after victories, making the game unplayable.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: negative. Players with 12-15GB VRAM experience consistent crashes at cutscenes and a persistent black screen bug, hindering campaign completion.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: negative. Players with 8-11GB VRAM encounter black screens and freezes after cutscenes, crashing the game.

Steam Deck: Iron Harvest on Steam Deck receives mixed feedback: while some users report a smooth experience with full controller support, a significant number encounter severe stability problems including frequent black screen freezes during missions and cutscenes, requiring restarts. Additionally, unit control and pathfinding issues frustrate many players, though these are more about game design than Steam Deck specific.

Linux and Proton: The game runs well on Linux/Proton with minimal issues. One user reports a long FMV loading delay on Nobara Linux, but the game is not broken. Default Proton works fine, and Steam Deck performance is praised. No anti-cheat, launcher, or crash issues reported.

Monetization: Iron Harvest faces criticism for locking campaign content behind paid DLC, effectively making the base game feel incomplete. Additionally, it includes a battle pass and premium currency for cosmetics, which some players find intrusive but not pay-to-win. A notable positive is the absence of lootbox mechanics. Overall, the monetization is aggressive due to forced DLC purchases for story completion.

Frequent Company of Heroes comparisons: Many reviews compare the game to Company of Heroes, mostly unfavorably. The general consensus is that this game copies mechanics from that series but feels like a worse version, lacking depth and polish.

Tied to Dawn of War 4: The same developer, King Art Games, is working on Dawn of War 4. Reviews note this connection and express hope or trust that this game's positive aspects will carry over to the upcoming title.

Game abandoned by developers: Multiple reviews state that the developers have stopped releasing updates and DLC, effectively abandoning the game. This has led to a lack of new content and long-term support.

DLC adds new factions and campaigns: DLC adds additional factions like the Americans and includes further campaigns. Some reviewers consider these necessary for a complete experience.

Dawn of War influences cited: Comparisons to Dawn of War and Company of Heroes are common, with some noting strong influence. The game is seen by some as a spiritual successor or similar in feel to Dawn of War 2.