United 1944 gives you empty lobbies and nobody to shoot.
United 1944 was developed by Novarama, known for a few games such as Fallen Lords: Condemnation, which was released in 2005 but was unfortunately not well-received by players. However, this did not deter them in the slightest, as they have produced a few other titles well received by the gaming community, such as Invizimals, an Augmented Reality game for the PSP that was continued and expanded on heavily after the initial release.
Later on, in the present day, we are given a game titled United 1944, a World War 2 shooter containing and combining weapon crafting, base building, and team strategy, which in execution is brilliant. At first, United 1944 has fantastic potential as a survival, first-person shooter with elements of building bases and weaponry, like what you would find in games like Fortnight or 7 Days To Die, without modern themes or apocalypse vibes.
Starting United 1944 with what is one of the better tutorials to take place in recent game releases; instead of getting thrown into a frying pan or straight into the fire to learn as you play, you are instead shown the basics of building, crafting, and surviving along with base conquest in this war-torn world. It sounds simple at first. However, it is not as simple as it seems, as the game’s goal is to survive by any means, and to win, you have to destroy your opponent’s base of operations.
So, theoretically speaking, this is where the game takes a massive hit with all its potential. If you manage to find a vast group of players to join you, here’s what you can expect to find – United 1944’s most important aspect would be to build your weapons using various materials, which will be scattered across the map. Still, you’ll have access to a makeshift Rifle, but in any FPS, any weapon that shoots will work for your end game.
While still in the tutorial, you will be told to fire at some targets and be shown how to use throwable items such as grenades and Molotovs, which will be effective for taking down metal or wooden walls. After those tasks are taken care of, you will receive a new object, the main mission and the biggest focus of United 1944, scavenge for Secret Files from safes you may find nearby and successfully return them to an outpost.
With that being the end of the tutorial, you would think you’d just be able to jump straight into one of the two modes offered in United 1944. If the title didn’t give it away, the player base for the game is almost void because when jumping into a lobby of Dominion or Survivor, you will need to wait for players before getting to play a match.
Starting with survival matches, you will play in groups of three, and your objectives are pretty standard. You will have to work as a team to find and gather resources to build your weapons and defenses or, rather, your outpost.
To level up, you will need to scavenge for secret files and turn them in at your outposts. Leveling up will give you better upgrades that will influence your skill tree and the ability to craft an extraction flare to be rescued. In survivor mode, this is easier said than done, as the game will have you earning XP in different ways, although leveling helps increase what you can craft, so you don’t get left with nothing.
You are given a choice between 3 weapons and three abilities in United 1944, both of which will need to be crafted if you are to survive. Having abilities to choose from in war is fun, but you need to remember that to get skills, you will need to pay with skill points you can receive when leveling up. However, the tree is huge, and it may not be possible to access all the skills, so keep in mind the path you want to follow as a soldier.
Sticking a balance between teammates will be vital to your survival, splitting roles equally and obtaining skills to support your teammate, which will be the most important to survive a war. Before running in head first to turn your enemies into sponges, you will need to build your outpost, which will mean gathering materials for things such as wooden walls, smoke grenades, and Bandages. This forms part of the paths equating to the gunner, builder, and medic classes.
With your outpost built in United 1944, you will need to set defenses, such as traps, while keeping an eye on your wall’s health or durability. This doesn’t pose much of a hassle because, in the game, you can repair damaged walls using the gathered materials, although fixing burning walls due to Molotovs might pose a threat. After all, if it does not kill you first, it will burn the wall faster than you can repair it.
Unfortunately, weapons are not exempt from repair either, as they will require you to rebuild them once the durability is gone. Carrying a second weapon is the best option, as rebuilding without means of protection will get you killed.
With domination, things get a little more interesting but more difficult as you now have to play with bigger teams while facing off against other bigger teams. The objective is simple to understand but difficult to achieve. As you will either have to destroy your opponent’s bases or take control of them, having more outposts on your side will give you the win.
Though keep in mind that it will be a war zone and being strategic in the middle of a bloodbath will either make or break things for your team, think of how you destroy or take your enemy outpost carefully.
Visually, United 1944 shows a lot of dedication and care that went into the environmental designs, characters, and even weapons. The accuracy to detail of World War II is good, although not all visuals hit the mark, with materials being scattered almost everywhere to the point it’s more loot than ground, which makes it feel cluttered.
As for sound and background music, there wasn’t much focus, although the sound effects of walking and ambient sounds, which are typically overlooked, were pulled off quite well. However, when it comes to retrieving secret files, you will be given a voice prompt to “Deliver the document to a build a new outpost,” which in most cases is fine. However, it can get repetitive when you are on a long streak, hearing the same prompt over and over again with every file retrieved.
Overall, United 1944 has tons of potential to be a great online game with bullets, skills, and crafting throughout, but the game is basically an empty void with the player base almost non-existent, which hits the game where it counts most. The game still actively receives updates, with the most recent one bringing an overhaul to the skill trees, but if the players don’t pick up the game, it will sadly be a game left unplayed.
