izigame.me

Realms of Ruin kinda' came out of nowhere to me, as I learned about it when it was announced but haven't followed it since. To my surprise, it's a really interesting take on the RTS genre that already offered me some great moments in online PVP. I didn't play the campaign yet, but I'll try to update the review when I do.
It's a small scale, tactics-heavy take on the genre which seems to play like a mix between Company of Heroes, the first Battle for Middle-Earth all the while giving some Myth flashbacks. You do not really build a base, but... You actualy do. Your home base is a pre-built HQ that recruits units, and you fight over control points which can (and have to be if you want to win) be upgraded with specialised buildings. Said buildings, same as HQ, can be upgraded, together with units with researchable upgrades (many of which are mutualy exclusive for added depth).
Do not be fooled by the MOBA similarities a passing glance can provide: This is an RTS through and through. You have resource managament, build orders, upgrades, multiple modes of harassment of the enemy, defence structures, varied unit types, all stremlined but in a quite clever way, one that retains a lot of classical RTS' gameplay depth while being easy to learn and fast to get into. However, I believe mastering all the different mechanics for multiplayer can be an interesting challenge.
Thus far my games felt like truly enjoyable battles of wits, where army composition, unit counters, placement, build orders etc. allowed for a lot of interesting back-and-forth instead of a brutish spam less thought out often RTS devolve into.
The game at launch has 4 different, quite varied in playstyle factions, all with their unique quirks and features, from the elite, thundering Stormcast Eternals (the Age of Sigmar equivalent of Space Marines), through brutal and cunnin' Orks, blue Tzeentch cultist (who I haven't figured out how to fight against yet) and delightfuly morbid Nighthaunt undead (who surprisingly became my favourite faction to play due to amazing voice work and fun, spammy-but-tricky playstyle).
On top of enjoyable multiplayer, there's a full-fledged campaign, skirmish, a classic conquest mode, a map editor and an army painter. For the price tag it's a respectable amount of content. The game has a good, enjoyable level of polish, and feels like a AA/AAA title, which is a nice surprise for an RTS in this day and age. The graphics are good enough, with decent environment and really good unit models and animations. The strongest part, so far, seems to be the audio: The sounds of combat are great and the voice acting for unit is exceptional, elevating entire factions' feel from good to amazing. I can't overstate how fun is it to listen to the wailling and rasping of the murderous undead. I also love how the announcer calls out the names of skills you're casting, a great touch. The music, when it plays, is great, and I love the main menu theme with the orchestra over a synth beat. I wish there was more interesting in-game music, as most of the time it is an quiet ambient which, while good, is barely noticable (if it is in there at all and it's not level background sounds).
Thus far, the gameplay was smooth, the performance was good (with DLSS on Performance and all on Ultra), and I haven't seen any bugs. Sometimes I wished the units would be a bit more responsive, but it may be due to my lack of knowledge of games' mechanics, as melee units are locked into combat when they start fighting and all skills are put on a cooldown for a few seconds during that time. Some simple basics like unit formations or stances are missing, and while I don't miss them *that much*, they'd be a good thing to add in a patch.
Overall, a really damn nice surprise for me at the end of the year already filled with surprisingly good games. I can only hope the game will have a healthy community, because I believe it may deserve it.
First impressions are a definite 8/10.