Post-apocalypse in many editions – a review of the game “Punk Wars”

The world almost died after a great, almost forgotten war. The barren land is littered with dust, and the skeletons of the buildings that once proudly formed the city loom on the horizon. Humanity, however, has survived the self-destructive times and is now getting up from its knees in the belief that when it lifts itself up it will not crush into some protruding beam. Of course, as usual, the sciences of history are ignored, people want to promote their ideas for creating the future by force, and it is up to you, commander, who will succeed in introducing its new order.

Four horsemen of the post-apocalypse

Punk Wars from the Polish Strategy Forge studio is a turn-based strategy game whose history, practically presented in the introduction, is not too revealing. Ba! Basically, it is only a pretext for the chosen style of the areas where the skirmishes take place and its impact on the gameplay is negligible. The player’s goal is to build a pyramid, which will be a symbol of due domination, although taking into account that it can only be created after developing the appropriate technology and killing opponents, the whole thing comes down to ruthless destruction.

The main advantage, and definitely the most refined element of the game, are the factions we command. We have at our disposal a brutal, idolizing the power domination of Steelpunk, visually similar to the subordinates of Eternal Joe from Mad Max; Atompunk, which promoted scientific progress over humanitarianism; Dieselpunk, who loves heavy industry and smog production, and good-natured Steampunk, who is the only one who wants to save humanity through unity in love and peace, although he asks for no resistance when saving. It is true that the names of the parties are not particularly original and they reveal very bluntly where their style came from, but the combination of these different styles in one production gives quite an interesting effect. If a lover of one of the trends wanted to prove its superiority over others, now has an excellent opportunity to do so.

There are many similarities between the militant forces, although of course there were also differences. All parties to the conflict have the same number of units, always including one flying vehicle; the workers and the medico-mechanics are identical regardless of who they belong to; each faction has two simple research trees and collects three types of resources (these are water, food and special material, i.e. iron, uranium, oil or steam, depending on the group). However, most of the opponents have units with unique properties and abilities, such as the fact that Atompunku is the only one with ranged basic fighters, almost all Dieselpunk soldiers have the ability to stun, and the firing range of steampunk snipers and artillery cannons makes everyone else jealous. It is also worth mentioning that in addition to collecting raw materials, making enemies and discovering new technologies, we also need to take care of the well-being of our subordinates, and there are random events that we have to make various decisions about. There are also many easter eggs at this point of the game.

What a beautiful (post) apocalypse

Visualia is an element that has been exceptionally pampered. Each faction very clearly shows the stylistic trend contained in its name. Everything is very detailed, the structures of Steampunk are filled to the brim with pipes and gears, Dieselpunk throws clouds of black smoke into the air, and Atompunk takes full handfuls from ideas about an atomic future from the 1950s. The raw, dusty background of the conflict emphasizes the mission of building a new world even more, and gloomy music with the whistle of hot steam, the roar of engines and the clang of steel is the icing on the exceptionally atmospheric cake.

Unfortunately, not everything looks as good as the idea of ​​a clash of characteristic styles. Yes, the gameplay is quite addictive, the syndrome of one more turn is triggered too much, and a single game can drag on for hours, but a few decisions definitely show that something is missing here. Let’s start with the “campaign”, which appears in quotation marks for a reason. After choosing a party and watching a short introductory movie, we are thrown into the game with only two goals in front of us, which I mentioned at the beginning – destroying three enemies and building a pyramid. We can forget about the various missions and the slow introduction of new mechanics, because the whole thing is a single fight with the full potential! Given, that the “campaign” differs from a free game only in the number of starting units, having a movie at the beginning and end, the lack of free choice of map and the compulsion to fight all three opponents, it is wondering who even made the decision to create something like this under this proud name . Let us also add that there is no possibility of fighting between opponents leading the same faction. Unfortunately, such an idea results in the fact that after defeating each of the parties the game becomes repetitive and not very tempting to play it again. The situation is not helped by the lack of any multiplayer game, also via the network, and the formula of the game begs for “hot chairs”. who at all made the decision to create something like this under this proud name. Let us also add that there is no possibility of fighting between opponents leading the same faction. Unfortunately, such an idea results in the fact that after defeating each of the parties the game becomes repetitive and not very tempting to play it again. The situation is not helped by the lack of any multiplayer game, also via the network, and the formula of the game begs for “hot chairs”. who at all made the decision to create something like this under this proud name. Let us also add that there is no possibility of fighting between opponents leading the same faction. Unfortunately, such an idea results in the fact that after defeating each of the parties the game becomes repetitive and not very tempting to play it again. The situation is not helped by the lack of any multiplayer game, also via the network, and the formula of the game begs for “hot chairs”.

Punk Wars is a very nice and atmospheric production with an extremely interesting idea, the potential of which is brutally beaten by a few not-so-good decisions. The lack of a real single player campaign with even a few missions or challenges, and the absence of any form of fun with an opponent controlled by another player is the most ordinary nail in the coffin. Such a successful idea deserves at least one of these modes, but unfortunately Strategy Forge seems to cultivate the philosophy of a certain witcher and faced with the choice of “normal campaign or multiplayer game” did not choose at all. Shame.