Something has happened to me in the last little while. I’ve been playing so many Real-Time Strategy (RTS) and City Building games on my consoles it’s not even funny. Some of my favorites are Halo Wars, Cities: Skylines and more recently Surviving Mars. I’ve never been particularly good at them but I sure do enjoy playing them because I find that they’re just a really nice change of pace from the standard fare and even at times a little on the relaxing side. When the opportunity for me to play a new RTS set in the theater of WWII called Sudden Strike 4 came knocking on my door, I jumped at it.

Given the nature of RTS games of this nature, their home on PCs is only natural. The sheer number of options you get will all the keys on a keyboard and mouse even, these game just work better on PC but Sudden Strike 4 does an admirable job of delivering a really enjoyable experience within the confines of a console controller. It’s simple but at the end of the day, it just worked really well and I personally never felt constrained or frustrated by the controls. Most missions typically start you off with a smaller squad of soldiers and vehicles with an objective in mind. Once you reach that objective, another one is presented to you. It’s a simple premise but it works. One thing to note, you will likely find yourself asking, “What the hell? Where are you guys going?” The AI struggles to follow or find a reasonable path to travel when tasking them with movement from point A to point B. Pro tip: Keep an eye on your mini-map. You’ll be able to easily track your troops down and correct them accordingly.

Sudden Strike maintains the usual overhead top down perspective that other RTS games use but it does so with some really fantastic imagery. The tanks look fantastic, the terrain is just as drab and dreary as you’d expect from the time. Towns look outstanding right down to their cobblestone paths and roads. Personally I loved how the levels with snow looked. The tracks and pockets of dirt from gunfire and explosions just make it look so pretty and pulls you deeper into the battles. And if you’re running an Xbox One X with a 4K TV, well I’m happy to tell you that you will get the One X enhancement treatment in 4K.

At the end of the day, I didn’t find this game to be particularly difficult but I did enjoy the heck out of it. It was clear to me that the team thought long and hard about the simple fact that this game was coming to consoles and they worked very hard and making sure it felt natural and worked well with a console controller and I really appreciate that. The graphics are very nice and the game is well presented. If you like playing games, Sudden Strike 4 should be on your list.

Kaneda