4th Generation Warfare is a turn-based strategy game developed and published by Eversim, launched on July 28, 2022. You play as a head of state, performing various actions to increase your score towards ultimate victory. While you strive to be an influential leader, there are ways to sabotage your opponents.
Most of your actions are political. You’ll instruct your cabinet members with specific orders, based on the suggestions in the to-do panel. If you’re not familiar with this type of gameplay, you’re in for confusing gameplay working out what to do next. Let’s take a look at what to expect with this 4th Generation Warfare review.
Running a country in 4th Generation Warfare
Are you ready to take charge of a country? With your cabinet and political leaders in place, it’s time to issue strategic orders that places you as the number one superpower on the map. 4th Generation Warfare certainly doesn’t make the task easy for you.
Establishing the settings
When you start playing 4th Generation Warfare, it’s essential that you create the best setup before the actual game begins. You can choose between real-time or turn-based. For the former, the clock will keep ticking while you decide what action to perform next. The latter gives you a limited number of actions before you can end the turn.
You’ll also need to decide if you only want the political figurehead at the start or the entire cabinet. I suggest you do the latter as a beginner, as working out how to choose your leaders becomes confusing in 4th Generation Warfare.
Determining your cabinet members
If you opt to only start with the figurehead, you’ll need to select the cabinet members within the game. It involved finding people that are suitable for the positions. Some of them will approach you to ask if they can fill the role, and you’ll need to read through their experience.
The members are essential to running your country properly. You’ll use them for various aspects, such as bribing organizations. They’re also useful for sending to other countries if you want to sabotage them.
Real-time turn-based missions
Even if you choose real-time gameplay in 4th Generation Warfare, there’s still a turn-based element in the background. Whenever the turn ends, you’ll notice news appear or someone giving you a call. The only difference is that you don’t have to end turns, and you can perform as many actions as you wish.
You’ll see a to-do list on the side. These are the proposed actions to increase your score. If you look carefully, you’ll see what you can do and which member can perform the action. 4th Generation Warfare does a poor job of letting you know you’ve completed the task.
Reaching high scores
The main objective of 4th Generation Warfare is to obtain the highest score by the end of the game. You determine how long you want the game to last, be it based on time or the number of turns. When it reaches that endpoint, your final score determines whether or not you’re the victor. There’s also unlimited gameplay if you want to conquer your enemy.
Using 4th Generation Warfare turns effectively
You now have a general idea of what 4th Generation Warfare is about. If you’re still interested in knowing more, I’ll cover some of the gameplay aspects here. Please bear through some of my frustration with some of the more promising elements.
Learn from the 4th Generation Warfare tutorials
I was hoping 4th Generation Warfare had some in-game tutorial elements to show me how to play. While there are tooltips that appear, I had no idea how to carry out orders and complete missions. I quit soon after starting and headed to the video tutorial section.
The developers didn’t even bother letting you watch the videos in the game. 4th Generation Warfare takes you to YouTube with a link, where you can see how the various components work. I hope you have a good memory, as you’ll have to take what you learn in the video back to the game.
Moving through the different views
One tip I can give you for 4th Generation Warfare is to practice going through the various views. You have the general state map that shows you your country and the political leaders. If you zoom in, you’ll see the streets and buildings that are meant to replicate the country in real life. There’s also an icon to the right that gives you a global view.
Using your turns wisely in 4th Generation Warfare
If you didn’t select unlimited turns in 4th Generation Warfare, you’ll have to use your turns wisely. Check the to-do list and decide which actions you’ll take on your turn. Some have more points than others, while some actions take longer to complete.
When you end your turn, your opponents have a chance to play. It may affect what you do next or any action you’ve already put into place. Also, note that any stealth or visible action discovered by the media will be reported.
Placing orders and following actions
The most important action you’ll take is giving orders in 4th Generation Warfare. You can perform some tasks, but you’ll need to issue the others to your cabinet members. The panel at the bottom shows you who is busy and what they’re doing at that time. If you’re inactive, it means you won’t score points on that turn.
Similar games to 4th Generation Warfare
There are plenty of other strategy games you’ll enjoy more than 4th Generation Warfare. Just off the top of my head, try Risk Factions, Dune: Spice Wars, or Civilization IV. If you’re not keen on the war or political aspects, Two Point Campus is an excellent and fun game with much more excitement.
What you’ll need on your PC
Fortunately, 4th Generation Warfare doesn’t require a heavy machine to play the game. Some of the 3D aspects may need a powerful video card, and it may get busy on your screen at a later stage. However, with how much space you need, I expected more exciting content.
- OS: Windows 8 and up
- Processor: 2 GHz
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: 3D video card with 1 GB RAM
- Storage: 8 GB
Terrible graphics and sound elements
It’s here that 4th Generation Warfare fails to impress. Somehow, the developer felt that placing 3D objects on 2D images would be a good idea. It comes across as moving pieces on a Cluedo board, while the movement to different areas is terrible.
Blurry maps and odd buildings
The first thing you’ll notice when you start a round on 4th Generation Warfare is that the town maps are blurry. The points of interest are 3D objects built onto the map, which don’t look great. I appreciate that there are small moving parts and effects, but that’s about it. Even the icons on the interface at the bottom are subpar.
3D characters on a 2D image
The most atrocious factor is with the 3D characters on the 2D images. 4th Generation Warfare tries to make the maps look 3D when you zoom in and out, but it fails. The political figures and people of interest do move when you click on them, but it doesn’t add any value. The whole perspective simply puts you off.
Dull sounds and music
The music and sounds in 4th Generation Warfare are also on the dull side. While there’s some voice acting now and again, it doesn’t really stand out as an incredible feature. Your ears will be as bored as your eyes.
Final Verdict of 4th Generation Warfare
If you can’t tell from my 4th Generation Warfare review, I’m not incredibly impressed with this game. Perhaps I’m biased, as I sighed when the game started and I saw what type it was. Don’t get me wrong; I love turn-based and real-time strategy games with all my heart. However, I’ve come across too many indie games like this that just do it wrong.
If you have the patience to play through every round to become a superpower, maybe you’ll enjoy 4th Generation Warfare. However, there are just too many factors that put me off. I’ll definitely be removing it from my Steam library now that I’ve tested it for the review.
For game reviews I have enjoyed more check out Dune: Spice Wars preview and Mirror Forge preview.
Pros
- Turn-based and real-time strategy elements
- Uses real locations
- Plenty of options in the main menu
Cons
- Graphics aren’t visually appealing
- Dull sounds and music
- No proper tutorial
- Gameplay isn’t exciting
- Too many icons with little purpose
Developer: Eversim
Publisher: Eversim
Game Modes: Single-player, multiplayer
Platform reviewed: Windows 11 – Steam
