Beginning of the end...
- German forces have entered our land.
They have a major advantage, both in numbers and weaponry.
Wielun was bombed without warning, and this was just the beginning...
Land of War - The Beginning is a 2020 First-Person Shooter developed by the Warsaw-based MS Games, one which was widely advertised as "the world's first first-person shooter game fully dedicated to the outbreak of WWII in Poland in September 1939..."
...and it's still another Call of Duty / Medal of Honor clone.
In 1939, when German forces starts advancing into Poland, the local Polish military begins forming a defensive line outside Mokra, a crucial checkpoint, to prevent the Germans from taking over the country.
Piotr Kowalski, a young Polish recruit, serves as the Player Character. One of the many recruits delivered to Mokra, Kowalski was accidentally dragged into a number of espionage missions between the Polish and German spy network. The missions branches off depending on his decisions, as selected by players, branching through multiple locations and battles in real-life history.
Besides shooting mooks from a first-person perspective, players as Kowalski can also commandeer tanks and armored vehicles, pilot aircrafts, and take on the roles as infantries, reconnaissance scouts, artillery men, and armored vehicle operators.
It felt good to be surrounded by our own people, laughing and motivating each other. But that wouldn't last for too long...
- And This Is for...: Should Kowalski take down the German sniper who killed his friend, Tadek.Kowalski: I got him! That's for Tadek, you bastard!
- Artificial Stupidity: The game's A.I. is almost non-existent. 99% of enemies simply run to a pre-scripted cover position, at which point they essentially become a fixed turret, doing nothing except shoot at you and occasionally ducking.
- Battle in the Rain: The first stage in Mokra sees trench warfare in the middle of heavy rain. Kowalski's POV even gets hit by raindrops periodically.
- Camera Abuse: Expect to have rain, mud, grime, and assorted stuff hitting the lens every now and then.
- Car Chase Shoot-Out: There's a mission in the hills where Polish troops, on a jeep, are ambushed by a heavily-armored German half-track. Kowalski, seated at the very back, needs to fend it off in an intense chase scene, by aiming for the slit where the half-track's driver would be. Hold them off long enough and the half-track will drive off a cliff.
- Doppelgänger Attack: In one section Piotr is hit by a gas attack while chasing enemy soldiers through the sewers. This causes him to hallucinate enemies attacking him while also navigating through an area with real enemies. The bullets from the hallucination enemies will shake your screen and make it flash red, but won't actually damage your health.
- "Everybody Dies" Ending: With the last survivor, Kowalski, detonating himself to take down the rest of the Germans.
- Fight Clubbing: In the Warsaw mission before all hell breaks loose, two burly Polish soldiers are beating each other up in a fighting bet, right in the middle of the streets while numerous Allied troops cheers them on.
- Foregone Conclusion: Knowing how history plays out
in reality, is it a surprise to anyone that the game concludes with a massive Downer Ending with none of the Polish side surviving? - Guy in Back: Kowalski usually fulfill this role in vehicle-based missions, either firing a heavy machine-gun behind a jeep or serving as rear gunner in a Polish aircraft and fending off German fighters.
- Heroic Suicide: In the finale, with the Germans successfully overwhelming the Polish forces' last line of defense, a massive tower, Kowalski realize he's one of the last survivors. The entire building has been rigged with explosives too, and Kowalski triggers it. Cue Smash to Black.
- Hold the Line: Basically the game's entire first half, having the bombed-out Polish resistance defending the village of Mokra to prevent the Germans from advancing. Plenty of missions have Kowalski and his fellow soldiers setting up heavy machine-guns behind trenches and bunkers while the Germans attempts to overwhelm them through numbers. But should Kowalski make it through the first half, as he gets promoted and the game sends him to Warsaw later on it turns out the Germans managed to break through the Mokra defense anyways, turning the first half into a "Shaggy Dog" Story. Once again, Foregone Conclusion.
- Jungle Warfare: The campaign in Kampinos Forest, where Kowalski and allies takes on German troops, guerilla-style. It culminates in a massive tank battle in the middle of the woods.
- Kill Steal: During the German sniper hunt, if Kowalski kills the sniper first.Henry: Oh crap, you stole my kill! I already have him in my crosshairs...
Kowalski: Should've been faster then. Ok, let's get out of here! - The Mole: At one point Piotr is sent to investigate various locations around a friendly-occupied town to search for a spy. He eventually deduces the officer who gave him the mission is the spy and has been sending him into ambushes by civilian nazi collaborators to get killed. He then kills said officer.
- Old-School Dogfight: The second-to-last mission where the Allies need to prevent German bombers from dropping their payload into Poland. Kowalski helps out being the rear gunner on an Allied craft.
- Plunger Detonator: Used by Kowalski during his Heroic Suicide, to blow up himself and the rest of the invading Germans.
- Redshirt Army: The Polish soldiers and recruits which aren't named onscreen tends to have much shorter lifespans. Then again, it's not like anyone's expecting the game to have an optimistic ending.
- Storming the Beaches: For once, in a WWII-inspired game, it's the Germans are on the receiving end of this trope during the Hel Peninsula defense. Kowalski and his fellow allies are defending the beach, as marine transports filled with Krauts begin deploying on the shores, and the Allies needs to fend them off the entire mission.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: In the first FMV depicting a truckful of Polish soldiers convoy heading to their base, one particularly carsick soldier throws up over the side onscreen.
- War Is Hell: A message that the game repeatedly drives in during cutscenes and gameplay, from featuring wounded resistance fighters begging for help to destroyed cities filled with the dead. And then there's Kowalski's periodical narrations...Kowalski: Aim, shoot, kill, reload. The cycle repeats to no end. I cared less and less that the shots were aimed at other living beings...
...I have to stop seeing them as people. Wouldn't have been able to do it otherwise... - Watching Troy Burn: Watching Warsaw burn, because said city was raided and set alight by German occupiers on Kowalski's first day.
- It's over...
... and that is how I came to be in this place. There is no more hope.
