If I told you that a military management video game inspired by Two Point Hospital, Marranos en Guerra and El sergeant de Hierro is in development, what would you think? Well, that’s where the shots go with One Military Camp, and after trying it I have good news: it’s very parodic, quite addictive and on top of that it’s a Spanish project. Will it live up to its inspirations? We tell you everything you need to know about him.
Management games have something that makes them authentic wells of hours. My colleague Alberto Pastor recently commented, in his preview of Two Point Campus, that he feared that the game would completely end his social life when it was released, back in early August. I perfectly understand the feeling, because the same thing happened to me with Planet Zoo, an exceptional Frontier title that I always recommend for its ecological awareness and its strategy tuned to the millimeter, and also with RimWorld, big words in this interactive management. Well, to be completely honest… Those weren’t the only cases, far from it; in fact, to the list we could perfectly add the very interesting Theme Hospital, various installments of the Tropico satire, Cities: Skylines and even Oxygen Not Included, so let’s leave it at that if you like to take your time fine-tuning even the most minimal detail in the complex world of strategy you are one of mine. Or ours.
The truth is that with the slow but inexorable passage of generations we have seen various proposals as far as strategic management is concerned; In addition to the aforementioned titles, things like Sim City, Dwarf Fortress, or the memorable Dungeon Keeper probably come to mind, all halfway between city builder and management. And that’s not counting the huge list of games that include mechanics or management approaches within a broader playable scheme or of a different dimension (Crusader Kings, for example), hybrids in which I am not going to go into much depth because otherwise we could throw ourselves here until the day after tomorrow. However, and despite the long history of the genre, it is true that in terms of setting there are usually certain parallels; In general, management takes cities, zoos, amusement parks or hospitals as favorite scenarios. From time to time a different proposal arises, which puts the focus on another contextand that is precisely what has caught my attention the most about One Military Camp, the new strategy project from the Barcelona studio Abylight, which focuses its strategic action on a military camp in the purest style Two Point. I have been able to speak with Miguel García, the creative director of the title, and I have also been able to access a playable demo, so in the following lines I will tell you what I thought of One Military Camp.
The One Military Camp Strategy
According to those responsible for the study itself, One Military Camp is inspired by Two Point Hospital, as well as the Evil Genius from Rebellion and the legendary Marranos en Guerra from PSX and PC, probably one of the most strangely satisfying titles of its time. The basic idea, in any case, comes from films like The Iron Sergeant or Full Metal Jacket, at least in that first part of the war instruction that is there, there between the critical humor and the most absolute drama. However, One Military Camp takes a more parodic position, good roller, thus avoiding the dirtiest and most tragic side of war. I would tell you that there is no apology for violence anywhere, or at least I have not seen it, which seems to me to be a fairly sensible and sensible move if we take into account the uncertain situation we are experiencing in Europe. In fact, in the new Abylight the soldiers don’t die, they just disappear in combat; more or less like the legendary Spartan 117, but without epic return or artificial intelligences with multiple personality disorders.
One Military Camp takes a good-natured stance that avoids the dirtier and more tragic side of warOn a playable level, One Military Camp is a management game in which there are also elements of construction, although without the complexity of a typical city builder. Thus, we will have to correctly position the different buildings (unit production, training, infirmary, entertainment…) within the limits of the camp, trying to optimize its performance, but we will also have to supervise the training of our units, recruit more personnel, control logistics or enter into other more specific tasks, such as reviewing the schedules of the soldiers or the maintenance of the facilities. Taking into account that some similar titles have had their pluses and minuses with the theme of excessive micromanagement and waste, one of my fears is that the new Abylight will fall into the same error, although what I have seen seems to indicate that these tasks will be much lighter and more automated than usual. In the same way, the economy and its balance can also be a controversial point, especially when the game progresses and a minimum mistake can cost you hours and hours of work. From the outset, in One Military Camp I have seen a clear intention to prevent things like this from happening; however, it will be necessary to see if it really manages to establish a relationship challenge-reward well measured.
At the level of game modes, for now it seems that One Military Camp will have two, campaign and sandbox, though it’s still early to tell if they’ll be expanded in any way in future updates. As for the first one, the campaign mode, you start in an abandoned camp, so it is a kind of reconquest of the continental territory, in the sense that you have to take back the ground that some invaders have taken from you, via the world map of a lifetime. Normally these war actions are resolved from missions or assignments in which we will have to send our soldiers, generally with the occasional conversation between villains and heroes in between. As we advance we will unlock more camps, up to a total of three (with three biomes: forest, desert and snow), which we will have to manage in the same game, although we will do it on a delayed basis, because the time in each camp only advances if you are inside it. Meanwhile, the other military centers will sit idle until you return your attention to them. It’s a bit confusing to explain, but think of the different scenarios in Two Point with a little more interconnection and that’s where the shots go, as there is also an increasing difficulty. The sandbox mode, on the other hand, is completely free and customizable.
As we progress through the campaign, the missions will become more demanding and will require different specialists to be successful. This brings us to the next question: the classes of the soldiers. There is a simple system statistics for each soldier at an individual level (intelligence, strength… the typical), with a maximum progression for each attribute, and from there the specializations. Gunners, for example, need strength, while communications experts need intelligence. Also, there are advanced classes that can only be trained at specific camps, so there seems to be a relatively well-crafted sense of progression. From the studio they also told me that they are implementing day-night cycles, with spy attacks, sabotage and double shifts to give the proposal a more chaotic and interesting touch. Of course, I am a little concerned that the title drinks in excess of other proposals and that, as a consequence, it does not offer a truly varied experience or novel; I have seen some promising things, but I have barely been able to test the beginning, so I am not entirely sure how the new Abylight will manage as the hours go by.
I’m a little concerned that he drinks too much of other proposalsOther than that, perhaps two of the most quirky and flashy elements are the crazy workouts and the customization of morale items. Let’s go with the first: as in Two Point Hospital, in One Military Camp there are quite funny usually. For example, there is a military practice that consists of hitting grenades left and right, without further ado. Needless to say, there is a risk of injury and that these are equally nice, without the presence of blood or any morbid detail. On the other hand, buildings and morale constructions go a bit in the same vein. In essence, soldiers need some time off so their morale doesn’t drop; For this, there are recreational activities such as taking walks in the countryside or playing video games, but they also require motivational elements, such as loudspeakers or banners, which are going to be customizable by the player. The idea is that you yourself record the message using the microphone and surprise, the camp loudspeaker repeats your wise words from time to time, which generates a kind of personal narrative which I find uninteresting. Anything that favors the expression of the user is something that usually results in greater immersion and in a kind of mutual empathy that, in this type of work, usually works very well.
Finally, I must say that graphically the title is quite modest. The textures, the models, the animations and even the finishes, in general, are nothing to write home about, although the sensations improve when we bring the camera closer and we see the madness that happens around us in the foreground. The presence of cosmetic construction elements, such as trees, fountains or some other monument or special building also allow the artistic design to escape a bit by the hair, but I’m telling you that, as in almost all titles of the genre, there is an irresistible charm in this to embellish and optimize your base to the maximum. There are still a few months left for the launch (we could expect it from the second quarter of 2022 onwards, exclusively on PC), and I trust that some graphic aspects will be polished… And that it will be have learned from mistakes from his previous project, the ambivalent Prison Tycoon: Under New Management. In any case, if you like the genre, or if its warlike and very parodic proposal appeals to you, I think you should at least keep it on your radar. It looks good.
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