Burden of Command has the right title. It’s a poor comparison, but have you ever made a decision at work that leads to an employee being shouted at? It’s a strange, deep level of guilt. The knowledge that someone would be having a much better day if you’d have just picked option B. But having their lives hanging on your decisions? I can’t imagine it. I doubt I could handle it. You’ve got to be able to take those losses in your stride; focus on the next choice.
Hence the ‘burden’ in Burden of Command. No good battlefield leader is there because they want a bigger paycheque. Burden of Command gets that across, very loudly, through both writing and gameplay. The writing sets up the characters and the gameplay puts them in jeopardy. A bad move can have serious consequences. In many respects, Burden of Command doesn’t shy from the realities of war and, for the most part, pulls it off.
Good Plan, Violently Executed
Burden of Command is set during roughly the middle of World War II, specifically towards the end of 1942. It’s post-Pearl Harbour, so America is galvanised and preparing to drop boots in various places across the world. We play as a fresh-faced lieutenant, going through boot camp before being shipped off into Morocco for the first campaign. Of note is Burden of Command‘s commitment to actual history. There are colourised, era photographs and footage everywhere, with appropriate descriptions, and interviews with veterans. There’s a strong feeling of respect throughout.
This is reflected in the writing. Roughly half of Burden of Command is something like a visual novel. Outside of combat, you make choices that impact your men, such as leading them through tough moments or prepping for the next scenario. The characters feel quite well realised. Lt. Wilson is something of a cautious, old school soldier. Lt. Dearborn is always trying to think out of the box. Both come to terms with the result of their actions. PTSD is a strong theme, and Burden of Command handles it sensitively. It shows both the bravado and the cracks it’s papering over.
The other half of Burden of Command is a turn-based strategy, divided into lieutenants and their platoons of riflemen, machine guns and mortars. All have their own action points. Activating a squad for the first time that turn uses a point from their respective lieutenant, then it’s all on them. A key difference from others in the genre is that bullets fired doesn’t translate to enemies killed. Instead, it relies on ‘suppression’. Opening fire pins enemy squads in place. You then you need to flank and assault them to wipe them out. A wrong move, then, can pin your own squads in place. It’s a different layer of tactical thinking that takes a little while to get used to, but is great fun when you do.
Won By Men
Burden of Command works hard to blend both sides. Fighting stresses out your squads and commanders, and the choices you make in the visual novel part can alleviate or increase this. Guiding your leaders through the tough choices, called ‘crucibles’, can enhance skills and make them more effective on the battlefield. You’ll want to do this, as leaders make all the difference. You’ll need them to bolster your men before assaults, and if they’re fully suppressed then rallying can bring them out of it. It forces you to actually lead, and I found it quite absorbing.
I do think that the difficulty is a little all over the place, though. An early mission in Morocco had me storming a hotel, and it resulted in a tense and brutal stand-off in the centre of town. The next mission was a gentle stroll towards Casablanca. It could be that some of the pre-battle bonuses, like artillery strikes, are a bit too powerful. It could also be that the AI is a little unresponsive at times. They tend to just wait in their assigned locations, even as every other squad goes dark. They can still punish you if you mess up, though.
The other big issue is something of an elephant in the room: the graphics. Inside the visual novel segments, they’re fantastic. There are real, and sometimes gruesome, photos and beautifully painted portraits. Then you go into the fights and it looks like you’re pushing little army men around on a game board. It’s a bit of a thematical disconnect. The writing paints a grimy, dark and bloody picture and then the actual graphics show a squeaky clean arena, looking like something from the early 2000s. It’s not a deal breaker, but it is a little strange. The UI can get cluttered too, making it hard to remember what’s indicating what. Burden of Command loves putting circles on things.
Burden of Command – Respectful Warfare
The thing I keep coming back to is the level of respect shown by the developers. Even aside from all the researched footage. The decision to focus on suppression, rather than standard combat, was rooted in the fact that small arms fire didn’t often win a fight, for instance. Leaders also aren’t just a faceless person behind a screen. Captain Blackburn was literally there in the field, taking positions and being shot at. Leading your men means wading in with them.
It’s a fairly unique take on the battlefield, and I think Burden of Command pulls it off. I found myself getting into it, perhaps more so because it forbids save scumming. It perhaps explains its mechanics a little inelegantly, relying on fourth-wall breaking instructional videos, but once you’re let loose in Morocco then it all comes together. I’ve not gotten too far in, having just stormed the beaches at Sicily, but I’m liking it. Burden of Command tries to recreate the horrors of war both on and off the battlefield, and it results in a thoroughly absorbing warfare RPG.
(Burden of Command‘s Steam Page)
