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One Of The Best FPS Games Of 2022 Shows How To Get WW1 History Right
Isonzo's gameplay features perfectly blend with its dedication to historical accuracy, showing that the two are in no way mutually exclusive. Isonzo is the latest game by BlackMill studios, creators of the period accurate WW1 shooters Tannenberg and Verdun. The games take place in the Eastern and Western Fronts of WW1 respectively, and Isonzo takes place in the mountainous terrain of the Isonzo river valley and the Alps on the Italian Front. As opposed to previous titles, where the terrain is largely flat and battle is in open fields and trenches, Isonzo's setting involves more verticality as attackers must push their way uphill to defeat defenders entrenched in the mountains. This has allowed BlackMill to add new twists to its gameplay formula while in no way compromising on the historical realism it strives for.
The maps are well-studied and historically accurate, near-perfect recreations of its WW1 battlefield setting. The developers have done their research; they examined photographs and traveled to the actual locations where these battles happened to ensure they recreated the battlefields with as much authenticity as possible. The weapons, uniforms, equipment, and even popular facial hairstyles of the time have all been painstakingly researched and modeled for historical accuracy in every detail. This dedication to realism has helped BlackMill set the standard for historically accurate WW1 shooters ever since they first released Verdun in 2015.
What the company has been perfecting since that initial release is balancing meticulous realism with modern shooter gameplay. Taking what it learned from Verdun and Tannenberg, the brutal gameplay in Isonzo is better than ever. The game employs six different classes based on real-life roles soldiers filled in the WW1 Italian Front, each allowing for a unique function on the battlefield. Engineers are more effective at building emplacements and other equipment to support their team, officers have the ability to call for various strikes and even gas attacks, and mountaineers are unmatched at traversing the rugged environment in order to gain a tactical advantage. The signature game mode, Offensive, involves fighting and trying to fulfill objectives in actual historical offensives with the environment changing between mountains, valleys, and cities as the attackers gain ground.
Historical Realism Can Lead To Exciting Gameplay
It is historically accurate that during WW1, warplanes taking to the sky, soldiers raining fire from mortar positions and machine gun nests, engaging in mass bayonet charges, and deploying flamethrowers in combat were all common sights. Such situations in-game can be exciting, terrifying, and spectacular, and they also happen to be BlackMill's specialty. With realism in a game there is the added tension of knowing that a single stray shot could mean death, making every decision a high-stakes risk. The visceral fear of trying to survive a sudden mortar bombardment, the excitement of rushing a trench full of enemies, and the brutal nature of the combat itself provide gameplay that can engage players as effectively as any fictional setting.
Games with this degree of detail can set up historically accurate stories to create situations where realistic gameplay is tense, thrilling, and rewarding. Historical accuracy and excellent gameplay can go hand in hand, as evidenced by Isonzo's battles with solid gunplay, a multitude of tactical options, and intense combat in varied locales. Playing Isonzo is as close as a person can get to stepping back through time and participating in the unrelenting combat of WW1.
