World War Armies Review: Why Matchmaking Needs Improvement for Better Gameplay Experience

So I have been searching for months for a simple real-time strategy type game that I could get into. Something fun, but that doesn’t require hours of playing to learn. Something that is in and out, so to speak.

After a lot of searching, I came across World War Armies. It is the closest game I could find to War Commander: Rogue Assault, which I thoroughly enjoyed playing on my mobile. I had invested some time in that game, but somehow lost all my progress and work on it, so I ended up dropping it. I was pretty disappointed about that.

World War Armies is a fun game, and though I don’t fully understand every strategy or option available, I can navigate it fairly well. I enjoy it and have even invested a few dollars to enhance my experience.

Basically, you have to either capture a point with your troops and hold it until the enemy runs out of points or destroy their base. Most games I’ve won or lost have been over the capture point. It’s mostly fun and really cool to play.

Except…

When it comes to matchmaking, I recently played against someone who had about double my skill level. I only realized this halfway through after noticing they had much better equipment. When it matches you with someone, you don’t have the option to opt out until after the game starts, and then it counts as a surrender and affects your standing.

I like to play on a small map I’m learning, but if my opponent chooses a different map, we can end up somewhere else. Before that happens, I’d appreciate an option to back out without it counting as a loss.

Also, if my opponent’s skill is much higher, it seems fair to have a choice to back out at the welcome screen without penalty. Instead, you have to start the match, and if you leave, it counts as a loss.

I’ve noticed high-level opponents have access to weaponry I can’t counter early in the match. While I have soldiers, these players roll out with high-level tanks that quickly end my squads, leaving me with no troops on the field and no resources to respond. It can feel like a one-sided match that lasts 15 to 20 minutes with limited opportunity to learn or turn the tide. You can’t communicate or chat with your opponent to learn from the experience, and quitting results in an automatic loss.

I’d love if there was an option to ask your opponent to play again, allowing for rematches that are more balanced and fun. The current matchmaking sometimes benefits me when I’m the higher-level player, and while it’s enjoyable to win, it’s more satisfying to face a similarly skilled opponent.

If I could get the money I’ve invested in this game back, I’d probably use it to buy or upgrade a more developed and mature game. I do enjoy World War Armies overall, but these issues can be frustrating. If you want to reach out to the developers, I’d recommend email since social media channels seem very busy and may not get a response. And if a refund isn’t possible, I hope they address the keyboard issues I’ve heard about, as that has been a rough part of the experience.

2 Comments

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Boris Kalmykov says:

05/03/2024, 12:11 pm at 12:11 pm

Thanks for the review! It’s great to hear that you found our game and gave it a try. We are trying our best at fine-tuning the matchmaking, but appreciate the additional constructive feedback. Next time you are having what feels as an unfair match – feel free to leave it (there is an option to leave during the battle).

- Angel Rodriguez says:
  
  05/05/2024, 1:55 am at 1:55 am
  
  Hi Boris,
  
  I was ranting and raging here. I feel bad for being so hostile in my review. Allow me to lay out my thoughts in a list of sorts, and I am thinking about editing this. It’s not who I am when I’m not raging about a game. LOL.
  
  1. I lose the keyboard often. I am working with your support team over email on that. I believe it was supposed to be fixed with the new update, but it is still broken. This really ruins your momentum in the game and puts you in a bad position.
  
  2. Matchmaking. I agree with what you said, and I often do back out to not waste my time on a futile experience. However, that counts as a loss and my rating is dropping. I had like a 900 guy come up against me, I’m new so I just quit. Boom, nation down 5 points. If we could exit as soon as we see an overpowered opponent, before the match so we don’t end up taking an L. That would be better. Or even say, “Do you accept this match” and you don’t even have to join it to quit it. I don’t know, just spitballing here.
  
  3. Map choices should be honored. So if we choose a map, only match us with someone who also chose that map. This would be nice.
  
  I’m not sure who I’ve been talking to on support, but someone is replying over email. I was ignored on social, but they explained that to me and how its flooded with spam. I get that.
  
  Thanks for reading and responding. That’s nice of you. I appreciate the “contructive feedback,” that was far from it. Although, you could say it is, but my wording is ass.