''Enlisted'' is a free squad-based
multiplayer
A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
tactical
Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to:
* Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks
** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield
** Chess tactics
** Political tacti ...
first-person shooter
First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...
developed by Darkflow Software and published by
Gaijin Entertainment
Gaijin Entertainment is a Hungarian video game developer and publisher headquartered in Budapest. The company is mostly known for ''War Thunder, Crossout'', ''Star Conflict'', '' CRSED: F.O.A.D.'' (formerly known as ''Cuisine Royale'') and ''E ...
. The game is set during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and revolves around major battles fought across all fronts of the war. It was an
Xbox Series X/S
The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, t ...
launch title and timed console exclusive.
On March 2, 2021, the closed Beta went live on
PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Ame ...
.
On April 8, 2021, the game was released on PC as an open beta test.
Gameplay
''Enlisted'' is squad-based, with each player controlling an
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
squad
In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...
or a
vehicle
A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...
's crew. Players control a squad of 3–9 soldiers (represented by a real life
division
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
*Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
*Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
*Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
of their respective military, such as the
1st Infantry Division) of varying
classes, equipped with class-restricted weapons such as
rifle
A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...
s,
submachine gun
A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...
s,
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
s,
sniper rifle
A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long-range rifle. Requirements include accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment and optics for anti-personnel, anti-materiel and surveillance uses of the military sniper. The modern sniper rifle is a por ...
s,
mortars
Mortar may refer to:
* Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon
* Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together
* Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind
* Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...
,
anti-tank weapons
Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Triple Entente deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapons. The first deve ...
, or
flamethrower
A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World ...
s; alternatively, players may control the crew of a
tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
or a
fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...
, at least one of which must always be equipped for use in the menu. Players control one of the soldiers in their squad, and can give orders to or switch between the other AI soldiers in their squad. The player's squads, soldiers, and weaponry can be managed in the main menu, where squads can be equipped and upgraded, soldiers and weapons can be purchased, game modes and campaigns can be switched, and several other aspects of the game can be customized or controlled.
Players battle in large maps based on major World War II battles on the
Eastern Front,
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
*Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...
,
North African Campaign, and the
Pacific Theatre. Players are divided into two teams representing the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
(
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
,
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
,
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
,
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
,
Free French Forces
__NOTOC__
The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...
,
New Zealand Army
, image = New Zealand Army Logo.png
, image_size = 175px
, caption =
, start_date =
, country =
, branch = ...
,
Australian Army
The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...
) and the
Axis
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
*Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...
(
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
,
Royal Italian Army
The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...
,
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
,
Romanian Armed Forces
The Land Forces, Air Force and Naval Forces of Romania are collectively known as the Romanian Armed Forces ( ro, Forțele Armate Române or ''Armata Română''). The current Commander-in-chief is Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu who is managed ...
). The specific factions used depend on the campaign. The game features six campaigns:
Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...
,
Invasion of Normandy
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...
,
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II.
After the Vistula– ...
,
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...
,
Battle of Tunisia
The Tunisian campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the World War II, Second World War, between Axis powers, Axis and Allies of World War II, Allied ...
, and the
Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
.
Matchmaking options
* Squads – Standard default matchmaking, where players spawn with their full squads.
* Lone Fighters – Modified matchmaking, where players do not spawn with their squads; instead the player selects individual soldiers from their squads to spawn as. If a soldier is killed, they will be unavailable for the rest of the match, and another soldier must be selected; to compensate, spawn numbers are increased. Most of the
HUD
Hud or HUD may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Hud'' (1963 film), a 1963 film starring Paul Newman
* ''Hud'' (1986 film), a 1986 Norwegian film
* ''HUD'' (TV program), or ''Heads Up Daily'', a Canadian e-sports television program
Places
* Hud, Far ...
is hidden in this mode. Unlocked at campaign level 3.
Singleplayer tutorial levels for basic gameplay, tanks, planes, and engineers are also available, as is a
shooting range
A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, sports venue, venue or playing field, field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or shooting sport, competitions. So ...
containing every weapon in the game.
Game modes
* Conquest – Both teams fight to control three control points (five in "Battle of Berlin") on a map. Each team is represented by a colored bar that depletes as long as the enemy team has two or more points controlled. The match ends when one team's bar fully depletes.
