izigame.me

A great game that sadly doesn't get enough appreciation it deserves. I bought it on 2022 summer and currently had 60+ hrs in. No game-breaking bugs and it runs smoothly on my 10 yrs old pc (with a slightly newer graphic card: gtx1070), thanks to the graphic options being quite customizable. After seeing some gameplay videos about 7-8 months ago on youtube, I believe the game dev has patched a lot of bugs, and even fixed some balance issues (some character's skills work differently compared to now)
I speak Taiwanese Mandarin but I want to show my appreciation to the devs so this review is written in English. BTW, the Chinese translation is fluent and I'm grateful that a small studio can handle this part well.
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# How the saves work

The game will keep ~10 previous temporary saves, after completing a chapter the temporary saves will be deleted. The manual save will be permanently kept and there's no limit for manual saves.
Temporary save
Quick save - The button is on the top-right screen
Auto save - The game will automatically save probably every 3-5 mins
Manual save
Hit ESC and click the save game option.
You can load any kind of saves by hitting ESC and clicking the load game option; or revive the latest save by clicking the floppy disk icon on the top-right screen.
Suggestion: Hide everyone you killed if you don't want to get spotted. Quick save every time successfully kill 1-3 enemies. Do manually save after clearing a section/area.
As long as you know how quick/manual saves work, game bugs are no longer an issue for progressing.
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# Gameplay

WM is not a game that wants to make you feel delight or powerful, but a game that makes you feel there's a goal beyond oneself to accomplish, no matter how dire the situation is. It aims to be realistic in some ways that expose the brutality and ugliness of war. (there's no ugly 'side' of war, war is always only ugly)
WM is probably best to play in stealth since your characters die fast if swarmed by enemies while being spotted. I enjoy playing stealth games and take my time planning the best route to assassinate targets.
The later game will become challenging for stealth play, but it is very satisfying once you figure out how to safely pass obstacles and clear all enemies. It's more a puzzle stealth game that tests observation skill and creativity, in some locations, I actually pass through enemies unspotted earlier than the game intended and it's funny as hell :D
There are still some sections that encourage/force you to combat, however it seems very forgiving, and TBH might be the worst part of the game. (Luckily they are just a few)
You don't need to remember many keys other than WASD(and maybe QE to change camera angle), all commands can be mouse-clicked. Knowing more keys does help you play better, however, there's a planning mode that slows time so you can still try many tactic combos while not remembering most shortcuts.
The length of this game to me is long, it took me 60 hours to finish all chapters. If you don't mind being spotted and forcing through progress, the game might be 20-30 hrs. Which is still worth a lot more than its price right now.
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# The environment

The map designs are my favorite part. All levels literally look like real-world locations and are incredibly diverse. They are huge, detailed, and no wasted/useless areas. Each map has a different background setting, you can immediately identify which state it is in during the war. Some maps even make you feel like playing a semi-open world game, with 5~6 areas that you can freely choose which one to clear first.
The devs are dedicated to reconstruct the esthetics of the time and make the environment as believable as possible. The atmosphere is also great, accompanied by good sound design. Sometimes even makes you feel eerie by the contrast of pretending peace and brutal violence.
Some examples:
- a countryside blooming with greenery and sunshine but also occupied by invading soldiers, dead villagers hanging on trees, a happening massacre hiding in nearby woods, and a train carrying its next victims;
- infiltrating a huge military base, eventually sneaking INTO the station and assassinating the general with several options you can freely choose;
- hiding in city streets with citizens walking and living but under severe watch by soldiers deployed from nearby outpost;
- searching supplies in city wrecks including a hospital being bombarded and occupied, and a park full of mines killing unarmed citizens;
- hiding in a country with a lively market, beautiful garden, and luxury mansion owned by a corrupted officer pretending there's nothing happening;
- infiltrating a concentration camp in a rainy day; breaking out from a huge prison during the night, meanwhile also playing another character trying to rescue from outside;
- Through a battle front-line full of ruins and dead soldiers between two military bases against each other
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# Story and character

(no spoiler)
WM is a Polish game and the devs took the challenge to test the market's acceptability of a different historical/political view. IMO everyone should have their own freedom to present their POV in any form of creation, including video games. Sadly many reviews demanding games SHOULD be apolitical, mainly from those living in countries that likes to punish people for having their own voices. (welp you know where)
Every playable character is really likable (except someone--you will know who after finishing this game) and there are no obvious stereotypes. Some characters seem to be a nod to TF2, like Ewald as Heavy, Lead as Sniper, Lucas as Scout, Rob as Demoman. But we got 3 types of Spy (Manfred, Greta, Joachim) since stealth is what WM is focused on. There are some comedic relief moments but it never went too comical.
Dialogues and voice acting are decent and easy to understand. The cutscene animation fits the game very well. I wasn't bothered by the accent choices as long as these actors are good at delivering their lines. Every character has their own story and background, and the writer knows how to keep everyone consistent with their settings. WM almost makes you forget it's made by a smaller studio since every aspect is seemingly taken good care of and the game overall is quite ambitious.
If there's one thing to criticize, the final chapter seems unfinished to me and the map size is smaller than usual. The story kinda ends in a way that is just...unsatisfying. WM obviously is not a happy story, but the end is kinda underwhelming and a waste to whom got invested to it. Hopefully there could be a sequel, or a game referring to those lovable characters again.