[Review] Broken Lines

Strategy games and military history tend to go hand in hand and have always mixed well. More often than not, we are placed in control of platoons and big armies in an attempt to rout the enemy as well as protect our own. Broken Lines puts you in control of a smaller unit and as you are thrown into alternate history World War II.

Instead of commanding massive armies to wage war, you find yourself in charge of a small squad of soldiers who have survived a plane crash across enemy lines. With no information to go on, your troops are stranded in unknown territory with an enemy that they have never faced before.

Alternate history stories tend to put us in two different categories, the first leaning towards a more serious take on well known historical events and making changes along the way. What if the battle that ended with a well-earned victory instead ended in a total loss? The second take tends to lend itself to a more fantastical setting, with creatures like aliens, and zombies taking foot onto the battlefield. While this might be played out for some, Broken Lines gives us a different kind of story. Our rag tag group of soldiers are facing off against an enemy known as The Faceless and this new enemy is not a fan of the group’s interference in their plans. The story unfolds over the course of twenty one levels and the small unit we take charge of has a lot of personality that makes deciding who to bring into a mission challenging.

While they are professional soldiers who understand when it’s time to get serious, the group is also able to lighten the mood with jokes in regards to the current scenario as well as minor jabs at one another, even with the tough situation they have been handed. The unit understands that their current situation is not a usual one and that moving forward is the only way to find the answers they are looking for.

Although we are able to swap out our squad members at the beginning of each mission, there are still opportunities for the party to interact with one another. There was something refreshing about seeing a squad of soldiers with real personalities working together, opposed to the usual rough and tough military figures we are used to seeing in the media. There is a soldier in the squad who does a wonderful job of maintaining an up-beat personality, and she finds ways to try and throw a joke in when the moment allows.

Gameplay has us breaking the eight characters into a group of four during each mission. You are free to pick who tags along, as well as what equipment they bring and what abilities they have during the mission. This was a pleasant surprise since there is no mention of it until you gather all the characters. I would have liked to see this included in the tutorial, but its placement in the campaign doesn’t mess witht the flow of gameplay so there is no issue here.  I was able to take the characters that I enjoyed into missions without putting myself at a major disadvantage. Equipment can be moved between characters, and up to three abilities can be equipped per character. Abilities can make combat easier, but the drawback is that you can only have one ability assigned to one character at a time. This means you can’t build a team full of extremely accurate and silent soldiers, but it is possible to kit out one soldier to fill the scout role to help take out enemies before things get rough.

Once you’ve selected your team, it’s time to hit the battlefield. Traversing the fields and engaging in combat play out differently than other turn-based strategy games, in where each unit takes a turn moving and attacking before moving onto the next unit. Instead, we are able to move each character and if an enemy appears during movement, they will begin attacking while moving or taking cover. This means that you don’t have to worry about managing basic commands and can shift focus to strategically placing your characters in the right spot. I had a soldier equipped with a long range rifle, so I could keep them in the back to take out enemies, providing cover fire for my other units while they moved to increase their accuracy. A bar at the bottom of the screen is used to keep track of the time spent during each turn and refills itself once you have issued new commands. When it runs out, that indicates that it is  time to assign new commands, or you can simply press the right trigger to keep your troops where they are. When you are planning out your turn, combat comes to a freeze, so there is no need to rush when it comes to setting things up for the next round. There was one situation where I led my soldiers into enemy sights and wasn’t ready to engage, but since time was frozen, I was able to come up with a plan in the moment that would buy me some time to get my team out of there. I was able to toss a smoke grenade to blind the enemy, then move some units into a small field where the crops provided some extra cover. Moments like these pop up frequently during each mission, so it’s best to stay ready for a fight as your characters move forward.

With the threat of combat constantly waiting around the corner, Broken Lines does a wonderful job when it comes to letting you play the way you want. With a multitude of difficulties to pick from, there is definitely room for those who are looking to just experience the story, while others can try their hand at harder combat scenarios. Outside of selecting preset difficulties, there is also the option to make minor tweaks such as revivals and damage multipliers for both sides. Once I got comfortable with the gameplay and understood what was expected from me, I ended up increasing the enemy damage multiplier in later levels to keep things interesting. While difficulty settings are nothing new to gaming, it is nice to see that there is an option to further customize the experience to fit what you need.

Broken Lines takes a more stylized look for its characters, not looking ultra realistic but not leaning heavily into a cartoonish art style, landing in a nice middle ground that helps it stand out. The battlefields are where things really shine. The crops move as your unit makes their way across the battlefield and the buildings have simple designs on the inside. When I ran across the first building, I wasn’t expecting to be able to move a unit inside and see a liveable space turned into a bunker for the enemy. By utilizing a top down viewpoint, you are able to take in all the scenery while also keeping an eye on your unit. The camera is pulled back far enough for you to be able to comfortably split the unit up without losing track of the characters.

Each mission takes place on its own map, so there was no need to spend time moving characters across a large map or even selecting a location from a menu. I was able to just pick a mission and move right into it. Encounters take place on the same map that you are loaded into and happen as you move from one end of the map to the other, keeping things flowing smoothly with no interruptions. Along with the main campaign, there is also an additional mode called The Dead and the Drunk that lets you take on hordes of zombies while your squad is under the influence of liquid courage. This provides some extra abilities for the squad and was a fun break from the main campaign.

Broken Lines is a wonderful experience and is definitely a game that I will revisit frequently due to the characters and the  mixture of real-time and turn-based combat. Both of these made this experience stand out in a sea filled with games seeking to provide an accurate historical experience.