Operation: Polygon Storm

Genre: Real-Time Strategy

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: Review code provided by the kind folks at Untold Tales)

Operation: Polygon Storm is a Real-Time Strategy game released in 2024 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. In this game, players requisition and command troops sent out on a long stretch of a modern-day battlefield, aiming to capture the enemy’s flag while protecting their own.

Despite what the game’s title may indicate, the game’s 3D visuals are not especially stylized or “retro” in appearance, instead just being fairly simple 3D visuals seen from a distance above. There’s nothing especially bad about these, but neither are they impressive in any way. These visuals are joined by an electric guitar-heavy rock soundtrack that works well enough for the game, but can be a bit overbearing.

The gameplay here has you spending money to request units, who can then be commanded to take positions, attack incoming enemies, and move toward the enemy outpost, with the computer-controlled enemy doing much the same from the other side of the battlefield.

Unfortunately, this game has numerous problems. First, troops are not spawned from one location but from many, which makes selecting them to command them more inconvenient. Even worse, your troops often don’t listen to your commands – I can’t even count the number of times I told troops to take cover, only for them to choose to stand out in the open taking shots at fortified enemy positions instead. What’s more, while it takes you a bit of time to ramp up your resources and start building up forces, the enemy seems to have access to all of that right from the start.

As a result of this, even on the easiest difficulty level, I found myself making absolutely no headway. Tell my troops to take fortified positions near the midpoint of the battlefield? They don’t listen, and just allow themselves to get killed like idiots. Tell them to wait near my base so I can build up forces before making a push into enemy territory? The enemy uses a missile strike I don’t have access to yet to demolish them as a group and overrun my area. Time and time again I would try different approaches, only to discover seemingly nothing made a dent in enemy forces, even on the easiest difficulty level.

Also, if you think that at the very least multiplayer mode could even the odds somewhat… well, perhaps it could have, but there is no such mode here.

Overall, I found Operation: Polygon Storm to be an absolutely miserable game to play, one where enemy forces are overwhelming at even the lowest difficulty setting, and your own forces make it a point to not listen to you and keep getting themselves killed. Do not play this, it is an absolute frustrating mess.

tl;dr – Operation: Polygon Storm is a Real-Time Strategy game where players command troops on a battlefield. Unfortunately, just because you command them doesn’t mean they listen to you, and enemy forces are overwhelming even at the easiest difficulty level. The result is a game that is too frustrating to be enjoyable.

Grade: D

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