Enlisted is a squad based first person shooter that is set in the Second World War. This game is developed by Gaijin. Yeah, the ones behind War Thunder. Enlisted has a different squad system than most other games you’re familiar with. Instead of other players, you get a couple of AIs you can command like you could in Brothers in Arms. This game is heavily inspired from Battlefield. And most importantly, it’s free. But is it worth your time?
To me, Enlisted feels like a sweet mixture between Battlefield, and Squad with some touches of its own.
It doesn’t have those skins and customization you get in Battlefield, yet, it doesn’t try to be as hardcore as Squad. It’s not as fast as Battlefield, but not slow as Squad. You won’t be hitting 360 no-scopes, but you won’t have to walk 20 minutes just to get shot in the head. There are also some MMO elements. You control multiple infantry divisions. Each division has multiple soldiers. You get to control one soldier, the rest of them are AI. If you die, you get to control the others. Each of them have different load-outs, and you can customize them. However, you have to unlock each weapon individually. A lot of grinding goes into this game, but I can’t really complain considering it’s a free-to-play title. There’s also different progression for each faction. There are also some RPG elements.
The movement is weird, and just not smooth.
Not that it’s annoying. I got comfortable with it. But it’s just not made for first person. It feels like a third person game with animations made for third person being played in first person. The transitions aren’t that smooth either. But thankfully, it doesn’t interfere with you trying to get from point A to point B, and the input delay is acceptable. All I want to say, is that it needs improvements.
The gunplay is fine on its own, but some basic amount of gore would be appreciated.
The gunplay is fine. You know it when you hit a round. You fire the gun, it hits the enemy, there’s a hit marker. But it suffers because of the animations. They’re just not that smooth. Also the audio is poor. The firing sounds are just not sharp. Some gore would also be appreciated. Now, this game tries to be immersive. But here’s the fact. The first thing you’d want to do to make a game immersive, is reduce the amount of HUD elements, keep it as minimal as possible. But once you hit an enemy, the hit marker shows up. But the fade in and out animations are slow. This hurts the immersion. What I’d say, is remove the hit markers, add some gore instead.
The vehicles are great.
The tanks handle really similar to War Thunder. It uses the same engine, and is developed by the same developers as War Thunder, so the penetration is also great. But the jeeps need improvements. Penetration, doesn’t work in them, and you can’t even shoot an enemy in an open top jeep.
The graphics won’t blow you away, but they are Decent.
The lighting is great. So is the foliage. The game has a light tone, unlike most other WW2 FPS titles. However, the textures could be better and higher resolution. Kudos to Gaijin for developing such a great engine.
My suggestions for the game
The game is currently in open beta, so Gaijin is getting time to improve this game. At this point, there’s a lot for me to desire in this title. The first thing I’d want, is better movement. The current movement animations look like they are taken off Mixamo, and edited to make them suit the guns. They simply don’t work well. Then I’d want better audio. Realistic gunplay would also be appreciated. And finally get the bugs fixed. There are a lot of bugs in the game, but I’m hoping that they will be fixed by release.
Final verdict
Enlisted is an awesome FPS MMO game. Even after it needs some improvements, it is great considering it’s a free to play title. For Battlefield fans, it’s a must try. People who like hardcore tactical shooters will also love it. I’d say, this game has potential. With some improvements, bug fixes, and more content, it can shine.
