The game Syrian Warfare (in the Russian version the game is called Syria: Russian Storm) is an attempt to transfer the mechanics of a real-time strategy to a modern, trendy, so to speak, setting.
Review of Syrian Warfare – a Russian game about the war in Syria
The game Syrian Warfare from Russian indie developers Cats Who Play was released on the eve of the Russian Defender of the Fatherland Day. The game depicts the events of the modern war in Syria from 2012 to 2016, including the entry of Russian troops into the war in 2015. The end of the plot is the battle for Palmyra and its liberation.
The real-time strategy genre involves controlling combat units in this game. However, vehicles do not have life bars. Damage affects specific modules of combat vehicles. At the same time, soldiers and equipment move from one mission to the next, and their experience and effectiveness increase. There is also the possibility of capturing captured equipment. Interesting possibilities include calling airstrikes, using heat traps and smoke screens, storming buildings and landing from helicopters.
Explosions, effects, shadows – the graphics may be far from modern, but they are moving along briskly. So Syrian Warfare walkthrough will remain an enjoyable gaming experience in your memory.
Doesn't startSyrian Warfare
If for some reason it doesn’t start for you and gra Syrian Warfare, then check the system requirements to ensure they match the characteristics of your computer: operating system Windows 7 or higher, 64bit only, processor 3.1 GHz or higher, GT 440 video card or higher with 1 GB of memory, 4 GB of RAM, free hard drive space – 10 GB.
On the occasion of return Syrian Warfare (“Syria: Russian Storm”) on Steam, we finally decided to roll out a review of this, overall, good game. Congratulations to the guys from Cats Who Play with a way out of this difficult and ambiguous situation.
Long before the release of Syria: Russian Storm, I heard a lot of bad things about this project. There were also accusations of attempts to profit from the conflict, and of propaganda, and even of profiting from blood. And at first glance this is indeed true. This was evidenced at least by the fact that formally this is a continuation of the mediocre domestic strategy already in 2010, which was boringly called “”.
Modern warfare has evolved enough to be the easiest way to gain resources, territory, etc. These are already conflicts of interest, when stronger countries can sort things out at the expense of weaker ones, without participating in obvious skirmishes. An open conflict could well entail a more serious counter-conflict, and then an open war with the use of nuclear weapons and the transformation of the world into a cemetery, a museum of military operations, which no one will go to anymore.
It is much easier and calmer to sort things out on some neutral territory, the usefulness of which is in question. This is happening now in Ukraine, this is happening in Syria.
The only thing that will not emerge during such conflicts is the winner, who will then write history. Modern media simply will not allow this story to be rewritten and will simply write their own. Moreover, one side will have its own story, the other will have its own, and the third will have a completely different one. Only this story will be big and strong, it will tell how “our and only our” soldiers courageously defended and fought. About how the enemy was defeated, etc.
This story will keep silent about small tragedies. About the small internal conflicts that started it all. This story is not about people. For example, about how a man’s whole family was killed by an accidentally dropped bomb. And then they took advantage of his grief and despair. He was sent to another, distant country. There he got behind the wheel of a truck and drove to death and create death. And he had nothing to lose.
In this regard, the game is a little pleasing. It begins with a small conflict in a small town. And only later does it develop into a full-fledged war. But the attempt to show the tragedy from the point of view of ordinary people is very commendable. No, the game is not without sin. Here and there, hints emerge about some hidden organizers and invisible participants in the conflict.
At first they literally lead us by the hand - come here, capture this building, defend this territory. But the further and stronger the conflict flares up, the more freedom we are given. And although specific points will appear on the map to complete subtasks, you are free to complete them yourself.
Not to say that this provides a lot of variety, but it allows you to build very specific tactical schemes depending on which units you chose at the beginning of the mission. You can either dash off with snipers from the slopes of the peaks or bombard the enemy with grenade launcher fire.
Those. tactically we are not limited by anything. And we will also survive only based on our own strategy and activated brain. And sometimes you have to do a lot, because... the enemy will almost immediately outnumber us.
And this is both good and bad. The good thing is that we have before us a really tough, complex and very interesting wargame. There will always be a shortage of everything - people, equipment, combat power, even fuel. Yes, the equipment here quite realistically consumes fuel when moving. And it is quite possible that the fuel will simply run out. And there won’t be a fuel tanker nearby. Then your cool tank, the main weapon on the battlefield, will turn into a stupid piece of iron.
