War of Rights
Campfire Games
With World War One film, 1917, just around the corner, it’s good to see the Great War getting some attention, instead of WW2. Besides M2H and Blackmill Games’ title, Verdun, you really don’t see many WW1 first-person shooter games out there on the market. The same thing can also be said of the American Civil War. Although it has received some silver screen coverage, there aren’t many first-person shooter games that cover that tumultuous period of history.
A small indie developer, Campfire Games, is doing their part in order to shed some light on the American Civil War with their passion project, War of Rights. Like many games created by smaller teams, War of Rights was originally a Kickstart project that was put together back in 2015. War of Rights is primarily focused on the bloody 1862 Maryland Campaign, which saw the Confederate Army clashing with their Federal rivals.
Mechanically-speaking, War of Rights is quite a departure from other, more popular first-person shooter titles out there. No, you won’t see any shiny weapon pick-ups, nor will you be able to race around like a madman and hip-fire at anything that moves. Quite to the contrary, just like the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War, the American Civil War was fought utilizing the by then, outdated Napoleonic tactics.
Napoleonic tactics were mainly used to bolster each man’s morale while standing in their line infantry formations by having them stand shoulder-to-shoulder, often several rows deep. Since both of the opposing teams would simply march up to within eyesight of each other, load their weapons, and fire volleys (all the while not using cover or concealment) at their enemies, this type of warfare usually resulted in some serious (and literal) bloodbaths. War of Rights emulates this style of warfare very well.
There are enlisted ranks that make out the bulk of the line infantry forces and they in turn, are commanded by officers. The game’s community is relatively on the small side, although I can see this title’s community growing if the devs keep working on this project. Over the past five years, they’ve been releasing a steady stream of updates and patches so everything looks hopeful.
The game’s graphics are one of its strong points and you can see the incredible level of detail throughout it—from the character models to the amazing landscapes. Getting into position, loading up your rifle, and even aiming it at the enemy takes time, so if you’re into running and gunning you might not be into it. However, the slower pace of War of Rights suits me quite well, since I get to take in all of the gorgeous visuals without having to constantly be sprinting around from place to place.
War of Rights has a good number of battle maps and Campfire Games have a pretty full roadmap as far as what they want to introduce later on. This includes more maps, cavalry, generals, and even player-controlled artillery units that can drastically change the outcome of battles.
I really enjoy War of Rights, as it’s a fun divergence from the usual hyper-fast first-person shooters you find out there and you can really tell that its Danish developers have a real reverence for American history. This departure from the typical fast-paced shooters allows War of Rights to really shine as far as being a unique historical simulation, and its dedicated community is usually very helpful as far as acclimating newer players to its playstyle. I’m really looking forward to when the game leaves Early Access so that I can review the final product.
SCORE: 86%
War of Rights has some pretty good looking graphics that make its first-person shooter gameplay truly shine. However, you want to have a pretty beefy gaming PC or gaming laptop in order to play it at a decent framerate. So, you may just want to invest in a decent gaming rig:
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