Since World at War, CoD has made the in-game secondary content of zombies as one of its most delectable by-products, now served among the best 2-player games for PS4. Even if you aren't into PS4 zombie games, players can immerse themselves into the near future of modern warfare with its co-op campaign. Other options for PS4 war games include Sniper Elite 4, Raid: World War II, and Valkyria Chronicles 4. Not every war game on this list is a PS4 original — take Verdun, for example, which came out in 2015. However, all these war games are currently available on the PlayStation Store, regardless of release date.
While we all love a good bit of fantasy and sci-fi, old school war games are worth getting into from time to time. There have been some iconic franchises over the years, and nothing beats the likes of Battlefield, Wolfenstein and Call of Duty, at least when it comes to popularity. World War 1 and 2 games have a cult following, and if you are one of the many people who love old-school shooters with no futuristic weaponry and nothing but pure action, you have come to the right place. Here are some of the best games that you can pick up on Xbox and PlayStation if you are a fan of war games. Some of the titles on the list focus heavily on multiplayer gameplay while others are deeply invested into the single-player campaigns, so you'll get a well-rounded experience. You can play these top war games on Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PC, iPhone, Andriod or even online.
10. Battlefield V (2018)
If you want to try out the latest the Battlefield franchise has to offer, head straight into Battlefield V. The game did not receive the strongest launch due to a number of reasons, including EA's decision to isolate its own playerbase with remarks, but the game as a whole is worth playing if you have never tried a Battlefield game before. The reworked multiplayer is a step up from most other multiplayer games that have released till date, and the gunplay is superb. It does, however, need some balancing changes and gameplay tweaks to make the experience better than what it is right now. The soundtrack and graphics are just superb, and it is receiving a new Firestorm game mode as well, which brings battle royale to the game for the first time. If you are a fan of games like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and want a much more polished experience, Firestorm might be worth a shot. The triple-A quality combined with the amazing optimization of the Frostbite engine should definitely allow for some great gameplay.
9. XCOM 2: War of The Chosen (2017)
If you are into turn-based strategy games, XCOM 2 will definitely offer you the true-blue war experience. Unlike other strategy games, you do not have to rely on grinding for better equipment. Everyone gets access to a standard suite of equipment as they progress through the story and if you are looking for better gear, you can head on to the Black Market. When it comes to gameplay, very few titles even come close to War of The Chosen in terms of in-depth strategizing. Every single play needs to be backed by sound decision making. The concealment mechanic changes a lot for the players, and it requires a lot of planning.
You always want to start off strong when engaging the enemy and snowball from there. However, a frontal approach may backfire if you are not aware of how you can capitalize on your advantage. While the performance is fine on consoles, if you are planning on picking the game up for PC, it won't run particularly well if you have a low-mid end PC. In order to have a really good experience, we strongly recommend sticking to PS4 or Xbox, if you don't have a monster PC.
8. Battlefield 3 (2011)
Despite several spin-off games, DICE did not lose focus and returned to the roots of the original Battlefield. Battlefield 3 is definitely one of the best games we've got from DICE. The studio along with EA went neck to neck against Call of Duty, and it definitely held its ground as a top shooter. Call of Duty continues to be the number one shooter when it comes to consoles, but it was definitely not the case in 2011. Battlefield 3 is available for Xbox One only and not for PS4. While the campaign of the story did not hold up as well as something like Bad Company 2, Battlefield 3's online gameplay is truly something else. The gameplay is smooth, and despite some of the cuts that the console versions had to face due to the technical limitations, when it comes to hardware, the game looks quite beautiful nonetheless. Battlefield 3 is the comeback title for the franchise, and it definitely lives up to player expectations, seeing millions of copies sold globally across all platforms.
7. Wolfenstein: Youngblood (2019)
If you are looking for some true blue World War II action, Wolfenstein: Youngblood is turning out to be the perfect game. We have lived through the adventures of Terror Billy in the previous Wolfenstein games over the years, and now he seems to have moved to Paris. We get to play as BJ's twin daughters in Youngblood who set off to find their father who has not contacted anyone in weeks. Unlike other Wolfenstein games, this is a pure co-op experience, and if you get the Deluxe version of the title, you can play through the entirety of the campaign even if your friend does not own the game.
With just months to go until Youngblood's release, it is one of the most awaited shooters of this year. We will get to have a fresh perspective on the series, and we desperately want to see what the developers come up with to shake things up. We all know how BJ operates with his ruthless aggression, and his daughters seem to have the same set of skills. The game is not only coming to consoles, but also to the Nintendo Switch.
