Isonzo

Isonzo tries to get into that large-scale warfare multiplayer genre, which is honestly dominated only by the Battlefield franchise. And does it surpass Battlefield? Well, not right now, but it's already going in the right direction. Instead of copying the formula of the already mentioned Battlefield, the developers make their own way by taking on the difficult and risky task of using the almost untouched WW1 (Austro-Italian) scenario—not just as a setting, but also as a gameplay feature. In my opinion, they did a great job delivering that WW1 multiplayer feeling, which other publishers are too afraid to touch. Instead of gameplay where soldiers have different gun types and drivable vehicles or planes for support, here the focus is heavily on infantry with bolt-action rifles, just like a WW1 game should be. As a result, this creates an interesting feeling I’ve never experienced in a multiplayer game before, where the gameplay feels like 70% casual and 30% hardcore. Starting with the gunplay, one-hit shots are very common here, which forces you to focus on a more careful approach toward the objective. Still, because almost all the guns only have iron sights, you can usually see the enemy aiming at you, even from a far distance, which successfully avoids camping. Also, surviving a shot comes with a nice feature: another teammate needs to bandage you if you want to fully recover your health, which is great for teamplay and avoids lone-wolf tactics. And don't worry, even if all of this sounds hardcore, you still have casual gunplay elements like hitmarkers, and in general, you can easily enjoy a session with only two hours of playtime, making tactical communication more optional. In terms of gadgets, they are great too, whether for an offensive or defensive playstyle, and some can also be used for teamwork purposes. However, a big complaint for me is that too many classes can pick grenades or other explosives, which results in way too much spam where you constantly get blown up. Oh my god, I hated it so much seeing that "You got killed by Rohr F" screen. Technically, there are also planes in this game, but only as a call-in from the officer. These were okay, but I felt that the heavy artillery and the gas attacks, which the officer can also use, felt a bit too weak. Besides the gunplay, the movement was more average. It gets clunkiness sometimes, and even though it's nothing game-breaking, you still feel that Isonzo is an indie game with a limited budget. For the actual game modes, Isonzo's main mode is the one most of you probably remember as Breakthrough or Operations from the Battlefield franchise. Even though it is the only mode here, the developers actually chose quality over quantity. Every bit of content this game has to offer is focused on that single push-and-defend playstyle, which makes the game feel polished overall. You see it especially on the maps, which are built longer than they are wide to create that genuine push-and-retreat feeling, especially with the countless defensive positions that need to be destroyed by the attackers. I would only say that the gameplay here can get a little monotone. Attackers almost always reach the objective first, where they choose to set an explosive and handle the capturing part later because it's easier for them rather than vice versa. Also, because the attackers get all of their reinforcement tickets back when they capture a sector, it makes strong or weak defenses at the beginning irrelevant. I would rather give them most but not all of their tickets back, forcing the defenders into a more dynamic playstyle by weakening the enemy's whole offensive operation over time. And one critique I want to mention, which all Isonzo players will agree on, is the terrible spawning mechanic. Although you spawn in a secure position most of the time, you can also spawn right in the middle of an open area where you are fully exposed to the enemy. Sometimes players even spawn behind enemy lines, where they can then easily farm kills and break the defensive line. In terms of the presentation, they did a good job. There are a lot of different locations, and all of the soldiers, including the cosmetics, fully support the historical battles between Austria-Hungary and Italy. As a German speaker myself, I am so glad to see that the Austro-Hungarian soldiers speak their Austrian dialect of German instead of the High German of the German Army. For being an indie game, the sound design is very well done. Only on the graphics do you notice a little bit that it doesn't look as good as other, bigger multiplayer titles and also this game has a slight problem of crashes. But what about long-term motivation, which is essential for a multiplayer-only game? Well, it is decent here. There is a lot to grind, but what I disliked was being forced to complete challenges to unlock all weapons and gadgets. At first, these challenges were okay, but after a while, they became so hard that it forced me to use a less fun playstyle just to have a chance at completing them. I am fine with challenges, but please have them unlock cosmetic items rather than core gameplay mechanics. As for the actual content overall, it was fine. I am okay with having a "below average" collection of guns for the sake of historical realism, and I don't think they need to change that to have great content in their game. What they already did was the perk system, which they could embrace even further to say: "The guns don't make diverse soldiers, it's the people behind those soldiers." I think that would actually push their game more into the mainstream with a higher audience. Speaking of the audience, there is one important question a lot of people probably ask: Are there enough players to enjoy this game? And the answer is clearly YES. Every time I played this game, there were already full servers, and I was never forced to sit in a bot lobby. My final conclusion after this super long review is that Isonzo shows how great the WW1 series by BlackMill Games has become, and how much potential they have if they build this franchise even further. Ultimately, with this game, I became a big fan of the series, and I really respect them for giving us something special, even though the WW1 setting is a risky move for multiplayer games. I totally recommend Isonzo!

gut

Beautiful! Not a twitch shooter, or trying to be one, thank goodness

最适合近战的一战游戏，也是考验策略和配合的，枪法差一样能玩得开心

Very fun and historically accurate game about the Italian front during WWI. I was introduced to the Italian front of WWI from BF1, but this game does it 10x better!

Is good game 7.9/10

very good. fun. but somtimes makes me wanna jump off a cliff into a pile of thorns. chat is somtimes odd but very good game