Iron Harvest 1920+

This real-time strategy game's world beautifully blends WWI-era environments -- from lush, rural farmlands to stunning, snow-covered forests -- with explosive, mech-driven warfare. The attention to detail that's gone into building the Iron Harvest world is equally present in its story and characters. Each faction's playable hero has depth typically reserved for heroes of action/adventure games, while the plot is more than just a backdrop to battles. Much of this is due to the plentiful use of in-game dialogue -- despite the voice acting's subpar quality -- as well as numerous, well-produced cutscenes. But the game's action doesn't suffer: It does more than a serviceable job putting you in command of your tactical forces by favoring thoughtful tactical approaches over fast-paced action.

Iron Harvest's resource-gathering and base-building elements are fairly streamlined, which works well with its more measured pacing. Of course, the game mixes things up a bit with its mechs, which come in various battlefield-scarring shapes and sizes, and commanding these menaces is always a blast. The hero characters' companion animals, which include a bear, a tiger, and a pair of wolves, also add a nice strategic layer -- and some extra personality. Summoning your beast to heal you, after they've just feasted on your foes, never gets old. Iron Harvest also earns points for its excellent tutorial, as it takes time to bring newcomers up to speed without alienating seasoned strategists. An optional, easy difficulty mode is offered for those more interested in the story than the gameplay, while an impressive slate of noncampaign and online modes invite serious strategists to focus on combat. Despite its mech warfare, Iron Harvest's gameplay doesn't do much to evolve the genre, but its story, setting, and characters are so good, even casual fans might want to experience its thoughtfully crafted world. Iron Harvest 1920+ is worth heading to the front lines for.