Classified France ‘44 Turn Based Strategy Preview

An historical take on turn-based tactic video games, Classified: France ‘44 provides you with a realistic take on Inglorious Basterds to complete missions and help prepare for D-Day, minus Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz.

Update 05/03/24

Classified France ‘44 has finally launched! Last year, we got the chance to preview the turn-based strategy set in World War 2 and fell in love with its unique gameplay and exciting missions. You can check out our full preview below and grab Classified France ‘44 on Steam.

From publisher Team17 comes a game from new developer, Absolutely Games, entering the scene with a deep tactical game set during the lead up to the allied invasion of France in June 1944.

The Overclockers UK Blog was provided with access to a preview up to the 45 days to D-Day mark. Some aspects of gameplay may change before launch.

OcUK Computer Technician and Support Assistant Liam Bould previewed Classified France ‘44 on his Ryzen based gaming PC.

CPU	*AMD Ryzen 1800X*
GPU	*NVIDIA RTX 3070* (Inno3D)
RAM	*16GB Corsair Vengeance* *DDR4 3200MHz RAM*

Gameplay

Classified France ‘44’s gameplay has you progressing through levels to complete objectives chosen by the player on a large map of France. This overarching map lets you choose targets for missions, allowing you to gain recruits, allegiances with different resistance groups, and gain XP for your characters.

In the main map menu, you can also customise your recruited resistance members by changing their clothing and weapons, giving them different benefits such as health, morale, accuracy, and more. Additionally, allocate their skills, specialising them with unique abilities for different roles in the squad.

Classified: France ’44 also features factions that you can assist by completing missions in their regions. These give you benefits within these regions, as well as access to strong weapons and clothing from their respective shops. Once you gain their trust, of course.

When in combat, the game functions by starting you in stealth mode. This allows you to take down some enemies before alerting the rest. Certain missions can even be completed fully in stealth without needing to alert any enemies.

When shooting, there are rolls to hit, just like in other turn-based tactical games, like XCOM. On top of this, however, is the morale mechanic, which is damaged even when missing an enemy, allowing you to suppress your foes and make them able to take fewer actions per turn. If you do enough morale damage, the enemy is broken and cannot use an action that turn. This makes missing a lot less costly and provides a realistic suppression mechanic to play around with.

Levels

The levels have a wide variety of settings, with each area having multiple different locations and scenarios. One day you could be helping to free a prisoner to recruit to your team, the next be stealing tank schematics to send to the allies, or even destroying a bridge. Each scenario has its own unique main and bonus objectives, alongside different layouts making each mission you attempt different.

Art

Classified: France ‘44 has a top-down, isometric view with detailed assets, including vehicles that can be blown up, unique objectives, and characters who each have different styles. The story is given to you using drawings that show you the process behind them, akin to the opening of Band of Brothers, a series that undoubtedly had a lot of influence on the game both in gameplay and aesthetics.

The game also has action shots during combat that break up the typical top-down camera to show you up close the beautifully crafted maps that Absolutely Games have created.

Drop Into D-Day

Classified France ‘44 is set to launch later this year and we honestly can’t wait to find out more. If you’re looking to take advantage of the highest possible settings in Classified France ‘44 Overclockers UK has you covered! Whether you’re in need of a new customisable or pre-built gaming PC, a huge range of new PC components or just some more RGB we’ve got it all.

Refract Gaming PCs: Built to Play the Games You Love

Intel i5 11400F CPU
NVIDIA RTX 3060 GPU
16GB DDR4 3200MHz RAM
500GB M.2 SSD
Windows 11

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Ready to command an elite team?

We can’t wait to check out Classified France ‘44 when it launches later this year, and we’re not sure what to play whilst we wait to scratch that itch! Let us know down below what strategy games you’re playing now.