Enlisted, the proven beta
Enlisted
The line of first-person shooter set during World War II is hard to die. In fact, about twenty years have passed since the time of the first Medal of Honor and the first Call of Duty, but even today the conflict between the Allies and the Axis continues to often return to the scene in video games of this genre. One of the development teams specialized in the last decade on the subject of World War II is Gaijin Entertainment, which after IL-Sturmovik: Birds of Prey, Birds of Steel and War Thunder has decided to return to the battlefield, this time remaining mainly with the feet on the ground after a long time spent in the clouds. For our test of Enlisted we took advantage of the entry in the beta phase of the game, destined to arrive soon on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S. Sony's console was the one chosen to return to fire on the European front of the Second World War. To find out how it went in these first few hours with Enlisted, read on!Historical campaigns
Enlisted, tank and soldier. The goal of Enlisted is to recreate the large-scale battles that characterized the Second World War with a realistic approach, reproducing the places where they took place and the characteristics of the forces in the field. Each of these battles corresponds to a Campaign within the game, which is then subdivided into the different scenarios available. In the beta we tested, the Battle of Moscow and the Invasion of Normandy were available, to which the Battle of Berlin was added in the last few hours, albeit for a fee.All clashes can of course be played by siding with both the Allied and Axis forces, taking part in matches with variable objectives. In the beta, two modes were available: Assault, where the attacking forces find themselves having to invade an opponent's territory by appropriating some checkpoints, and Domination, where instead the two sides fight each other to keep three areas located on the map for as long as possible. Considering that the goal is to reproduce the story fairly faithfully as it happened, Gaijin Entertainment has also recreated the weapons and means present in the various conflicts, thus allowing players to notice the differences between the sides, even between those of the same forces between different campaigns linked to battles held in different years.
Team play
The main peculiarity of Enlisted in terms of gameplay lies in the choice of the developers to put the player in charge of a squad of soldiers, rather than a single one as often happens. A separate section of the game will actually also be accessible as a classic shooter, thus controlling only one character, but the main mode will remain from what we have always understood the one that sees teams employed. Each team can be seen as a kind of class, and is made up of a variable number of soldiers. For example, there is the assault team and the one most devoted to defense, the inevitable group of sharpshooters plus other particular types, such as the one equipped with a flamethrower.When our respawn takes place within the map , therefore, the entire team controlled by the player is "born", who is given the right to control one of the members of the group while the others basically follow him moved by the artificial intelligence of Enlisted. It is also possible to issue some basic commands to make our companions carry out the actions we want, for example by defending a certain point. The main problem at the moment is that the CPU will often send other squad members a little too much into trouble, often making them an easy target for enemy forces. Consequently, at the same time there is a clear difference between the enemies controlled by artificial intelligence and those controlled by a real person when we face them.
The realistic approach from the historical point of view it naturally also applies to soldiers' ability to take hits. In less serious cases the controlled character ends up on the ground with the possibility of using the medkit in his possession to save himself and continue, instead dying directly in the event that a vital point is hit. Each battle played allows you to get experience points, which can then be spent to improve the characteristics and equipment of the individual teams, which can also be upgraded for what concerns the individual soldiers who are part of it. According to the type of unit it is in fact possible to choose between some perks, thus adapting it to our style of play when we are in its shoes.
Graphics and sound
Enlisted, scene of battle. Before dealing with Enlisted from a technical point of view, we remind you that the announcement of the game by Gaijin Entertainment dates back to the end of 2016. The title then saw various postponements, also due to the pandemic, arriving at the appointment with the release in 2021 when the new generation consoles are already on the market. Looking at the interface, you can see that Enlisted was conceived looking at the PC as the main platform, thus making navigation between menus on the console and even some gameplay passages a bit cumbersome. The cause in both cases is the adaptation of the control system from the coupled mouse plus keyboard to the controller. However, there is time to fix this type of problem.In terms of graphic rendering, the depth of the view and the number of frames per second, stable even when there are different forces in the field, are undoubtedly appreciable. There are also some good lighting effects, able to make the general glance pleasant. On the other hand, the detail of the textures, which sometimes gives the impression of having an old generation title in front of it, alternating current. The sound involvement is excellent, which by perfectly reproducing the noises of the conflict on a large scale around us helps to give the right proportions to the conflict.
At the end of this first Enlisted test, we can say that have been overall satisfied with what we have seen within the work of Gaijin Entertainment. Being a beta it is normal that there are some aspects still to be fixed before the final launch, on the occasion of which we will undoubtedly keep an eye on this title with particular attention. As a free-to-play, Enlisted's success will largely depend on how monetization is handled, as some upgrades and gear can be purchased for real money.
