Wargame: European Escalation Sp?

[mikeck]

I know it has a single player campaign, but is if worth it  if I will only play single player? Is there a skirmish or sandbox mode where you can pick forces for both sides? I bought it already through steam but I really don't feel like investing valuable free gaming time to learning it only to find out the SP aspect blows

[jomni]

It's ok but frustrating at times because of "unit spam".

[mikeck]

What do you mean by unit spam? I usually associate that with MP. Can I not set the enemy forces in a skirmish mode? Or are you referring to spam in a campaign where the difficulty comes from numbers and not AI.

[TheCommandTent]

What do you mean by unit spam? I usually associate that with MP. Can I not set the enemy forces in a skirmish mode? Or are you referring to spam in a campaign where the difficulty comes from numbers and not AI.

I think he is referring to the second part there.  It is something I also get frustrated with.  Also I know this is really picky but the way the terrain, specifically changes in elevation, are depicted don't appeal to me.

[Jarhead0331]

I've also heard that in the SP campaign, the AI does not have any logistical concerns, and does not have to worry about resupply.  If true, this would be more troublesome than even "unit spam," since the player constantly has to worry about a rapidly dwindling ammunition supply.

[Swatter]

The SP campaign is highly scripted. Rather than feeling like a commander on a battlefield, I felt like I was simply hitting spawn triggers.

I liked the background of the mini-campaigns, but playing the missions was boring. The unit carry-over is weak, barely even there. The game is meant to be a MP game, do not buy for the SP component. What I wanted was Steel Panthers type campaign experience. What I got was more at home on the consoles.

[Jarhead0331]

The SP campaign is highly scripted. Rather than feeling like a commander on a battlefield, I felt like I was simply hitting spawn triggers.

I liked the background of the mini-campaigns, but playing the missions was boring. The unit carry-over is weak, barely even there. The game is meant to be a MP game, do not buy for the SP component. What I wanted was Steel Panthers type campaign experience. What I got was more at home on the consoles.

What swatter says has truth to it, but personally, I still enjoy the SP experience.  I've never played WG:E online, and still feel like I've gotten my money's worth.

[Swatter]

Don't get me wrong, I think the gameplay is really good. As I said, though, to me SP falls flat. Had they done something like the campaign generator in SP2: Modern Battles, I would have been a very happy camper.

[RooksBailey]

The scripted SP campaign is why I never purchased the original.  I'd rather wait for the AirLand expansion which is going to have more of a dynamic campaign:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/09/07/air-land-and-c4-wargame-airland-battle/

This is not, however, a series of single missions strung together by a plot like the last game though, Eugene are going to fully represent the strategic scale of this conflict, with a campaign map, controls zones, different (and historically accurate) army deployments and compositions, and the 'simulator' will also throw in randomised external factors such as political changes, weather and god knows what else. You can choose to play competitively or co-operatively as either NATO or the Warsaw pact in this campaign, and the devs reckon it could last around thirty hours. Impressive stuff.

[Grim.Reaper]

The SP campaign is highly scripted. Rather than feeling like a commander on a battlefield, I felt like I was simply hitting spawn triggers.

I liked the background of the mini-campaigns, but playing the missions was boring. The unit carry-over is weak, barely even there. The game is meant to be a MP game, do not buy for the SP component. What I wanted was Steel Panthers type campaign experience. What I got was more at home on the consoles.

What swatter says has truth to it, but personally, I still enjoy the SP experience.  I've never played WG:E online, and still feel like I've gotten my money's worth.

In general I agree with JH.  Although the AI kicks my $#@# all the time, I still thought it was a worthwhile purchase just to get a chance to play it and use the good user interface, pretty slick.  Now I only paid something like $10-$15 for it if I recall correctly, so maybe that is also why I feel that way.  Maybe I would think different if I paid full price:)