The same goes for damage. They are very conditional and depend more on what exactly was damaged. A unit can fall from a well-aimed sniper shot, and the vehicle can stand upright after the engine is hit.
Yes, some things can be repaired and patched up, but for the most part the equipment will have to be cherished and protected. As well as units, especially considering that all accumulated experience is saved. Those. All available troops will begin to act more effectively as they gain experience. Which is simply necessary in the context of the enemy’s ever-increasing numerical superiority.
So there are often cases when, for the sake of a deceased experienced comrade, you have to go through everything all over again.
The bad news is that not only the teammates must be experienced, but also the player himself. Because Syrian Warfare is a truly serious wargame and no concessions are given to newcomers. If you don't have clear spatial thinking, tactical skills, or simply don't want to be overextended by constant thinking and strategic doubts, then it's unlikely that the game will be able to deliver the same amount of pleasure that fans of similar games get.
These games usually have no rules. There is no “rock-paper-scissors” principle here. Here, as in war, any accident can be fatal.
Therefore, the entire strategic part must be thoroughly worked out. If units die due to bugs, errors and miscalculations, this is not good. Fortunately, Syria managed to avoid this. The performance is good, no bugs were noticed and the picture is quite decent.
It would seem that it would be so difficult - point the cursor at an enemy unit and press a button - the problem will be solved. But at the same time, you need to take into account about a million nuances and be able to calculate and guess about a million more.
In: Syrian Warfare
The other day I had a chance to play the domestic PTS Syrian Warfare from the Moscow studio Cats Who Play. By the way, as the developers themselves write, the team for the most part came from the once famous MiST land studio. Then the guys played a few small family games and at the end of February they released Syrian Warfare.
Almost immediately after its appearance on Steam, the game was removed from sale for some time, which immediately caused a storm of unhealthy excitement in the press. Of course, the theme of the game is hot – the war in Syria. However, after a few days all the problems with Steam were resolved, the armchair patriots calmed down and now everyone can buy the game.
Syrian Warfare (“Syria: Russian Storm”) is a real-time strategy based on the very recent military operations in modern Syria. Technically, the game is made on the updated Warfare engine from 2008. The game engine and the picture on the monitor lack the stars from the sky, but everything looks quite modern and even pleasant.
Plot-wise, there is only one relatively small campaign in the game - for the Syrian army. There are no other options, but the addition Syrian Warfare: Return to Palmyra is currently being developed.
Wargame?
As a tactical war game, Syrian Warfare provides the player with a whole host of opportunities to express themselves. As a rule, there can be several ways to achieve goals, and it’s up to you to decide which one to use. And freedom of choice is always a joy.
Any building on the map can and should be used as a shelter for infantry detachments, of which there are a large variety of types and composition. Moreover, in the event of shelling, of course, a village shack crumbles into dust much faster than a capital city high-rise building.
Generally speaking, the cover system looks and works great. You can always clearly see how soldiers who received an order to occupy, for example, a high-rise building, run up the stairs and take up defense on the floors and roof. And all this requires precious time.
If your fighters are fighting in a building for a long time, you can always clearly see from the appearance of the building whether it’s time to change position before the building falls apart.
Combat units and equipment in Syrian Warfare have appropriate weapons and ammunition, which run out as combat operations take place. If, for example, there is an infantry fighting vehicle under your command, then in the interface you can always see exactly what ammunition is being consumed and how much is left. Some types of heavy hand weapons remain from killed Islamists and can be used by the player's units. The armor and main components of combat vehicles are damaged and, until a certain, critical moment, are completely subject to repair by crews right on the battlefield.
The maps contain an abundance of various vehicles, which can be immediately “saddled” if there are free drivers and sufficient fuel reserves. Yes, you also need to look after your fuel supply and refuel from time to time.
Often you come across military equipment that is in warehouses or abandoned by the enemy, which should also be used to the best of your ability. As is the case in modern combat, combat vehicles must be directed into battle with extreme caution, taking into account the cramped city streets and the presence of a large number of anti-tank weapons on the enemy's side.
In Syrian Warfare, Russian troops (the same ones that seem to be not there) are presented as gunners for deadly air strikes and special forces units, issued to the player at the most “hot” moments.
Anwar, my boy...
The main story character of Syrian Warfare is a young Syrian police officer with whom the player will have to go through a series of difficult missions while maintaining (if possible, of course) his combat units. In between battles, the player is given the opportunity to replenish his small army and at the same time learn the political situation in the country.
