Isonzo impressions — realistic Xbox WW1 FPS makes your shot count

Isonzo is the third entry into the WW1 FPS series from Blackmill Games, and it's now available on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. We've spent some time with this fun but brutal shooter; here's what we thought...

First-person shooter games excel when they offer the player realistic scenarios that correctly fit with the game's overarching narrative, or in the case of Isonzo, showcasing the fragility of real soldiers in a warzone. Blackmill Games' next entry into its WW1 series joins both Verdun and Tannenberg on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One today, and we have battled it out on the Italian Front to give you our impressions of this promising shooter.

Isonzo launch date reveal trailer

I'm a fan of first-person shooter games, through and through, and have spent more hours than I care to admit fighting my way across historical battlefields, distant planets at war, and everything between. I'm not an overly picky person when it comes to setting or style, but I have an extreme fondness for accurate retellings of past conflicts with a realistic feel to their gameplay. Isonzo certainly falls into that category for me, and while I won't give a full review of the game as my time fighting with other players was limited, I can happily say that if you've enjoyed the last two games in this series, you're most likely going to love this entry.

Isonzo takes the fight to the Italian Front in WW1 — the two-year battle for control of the Isonzo river and the Alps, to be accurate — and sees the Kingdom of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire facing off on a multitude of battlefields during the conflict. One of the best features of the series, and Isonzo itself, is the use of three-battle Offensives to help keep players engaged with what boils down to 'best of three' gameplay.

As it stands now, there are three Offensives to play in, with servers available for players, bots, or a mix of both. Having been playing before the game's release, my interaction with other players has been somewhat limited, so a large portion of my time has been spent playing with AI. During my early time with Isonzo, the bots have been a mix of crack-shots and fairly useless, hence my lack of score. On the occasions that I've found games, which have never been any more than ten players, the real reasons to make the purchase and play Isonzo right now have been overwhelmingly positive.

The entire game is built on infantry-focused warfare, with both teams fighting over a pair of objectives, as one team attacks and the other defends. Each of the six available classes offers the team and yourself a myriad of options and aids on the battlefields, such as the engineer's ability to build fortifications like sandbag walls, machine gun emplacements, barbed wire, and the like. The Officer class can call in Mustard Gas strikes that leave an area of the map engulfed in toxic fumes for an extended period, forcing all those inside it to either die, or wear the peripheral vision-hindering gas masks to continue the fight. Each has its benefits, but also its own shortfalls. The Rifleman for instance can restock ammo on stationary weapons but can't build them — these forced teamwork moments are a continuous feature in Isonzo, and I love it.

No matter if the class you choose can call upon aircraft to reign terror from the sky or kill an enemy from extreme distances, getting shot is getting shot. My most appreciated feature in Isonzo is, without a doubt, the fact that your character feels naturally cumbersome and seems to react in a realistic fashion when a bullet burrows itself into their chest... you know, by dying. With the single-shot weaponry and the carnage caused by a number of call-ins and stationary weapons like HMGs (Heavy Machine Guns), mortars, and cannons, it's nice to have an uneasy feeling when you play; when even if you're back behind your lines, you don't feel completely safe thanks to the periodic mortar fire landing around you from enemy players.

Blackmill Games describes the series as an authentic WW1 experience, and I'd be inclined to agree with them due to the points above. The weapons all look great and feel authentic to the game's setting, character customisation offers period-specific cosmetics, the battlefields are pounded by all manner of high-impact explosives, and strangely, a bullet to the head kills you... weird, I know. Mix that with some stunning locations set in the Alps or on the banks of the Isonzo river, and you find an extremely engaging game.

I'm really enjoying my time playing Isonzo and will be thrilled to see matches filling with players now the game is out so I can revel in the chaos that can't be choreographed outside of multiplayer. Don't sleep on Isonzo if you're a fan of the FPS genre, as this is a great game for both players and history buffs.

What do you think about Isonzo? Will you be heading to the Italian Front? Drop a comment below and let us know!

More Isonzo stories:

Xbox Series X|S Xbox One

Written by Tom West

Tom has been playing video games since he was old enough to hold a controller, experimenting with systems like the Nintendo 64 and Playstation until he eventually fell in love with the Xbox 360. With a passion for the platform, he decided to make a career out of it, and now happily spends his days writing about that which he loves. If he’s not achievement hunting, you’ll likely find him somewhere in The Elder Scrolls Online.