6. Call of Duty: World War II (2017)
World War 2 games never get old, and we have seen time and again that fans love exploring what the era of turmoil has to offer through video games. Despite Call of Duty opting for futuristic titles for years, Activision finally made a comeback to the World War II era with Call of Duty: World War II. The gameplay does not offer anything particularly new, but it is definitely in line with what fans were expecting. The game also has a zombie mode that allows you to take on Nazi zombies. Zombies mode has become part of the Call of Duty franchise, whether you like it or not, and we will see more of it in the future. If you are a Call of Duty veteran who left the franchise when Activision went all futuristic with its setting, this is a great game to pick up. The community is still quite active on console and matchmaking is a breeze.
Free War Games On Ps4
5. Middle Earth: Shadow of War (2017)
Are you a fan of Tolkien's Lord of The Rings franchise? Do you want to experience what it feels like battling orcs and the evil forces of Sauron? Middle-Earth: Shadow of War is definitely the right game to get into. The title at launch had microtransactions which led to a lot of controversies and Warner Brothers and Monolith defended it by saying it's just a part of player choice. However, that changed with an update last year that removed pay-to-win elements. Ignoring the messy microtransaction debacle, Shadow of War is a fantastic game that any Lord of The Rings fan should pick up. You go to war against orc tribes, and you get to recruit your own army along the way too. The Nemesis system is really good at what it does, and you will constantly find yourself in battles against enemy forces. The campaign is brilliant, and you will see a number of familiar characters from the LOTR universe.
4. Battlefield 1 (2016)
We know the Battlefield games make no sense when it comes to their release titles. Battlefield is definitely not the first title in the franchise and the '1' is a symbolism for Battlefield, with EA turning back time into the World War 1 era. The war stories are definitely not worth most people's time as they are forgettable and there is no real campaign. However, the multiplayer on the other hand is what defines Battlefield 1. While the gameplay is far from being balanced in multiplayer game modes, it is definitely an experience worth remembering. The game has aged well, and it looks quite stunning even by 2019 standards. 2016 was known for its amazing shooters like Overwatch and DOOM, and Battlefield 1 definitely deserves to be on that list of the year's greatest games. With up to 64 players battling it out on the maps, the large-scale fights are what define the franchise and the polished experience in this title is worth checking out.
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3. Wolfenstein: The New Colossus (2017)
The Wolfenstein franchise began with Wolf 3D in 1992, and it introduced millions of players to a world where Germany won World War II and took over. The Wolfenstein franchise has evolved well over the years, and things got crazier as the game took a lot of liberty into making the alternate future filled with Nazi-killing mayhem. The New Colossus is quite different from other titles in the franchise as it explores Terror Billy's childhood and how he was abused as a child by his father.
We'd rather not spoil anything and let you experience it all yourself when it comes to the story at least. You get to meet Adolf Hitler himself in-game as you try to sneak into a Nazi stronghold and take him down. When it comes to gameplay, you have access to some really crazy dual-wielding weapons that wreak havoc on your enemies. The New Colossus is one of the best single-player shooters ever made. It has some brilliant characters, and the voice actors have done a tremendous job.
2. Age of Empires: Definitive Edition (2018)
If you are looking for the perfect war game and are tired of generic World War games, feel free to take a huge step back in history and experience one of the best RTS games ever made. This is one of Microsoft's finest titles, and despite it being years since its release, it still holds up quite well. It is one of the best when it comes to strategy games. Age of Empires is one of the biggest franchises when it comes to gaming, and the developers definitely did not disappoint with the third installment.
It takes us back to the dawn of ancient civilizations including British, Dutch, German, French, Indians, Japanese and more. If you found history classes boring and always wanted a more fun and interactive way of playing, Age of Empires III is one of the most solid games you can get your hands on. Each faction has its own unique units which can drastically change how you strategize combat. Game download please. The Definitive Edition is exclusive for Xbox One, and you can also pick the games up individually on PC if you want to play using a mouse and keyboard. The bundle includes every single Age of Empires game and the DLCs, making it an attractive proposition. The downside? The game is not available for PS4 — it is a Windows and Xbox exclusive.
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1. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (2010)
It is the ultimate Battlefield game in existence, and any fan of the franchise who has played the title can vouch for it without a shadow of a doubt. The personality of the game itself is just intense with a single-player campaign that is undoubtedly the best in the franchise. Even though the campaign has quite a few cliched elements and scenarios, it is still a lot of fun. The mission design is one of the best in video gaming history, and you will find yourself engaged throughout the whole thing.
When it comes to multiplayer content, there are a number of maps to play around with. The physics for its time is pretty impressive. No one can deny the impact BFBC2 has had on the franchise, and we hope to see a remaster someday or a Bad Company 3 to take Battlefield back to its glory days. Even though it has been 9 years since its release, there is a decent number of players in the multiplayer servers, so you can play a game or two if you want to check out the multiplayer game modes that BFBC2 has to offer.