Apparently wanting to add drama to an already more than dynamic game, the developers continually force the player to listen to the protagonist’s endless telephone conversations with his grandmother, commanders, subordinates, imams, journalists and God knows who else, right during desperate battles. In the first two missions it still seems amusing, but by the start of hostilities in Damascus, all this chatter begins to seriously irritate. In addition, along the way, the player is bombarded with a whole swarm of additional game tasks. So, letting information fall on deaf ears can cost you dearly. At least on the first playthrough. And you can be sure that there will definitely be attempts to pass both a second and a third time.
The real scourge of most modern RTS - lousy pathfinding (so-called patchfading) of the AI - is present here in full glory. It is always extremely “pleasant” to see how a precious tank, instead of simply backing up a little, begins to turn under the enemy’s nose and helpfully exposes its stern to enemy missiles and shells.
Most likely, ardent fans of the game will disagree with me, but I can’t help but blame the game for its excessive complexity. Syrian Warfare has several difficulty modes, but if I choose the easy level, sorry, but it should be easy to play. This is a general rule of good manners in the gaming industry and forcing a person who bought a game to suffer regardless of his wishes is not very correct.
Conclusion
Overall, Syrian Warfare is quite a high-quality and, in my opinion, an unexpectedly solid game. Moreover, the game can be truly captivating once you’ve started playing, figured out the local mechanics, and completed the first scenarios. A real paradise for hardcore fans of real-time strategy and all fans of micromanagement in difficult combat conditions. Good voice acting of units, cheerful music and quite decent graphics perfectly convey the atmosphere of combat operations.
In addition, all fans of the nightly stories from Channel One will certainly receive moral pleasure from the plot of the game. Well, if, of course, they manage to live at least a little in the difficult gaming realities of Syrian everyday life.
“This has never happened before, and here it is again.”
In the winter of last year, a serious stir unfolded around Syria: the media’s already waning interest in the sluggish struggle of “tyrant Assad” against everyone was ignited by a series of important and not so important events, unprecedented for the leisurely military operations taking place here.
While the jihadists who had settled there four years ago were fighting out of Aleppo, the largest city in the north of the country, far to the east, the garrison of the Republican Guard, sitting under siege in Deir Ezzor, began to report unprecedented activity of ISIS militants traveling in large convoys to East.
Russian aviation intelligence confirmed the messages of the besieged, but the destination to which the terrorists were aiming could not be predicted until it was too late.
On December 8, the second battle for Palmyra began. The loss of the city was a blow to the reputation of the Russian-Syrian coalition, but the army managed to retain its position at the T4 military airfield and evacuate most of the residents. Despite the obvious need for a speedy counterstrike, it was constantly postponed: the main strike forces in the form of the Desert Falcons, the Republican Army and the Tiger division were busy ensuring the security of Aleppo. Only four months later, the city was quickly recaptured and the SAA forces began advancing towards Deir Ez-Zor.
However, this is a completely different story. But the events between December 8, 2016 and March 2, 2017 became the plot basis of the add-on “Syria: Return to Palmyra.”
Why should this good topic go to waste?
Big dababe - big woman.
From the very first seconds, it becomes clear how many different units, weapons and equipment have been added to the game: almost all aspects of the gameplay have received some new element to add to the already good original.
Even the musical accompaniment was not spared, and to complement it they recorded several more good tracks that fit into the desert surroundings.
Black ISIS Humvees have also been added to the game, which you will encounter in the first missions: by capturing them, you will receive well-armored vehicles with very accurate machine guns.
Infantry can now carry heavy-caliber DShK machine guns and an SPG-9 mounted grenade launcher into their arsenal.
The units were diversified with “Tiger” detachments: four people with large-caliber sniper rifles and anti-tank systems are capable of single-handedly stopping a small company of terrorists with tanks and artillery. Instead of the police squads from the original, there are now starved people from the people's militia consisting of 5 people, suitable only for dying ugly from the next armored car of militants, or running away in panic from a suicide car. You can’t even fit into an armored personnel carrier/infantry fighting vehicle normally with other squads. But now a detachment of 8 Hezbollah fighters, whom the developers politically correctly called “Lebanese Volunteers,” fits neatly into the standard 8 man-seats. The enemy now has access to squads of “foreign mercenaries”, which differ from ordinary militant squads in higher quality equipment, for example, a hand-held revolver grenade launcher.
For a snack, Russian troops can now send a detachment of airborne troops who regularly throw out phrases: “Uncle Vasya’s troops!” and “The blue splashed, splashed...”
