Iron Harvest
Iron Harvest is a real-time strategy game (RTS) set in the alternate reality of 1920+, just after the end of the Great War. The Game lets you control giant dieselpunk mechs, combining epic singleplayer and coop campaigns as well as skirmishes with intense action on the battlefield for multiplayer fans, Iron Harvest is the classic real-time strategy games fans have been waiting for. Tradition clashes with scientific and technological progress, while Europe is still recovering from the brutal battles of the World War. Cities are being rebuilt and in the countryside, the era of the Iron Harvest has begun. Farmers are uncovering the remains of the majestic walking machines that had fought on the battlefields of the Great War. In the midst of this chaos, a new threat appears that will put Europe’s very existence at risk. Secret forces are putting everything they can towards destabilization of entire countries, determined to set the world on fire once again and finally seize control. Lead dozens of different unit types into battle, carefully utilize cover and blast entire buildings to shreds. Take your time to come up with a plan which allows for a wide range of tactics, including a stealth approach. Mechs. We got mechs. Lots of them.
Game Discussion
Steam User 60
Waited for sale, due to rather bad reviews, but honestly, im surprised how good this game actually is; good from the point of view of single player fun and campaign. I don't know/care about multiplayer. The setting is refreshing and great. Nice small feature is that longer battles will level most parts of the map. I think COH1,2 were overall better, but this is close enough.
Steam User 82
+ steampunk world with picturesque level design ...
- but mainly in tones of brown and gray
+ cool unit/mech designs ...
- gameplay-wise too little variation between factions
+ quite a large arsenal of different units ...
- many units seem useless or don't differ enough
+ hero units with unique skills and abilities ...
- far too much focus on heroes in campaign missions
+ somewhat interesting mission design ...
- can get repetitive and frustrating at times
+ story rich singleplayer experience ...
- but extremely bland story
+ amazing voice acting and native language mode ...
- may be difficult to follow story when played in native language mode
+ good for rts beginners / easy to master ...
- not a lot of gameplay depth
+ bigger mechs can stomp through buildings ...
- sophisticated cover system seems redundant
+ no game-breaking bugs ...
- sometimes units got stuck or even became invulnerable
Steam User 58
I would not Recommend this game out of a sale, and especially not if you expect a really smooth sail like Starcraft 2 or Age of Empires.
BUT:
This game has sooo much neat stuff, the Mechs, the Factions, the Camping is fully voiced(!), you have passable cutscenes(!) this means somebody in the Dev team took the time to make an ingame video player so you can pause the cutscene go to the toilet or whatever and continuous without missing out!
All the Mechs look so great and the Story missions are fun an diverse so it does not feel boring. Its a love letter to old RTS Campaigns. Did i mention the fully voiced ingame cutscenes?
Well the Rest is just *bleh*. The units feel unbalanced. The AI is abysmal.
I won most maps by building the strongest all-purpose mech, some engineers and artillery. The individual unit AI is just not existing. They can be shoot out of their range and they wont react and die.
Units are so heavy on rock-paper-scissors that if you do not look at your units all the time a Mech can be gone in three volleys of a Anti-Mech-Mech.
The Skirmishes/Conquer mode are OK but get old pretty quick cause of the balance problem.
They tried to make some effort to have the "games as a service" model by seasons and earn able skins and fluff but without the gameplay being fun and not a micro hell or repetitive or boring nobody will fall for your service.
For the campaign the story and Mechs and the 1920 universe in general i recommend this game. But don't expect a good RTS here. It serviceable at best.
Lets hope Iron Harvest 2 will be more focused on the gameplay and AI without cutting down on presentation and love to detail.(I doubt it but Hope dies last)
Steam User 27
I would recommend this game. I have never played any of the Scythe board game it is based on, but I would definitely give it a go as the story is quite immersive. I have played all of the Campaigns, Main, US and Rusviet Revolution in 33 hours according to Steam, so at £8.34 which is what I paid for it all that is approximately 25p an hour of entertainment, which I think is a bargain. That is also before I have started playing online or skirmishes etc. I do want to have a look at what the World Map is all about.
Couple of downsides;
- Pathing is appalling.
- I can be a bit grindy and buggy at points.
- The Rusviet campaign is like listening to the Compare the Market Meerkats lot go to war.
- This game clearly didn't develop the way they wanted it to as there is no clear ending... also there are a number of factions mentioned but not present. Sorry no Shogunate, which is a shame because I'd have like to see that one. Maybe in response to the Revolution.
Summary:
I'm off with back pain, it kept me entertained and made me forget my woes for a bit. I liked it.
Steam User 29
The game offers a compelling storyline that immediately drew me into the alternative 1920s scenario. The graphics and artwork are simply stunning and make for an immersive gaming experience. I was particularly impressed by the attention to detail in the game world, which combines historical elements with steampunk.
The different factions in the game are well balanced and offer a wide variety of units and tactics. This makes for exciting and varied battles. The controls for the units are intuitive and responsive, making the gameplay very enjoyable.
The multiplayer mode of Iron Harvest also convinces me. It is fun to compete with other players and make tactical considerations. The online community is active and makes for a lively gaming experience.
Another plus point is the solid soundscape, which makes the gameplay even more intense.
Overall, I can recommend Iron Harvest as a real gem in the real-time strategy game genre. It offers a gripping story, beautiful graphics and diverse gameplay options. Whether you are already a fan of the genre or new to the world of real-time strategy, Iron Harvest definitely has the potential to captivate and entertain you for hours.
Steam User 43
Overall I would give this 8/10.
I have played this game for nearly 300 hours now and that is split across the campaign in normal mode and I'm in the middle of playing in hard mode. I have also played all the skirmish maps (most won on Gold level) and some of the missions.
The game plays well with many infantry and mech units with different abilities. You have to take over and hold resource zones of oil and Iron to build items rather than mine resources like C&C. I quite like this as it makes it harder to acquire the resources and you have to create defences or an assault force ready to hold each resource point and then make a judgement call on whether it's even needed as you have a restricted population count so you have to use some strategy on which units you can spare for defence. Even bunkers use up 1 Pop count, infantry uses 3 pop count and mechs range from 4 to 7 pop count. When your total pop count on some campaign missions is just 56 (100 on skirmishes if you choose the large army option) it can get very frustrating when the AI seems to have limitless pop count and resources.
There is quite a lot to try on this game but some of it is broken. By broken I mean there are quite a few bugs which have been there since the game launched and the AI is broken on some skirmish maps. For example if you play a skirmish 1 v 1 AI on insane mode (annihilation) as long as you limit the starting resources to low the enemy will not swarm you and you can gradually work towards their base and destroy them. However if you try this on 4 player or 6 player maps the enemy just swarms you in record time. Makes no sense why there would be a difference.
On hard campaign the enemy is also a bit ludicrous on some of the missions where you very quickly end up sat at your base defending and repairing not able to move as you have a restricted pop count which only gives you enough for a defence force, again, makes no sense. Much of this game is great but there are some parts of it that will frustrate & irritate the life out of you.
Steam User 26
Buy it on sale and play the campaign in co-op!