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Mcpe com minecraft. Wargame developers love the American Civil War, with its romantic notions of ‘brother against brother' and the development of warfare from line battles to quasi-trench warfare slug-fests. Alongside the two World Wars, Napoleon's conquests and the grand imperial conflicts of antiquity, it ranks among the ‘most gamed' wars in all of human history. It probably also helps that a lot of modern wargame designers are American.
Unsurprisingly, for a war largely fought over whether white people should be allowed to own black people, American Civil War games have at times been a magnet for controversy. Nevertheless, the conflict's key advances in warfare technology and its epochal importance in US history have made it an endlessly compelling and popular setting for wargames of every format throughout the 20th century, spawning a whole genre of games, many of which are worth your time.
There have been plenty to choose from over the years, in different scales and contexts, focusing on various key battles and engagements – so, to make your choice easier, here's our list of Wargamer's favourite American Civil War digital strategy games.
What are the best American Civil War Games?
- Grand Tactician (Early Access)
- Victory and Glory: The American Civil War
- Ultimate General: Civil War
- Gettysburg: The Tide Turns
- Civil War: 1863
- Civil War II
- Scourge of War: Chancellorsville
- Brother against Brother
- The Operational Art of War 4 (Specific Scenarios)
- War of Rights (Early Access)
There's a couple of more suggestions right at the bottom of the article as well.
Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865) (Early Access)
Publisher: Oliver Keppelmüller
Available from:Steam
We're putting Grand Tactician front and centre because at the moment we feel it's going to become one of the most important ACW releases in recent times, although other recent games like Victory and Glory below were also pretty solid. Grand Tactician is proving to be quite ambitious in what it wants to do, and of Mr. Keppelmuller manages to pull it off then this game will easily take the crown.
If its rough edges are dealt with, this game will easily take the top spot
As things stand though, there's some big caveats you should be aware of. It's in Early Access, for starters, which essentially means this is a beta – warts and all. Our own Bill Gray was blown away by his time with the game and even Bill – who's always tended to focus on positives over negatives – does mention problems, ranging from dodgy AI behaviour to off casualty figures.
Read around and you'll see other people struggling with other rough edges this game still has. With any luck these will all be ironed out over time, but know that even though this game sits at the top of our ACW list, it's not yet in the state it needs to be in to earn that spot.
Victory and Glory: The American Civil War
Publisher: Lock'n Load Publishing
Available from:Steam
One of Lock'n Load's three digital releases in 2020, Victory & Glory's American Civil War outing is an excellent board-game style experience featuring an area-control style strategy layer, card mechanics and a tactical battle interface. You can play out the entire conflict as either the Union or the Confederacy in a campaign that's highly replayable.
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Naval warfare is highly abstracted, but the land war is well represented. Apart from some documentation issues around concepts like supply and some bugs, this is actually a pretty decent ACW strategy game and an excellent showing from Lock'n Load.
Ultimate General: Civil War
Developer: Game-Labs LLC
Available from:Steam
Ultimate General: Civil War is a wonderful follow-up to Game-Labs LLC's already wonderful Ultimate General: Gettysburg. Civil War puts the player in command of either Confederate or Union armies throughout the entirety of the war, allowing the player to build their army composition, from unit size to weaponry of individual units. The title brings Total War-style tactics (the lead on this game did make several mods for Total War games) to the well-known battlefields of Antietam and Gettysburg, as well as battles with less coverage in games, such as Gaines' Mill and Chickamauga.
The ability to follow individual brigades and their officers throughout the war is one I learned to miss after playing this game. Seeing a unit you created during the first year of the war get utterly dissolved by enemy canister rounds is heartbreaking, but following an officer's career path from lowly Captain to Major General brings pride I rarely get from playing games. It's easy to connect with your army on a personal level, as you can name each unit in addition to being able to manage their training and outfitting.
For more information, check out our Ultimate General: Civil War review.
Gettysburg: The Tide Turns
Developer: Shenandoah
Available from:Direct, Steam
Speaking of Gettysburg, it's impossible to list off the best American Civil War games without mentioning a game about Gettysburg at least once. Gettysburg marked the high-water mark of the Confederacy during the war, and The Tide Turns is a beautiful display of… well, how the tide turned. The map is wonderful, drawing inspiration from old Engineer Corps maps, with unit markers distinctly popping out against the backdrop.
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What makes The Tide Turns such an interesting game is the turn system. Units have their turn order decided by the random drawing of 'lots' from the total amount of units on the field. This leads to an uncertainty of combat that is not present in IGOUGO or WEGO type games, but is certainly more representative of the chaos of Gettysburg.
Civil War: 1863
Developer: HexWar
Available from: Fanatical
HexWar's charming Civil War: 186x series made the jump to PC from Android and iOS, bringing what our reviewer Jeff Renaud called a 'quick hit' wargame. It's easy to jump into a scenario pulled from the many different battles of 1863 (or any of the other years of the war, there are companion games featuring all of them!), with combat frequently beginning on the first turn.