The already extensive list of “technicians” and “guntrucks” was replenished with carts with BO (recoilless rifle) of 82 mm caliber and “Zushki” (ZU-23-2). The tanks received a whole heap of a wide variety of modifications and improvements, and the long-suffering T-55 also received a whole separate role in the form of a “fortified” version, on which the character from the original game rolls right into the heart of the battle.
Grandfather Mansur and his strange tank - an empty gas tank.
By completing the quest to find a fuel tanker in the face of an enemy offensive on all fronts, you will receive the most highly developed tanker in your ranks.
The vehicles now include Hummers, which are used by ISIS fighters who escaped from Mosul in Iraq, as well as Russian Tiger mini-propelled guns, which are used by Russian military advisers and contract soldiers. From the air, all this disgrace can be fired at with an ATGM from a SAA Air Force Gazelle helicopter.
From a tactical point of view, the developers introduced trenches into the game as cover. They are distinguished from ordinary buildings by their complete indestructibility in the traditional sense of the word. And if a building falls apart during battles and leaves the fighters in it without cover, then you can sit in the trenches as long as you like. Also, due to the fact that trenches do not stand out against the background of the rest of the landscape, it is much more difficult to get into them than into buildings, and small artillery and rocket launchers, which previously caused shock and awe, smashing the narrow streets of Arab towns into rubble, are now practically do not cause damage to units settled in the ground. However, armored vehicles approaching closely, on the contrary, grind the sluggish fighters into a bloody mush.
As in reality, the approaches to the T4 military airport, due to the lack of natural barriers, were completely dug up by bulldozers.
A small mind needs a big army.
Among a number of promises and plans that the developers shared with the press and players were words about improved artificial intelligence of both opponents and allies. With the release of the add-on, it became clear that they did not cheat here, and the computer’s AI was really improved and it learned new tricks.
For example, in the original game, the crew jumped out of a damaged enemy vehicle, and after that one could forget about the danger on its part: the crew would sit by the crippled vehicle until the end of the mission. Now, any free and repairable equipment will be captured and used by the enemy at the first opportunity.
An enemy armored personnel carrier, knocked out at the very beginning of the mission, can be repaired by approaching enemy reinforcements, while the player carefully controls the course of the battle at the front, and remind itself by suddenly appearing in the deep rear.
If a player or an ally is forced to leave his damaged equipment in a position and retreat, then it is better to “finish off” the broken box than to allow it to replenish the enemy’s arsenal.
If the militants are too lazy to walk on foot, then they even lay their raking hands on civilian cars, parked in large numbers on city streets: it’s quite funny to see how gentlemen with machine guns in black tights pour out of a tiny blue hippie minivan.
Having lost its gun turret, the T-55 elegantly turns... turns... into a suicide mobile!
Previously, during a mission, it was possible to remember in advance where and from where hordes of dummy adversaries were advancing, and leave them gifts in the form of pt-min. Now you can find out where the opponents are attacking from: instead of chaotic annoying spawns from almost everywhere, now ISIS and the SAA have a certain common front, from where they receive reinforcements with varying degrees of regularity. But it is impossible to find out where they will direct their attack.
Each time fresh enemy units appear, they choose the direction of attack completely randomly and do not hesitate to go around from the rear, and, having made a decent detour, strike at the weakest point of the player’s defense. In urban buildings, behavior has also become more complex, and when possible, units no longer rush head-on into a fortified position, but hide behind buildings and wait for reinforcements to arrive, firing harassingly.
However, if it comes to an assault through open terrain, then the AI throws meat at positions in the old fashioned way.
Tent camp of a sapper company of the Russian Armed Forces near Palmyra.
As in reality, the troops will leave it in a hurry, without waiting for the city to fall, leaving behind a lot of working equipment and ammunition, which the player can take for himself if possible.
In the original Russian Storm campaign, allied forces appeared only in the third mission, covering the entrances to Khmeimim airport. In addition, they play a significant role in the first half of the game, since together with them the player will have to hold the defense.
However, it is completely optional to protect a computer ally: you can always concentrate all your forces only on your strongholds, entrusting the destruction of the enemy to artificial intelligence.
If the player sends a couple of troops to cover neighboring fortified areas, this can make life much easier in the future, since spaces free from enemy troops will allow for wide maneuvers across the entire map, which must be done to complete side missions. As the mission progresses, some of the surviving ally troops can be placed under your command and used to plug gaps in your defenses. Thus making cooperation useful for completing the campaign.
“Assads, assads - they run through the landings...”
