All my boomer brain neurons activated when I played this 18th century RTS’ Steam Next Fest demo – Destructoid

I didn't play many demos at Steam Next Fest. I usually pick a few, but there are so many good, great games out now that I just haven't had the time. But when I popped in there, just to look around, I found a gem of a game that immediately fired up the neurons in my brain.

Game Master of CommandA real-time strategy game that puts you in the middle of one of the bloodiest conflicts in human history, which of course took place in Europe, because where else would it be? This is the Seven Years' War, a proto-World War in which European powers, mainly France, Prussia, Great Britain and Russia, clashed and fought for seven years. Linear warfare took center stage during the conflict, as did artillery, forever revolutionizing warfare.

Naturally, you control one of these states, controlling armies from the smallest camp to the largest open battles. You will complete a campaign unraveled through missions with various objectives and sub-objectives, set in the European theater of war. In the demo, in which you play the role of Prussia, you can attack some German states or face the might of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Greater Poland region. You move around the world, decide who to attack and for what reason, and come face to face with them while completing various mission objectives.

The game is very detailed and thoughtfully made, and will give you the feeling of a commander much more than, say, Total war. Speaking of which, this game requires many inspiration from Total warespecially some of his older games.

Generals have regiments and provide special bonuses and enhancements, just like in games like Shogun 2. Armies and formations are one to one, I won’t say copies, but rest from Total warRTS formula and so on. If you have played any TV Play in the Sun and especially Elspeth von Draken's campaign TV Warhammer 3then this is the perfect game for you.

Master of Command there's also this unique, almost shadowed art style that I found very compelling, even if it doesn't always fit the theme and setting. It's an interesting choice of colors and stands out from the dirtier, grittier games with a military vibe, so I think it was a good decision to try something different.

I'm real Total war amateur, and an even bigger history buff, so Master of Command scratched an itch I knew was there but never got around to looking into. It's been quite some time since we've had a standout game of this type set in 18th century warfare, so I consider this a very welcome release.

It will be released in full later this month, but you can still try the demo if you want, and I wholeheartedly recommend that you do.

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