A single scenario can take less than an hour, but the brevity of the games can't be mistaken for easiness. The AI can be downright painful to play against on the higher difficulties, which is a refreshing change of pace from other 'quick hit' wargames.
Civil War II
Developer: AGEOD
Available from:Fanatical
Ageod's Civil War II (note: not about an upcoming second civil war) pulls back from the close, action-oriented look of many other American Civil War titles. The player is instead put into the boots of president / commander-in-chief of the operational aspects of the war. The WEGO style of play makes running into the enemy challenging and frequently surprising, forcing you to plan well in advance for future offensives.
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The chain-of-command in armies can be customized by the player, allowing obsessive micromanagers to truly fine-tune their army. Decisions don't stop with merely military matters; determining how much money should be printed or placing embargos also fall into the rhythm of gameplay. Wargamers with a taste for grand strategy could comfortably find themselves at home with Civil War II.
Scourge of War: Chancellorsville
Developer: NorbSoftDev
Available from:Direct
The Scourge of War series feature some of the most realistic depictions of generalship of the 19th century, and Chancellorsville is no exception. The player can take command of different units within either the Union or Confederate forces; from commanding a lone Brigade to commanding the entire army.
Orders given and received are a nice touch, as virtual couriers will arrive with and send out letters you can pen yourself. Units can be directed to form into specific formations and have several different movement options, including instructions to travel via road and to form into a certain formation type upon arrival. These options are necessary to success, as the AI may have read ahead in the history book, and will prove to be a fierce opponent.
The battle of Chancellorsville was an important prelude to Gettysburg, but is not as frequently covered as the latter. However, if you are looking to get your fix of Chamberlains and Picketts, you may also be interested in Scourge of War: Gettysburg.
Brother against Brother
Developer: Western Civilization Software
Available from:Direct
Brother against Brother has a great nostalgic feel to it. The sprites and the maps are reminiscent of wargames a generation or two ago, but the game packs several unique features that make it worth mentioning. The first is the inclusion of Wilson's Creek, a battle in the Western Theatre of the war. Any battle not on the east coast is normally glossed over, so kudos to Western Civilization Software for broadening our collective horizons.
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The title also packs an 'active ability' feature that generals can use on their units to encourage them to fight harder, à la the more recent Total War offerings. This coupled with a novel movement system, where units can sometimes refuse to move in a representation of orders being jumbled and lost, brings a refreshing yet familiar take on some less covered battles of the war.
The Operational Art of War 4
Developer: Talonsoft
Available from:Steam, Direct
Before you all storm to the comments to yell at us for TOAW4 not being an American Civil War game, we know the whole game is not about the American Civil War. However, there are several great scenarios to choose from that take place during the war, using TOAW4's excellent systems to simulate battles such as Antietam, as well as whole campaigning seasons, particularly highlighting the Chancellorsville/ Gettysburg campaign.
Should you not be in the mood for the several scenarios TOAW4 has to offer, there are community scenarios available for download, as well as a scenario editor, so you can finally simulate a brawl at Appomattox Court House. Read our review of TOAW4 for an idea of how the game as whole plays.
Reinforcements! Promising Games in Development
War of Rights
Game pc call of duty world at war. Developer: Campfire Games
Available from:Steam
War of Rights is an Early Access FPS that looks quite impressive so far. 150 players can duke it out on the battlefield, which so far includes Antietam and Harper's Ferry. The gameplay looks and feels solid, like a cross of Mount & Blade and Holdfast's combat style, while bringing a more realistic visual fidelity to the fight.
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A chain-of-command system is currently under development, so far with higher ranking officers passing down orders to their subordinates, who can in turn order their men to follow their lead. The game is primarily multiplayer, so the experience does depend on other players, but players do tend to actually work together. War of Rights has a development roadmap laid out, and it looks to have a promising future ahead.
Civil War Ps4 Game
More American Civil War Game Recommendations
John Tiller Software did a series called Civil War Battles, which cover specific battles and campaigns during the American Civil War. They're old-school hex-and-counter affairs, but they're currently being remastered by Wargame Design Studio with new graphics and engines updates. We're looking into these now and as we evaluate them, we'll add them to the main list. We've put this here though so that you're aware they also exist, and are considered pretty good ACW war games for what they are.
As was pointed out in the comments, we'd also be remiss not to mention Sid Meier's Gettysburg! & Antietam! games from the late 90's. Gettysburg! especially was considered one of the best strategy/war games of the time, and is a bench mark for many ACW and Gettysburg-themed games that have come out in the decades since.
We haven't listed it below, mainly because they are fairly old now and there's no official support for them although you can find a digital copy via Abandonware websites. If you're interested in exploring one of the gold standards of digital ACW wargames, you'll want to check it out.