So what, gentlemen, is the game about? Well, everything is relatively simple here: the main character begins his adventure sitting at a base in the small town of Al-Amiriya. ISIS fighters appear in this area only on major holidays, despite its proximity to the front line. The day typically promises to be quiet and calm, how everything turned out...
They won’t immediately bombard you with tanks and Grads (this awaits you already in the second mission), but the game designers will lay a decent number of small boxes, suicide bombers and infantry on the table without ceremony.
In the Russian Storm campaign, these intense battles don't start until mid-game. In “Return to Palmyra” they hit you in the teeth decisively in the very first mission.
A large number of events are enriched with well-written dialogues and miniature scenes. Someone is always saying something, commenting and ordering. The radio does not stop for a minute. The characters actively exchange opinions about each other and what is happening. The density of what is happening on the screen is off the charts, and at times it resembles some kind of action-RPG rather than a strategy.
During the first three hours of the game we will have to accomplish the following feats:
*Repel a massive attack on your positions with barely twenty people and zero equipment under your control.
*With the same forces, carry out reconnaissance of the suburb and, having cleared the ISIS vanguard, cover the evacuation of the local administration. The vacated city hall building will need to be protected from endlessly pushing opponents until the end of the mission.
* Pull out the general alive and unharmed from the city center, into which enemy troops broke through from the rear, collapsing the defenses of the local militias, while simultaneously holding positions at the base. An exciting quest “how should I do this without armored vehicles?” included.
* Cover a bus with civilians, which is even shot right through with a machine gun, while it rides around the rear and takes people out.
*Find and return to duty the crews of the T55 and BMP1 of the escaped armored company, who abandoned the equipment due to the lack of fuel in it. And yes, fuel also needs to be found somewhere, otherwise the equipment will not budge. Good luck with that.
*Recapture the city while simultaneously holding all previous positions.
Infantry reconnaissance moves extremely slowly, but reconnaissance with armored vehicles is a nuanced matter and can result in the death of the equipment and crew.
The tension in the game is just off the charts. I have never experienced such a level of emotional stress, multiplied by the overall complexity of the game. Even with the ability to pause the game at any time, there is no peace of mind. The hasty retreat from Palmyra in the second mission, from a production point of view, looks like the plot of a separate film or book. In general, the gameplay in Return to Palmyra can be described as a kind of XCOM, only in real time and even more merciless than usual.
Unfortunately, this is where the main flaw of the game lies, which many can stumble over: constant tension and the resulting complexity. There is no timer in the game, but ammunition and people with equipment are running out, and what is the use of a tank without shells or an armored personnel carrier without fuel? The more time you spend completing a mission, the less chance you have of winning. Even being at the forefront of the offensive, you always have to run your eyes and look for the treasured trucks with shells, from which you can replenish the ammunition of the equipment, because it’s apparently a waste of time to deliver shells to the command.
And the endless streams of enemy vehicles, infantry and T-55s, which ISIS apparently learned to print on 3D printers, do not help matters.
The last mission, surprisingly, compared to what came before, is empty and boring - the apotheosis of the difficulties that the developers throw at our feet.
It is not surprising that in addition to three difficulty levels: “Normal”, “Realistic” and “Iron Man”, a fourth level is now available in the add-on - “Easy”.
Eyes tired of the sandy yellowness are allowed to rest in a snow-covered gorge. Sorry, not for long.
God! Syria! Assad!
In the old days, when the sun was shining, the grass was growing, Yeltsin was a skin and foam was made from milk foam - in the strategy games market there was an unspoken parity between the Ukrainians from GSC Game World and the Russians from Nival. And in this wonderful time of “Cossacks”, “Blitzkrieg”, “Behind Enemy Lines” and “Confrontation”, our today’s copy fits perfectly: a complex, varied and truly strategic game that makes you count not just every infantryman, but every cartridge.
But the duration is lame: it took me only 15 hours to complete the penultimate difficulty with all the achievements - and that’s two or three days of leisurely clicking on buttons. It's a shame - there are no words. All that remains is to trust in Allah, so that he will kick the developers and they will roll out the long-awaited map editor for us.
But the 400 rubles that the addition asks for are nothing compared to the emotions she gives in return.
I do not give ratings, because this is a subjective matter, and therefore I will say that “Return to Palmyra” is an addition that, from any point of view, is worthy of one of the best strategy games of this year, which we deserve.
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P.S. God forbid you set low quality textures: the strategic map between missions turns into an unreadable pixel mess.