* Invasion – One team attempts to take a series of five control points on a large map, while the other attempts to defend each point. Each point is played sequentially; if the defenders lose a point, they must retreat to the next point. Attackers are restricted to 1000 respawn tickets (including AI soldiers). Additional tickets can be obtained by capturing control points or by shooting down
barrage balloon
A barrage balloon is a large uncrewed tethered balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose a severe collision risk to aircraft, making the attacker's approach more difficult. Early barra ...
s in certain maps. The match ends when either the attackers run out of tickets or the defenders lose all of their control points.
* Assault – One team must defend a series of control points from the other team. However, two points must be captured at a time to progress, and the points can be captured by either team, allowing the defending team to delay the enemy or push back.
*Destruction – One team must defend a series of control points from the other team. However, instead of regular control points that must be captured, the attacking team must plant explosives at each point and destroy them to sabotage the enemy. These explosives can be removed by the enemy, so the attackers must defend their explosives once planted.
*Armored Train Escort – One team must escort an
armored train
An armoured train is a railway train protected with armour. Armoured trains usually include railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns and autocannons. Some also had slits used to fire small arms from the inside of the train, a facilit ...
through two stations, while the other team must stop them. The respawn zones and objectives shift as the train progresses.
*Confrontation – Both teams fight to control a series of control points. Each point is played sequentially, and the front line shifts with each point captured; however, both teams are on the offensive and can recapture lost points. The match ends when a team runs out of tickets or loses all of their control points.
Development
Gaijin Entertainment and Darkflow Software first announced the game in 2016 as a crowdfunded title. Two campaigns focusing on the Battle of Moscow and the Invasion of Normandy were announced. The game was advertised as a "first person shooter decided by the fans, for the fans" and that "they will have direct input into what we create, including things like campaigns, game modes, even which platforms after PC we will support"; other campaigns would be unlocked if the game's funding goals were met. Funding tiers at the highest levels would allow contributors to choose which campaign would be added next.
The first public play test occurred in April 2020 on PC. In November 2020, ray-traced global illumination and
DLSS
Deep learning super sampling (DLSS) is a family of real-time deep learning image enhancement and upscaling technologies developed by Nvidia that are exclusive to its RTX line of graphics cards, and available in a number of video games. The goal ...
was added to the game.
On May 20, 2021, the
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II.
After the Vistula– ...
campaign was partially released in a public beta test.
Release
At
E3 2018
The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2018 (E3 2018) was the 24th E3, during which hardware manufacturers, software developers, and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily retailers a ...
,
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
confirmed that the game would be released on the Xbox and would be part of the
Xbox Game Preview
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
for that year. The first public play test occurred in April 2020 on the PC and in October of the same year, Microsoft announced that ''Enlisted'' would be part of the
Xbox Series X/S
The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, t ...
launch lineup and a timed console exclusive.
On March 2, 2021, the closed beta went live on
PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Ame ...
.
Nvidia
Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...
confirmed the game's PC release.
On April 8, 2021, the game was released on PC as an open beta test.
On October 4, 2021, ''Enlisted'' was released on
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
, albeit with only the Moscow, Normandy, and Tunisia campaigns. All six campaigns have since been released on all platforms.
Reception
''XboxEra'' gave ''Enlisted'' a 5/10 rating, saying the game's best elements were "mediocre", and its worst elements "truly dreadful". ''XboxEra'' praised the gun handling, but criticized the game's uncomfortable controls, generic soundtrack, and poor performance. Heavy criticism was given to the game's slow player progression system, in which each item must be purchased individually for each soldier in each squad, calling the system
pay-to-win
Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...
.
A review by ''
Penny Arcade
''Penny Arcade'' is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website ''loonygames.com''. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have establish ...
'' praised ''Enlisted'', calling it "an absolute blast" and "the best WWII shooter", praising the game's "
Matrix
Matrix most commonly refers to:
* ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise
** ''The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film
** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchis ...
''
' style encounters where you might die to someone only to come into consciousness in another body".
See also
* ''
War Thunder
''War Thunder'' is a free-to-play vehicular combat multiplayer video game developed and published by Gaijin Entertainment. Announced in 2011, it was first released in November 2012 as an open beta with a worldwide release in January 2013; it had ...
''
*
''Day of Infamy''
*
''Post Scriptum''
* ''
Hell Let Loose''
Notes
References
External links
* {{Official website, https://enlisted.net
2021 video games
Massively multiplayer online first-person shooter games
PlayStation 4 games
PlayStation 5 games
Windows games
Xbox One games
Xbox Series X and Series S games
Video games developed in Latvia
World War II video games
Free-to-play video games
Gaijin Entertainment games