Verdun, simply put, is one of the most ambitious and fully realized first-person shooters that a lot of similar games never come close to achieving.

This game literally bleeds with passion for recreating one of the most horrifying chapters in human history. From the ambient WW1-era music in the main menus to the sprawling trench-lines on the battlefields to even individual soldiers' uniforms this game is truly the product of a dedicated team.

The core game mode of Verdun entails capturing and holding trenches of course. The Entente and Central Powers take turns attacking and defending until time runs out or one side captures every line. Many other games have a similar "capture and hold this area" gameplay mechanic but Verdun takes a different approach. Soldiers can establish footholds in a trench so that their teams' overall attack can continue, and if enough defenders are killed momentum can swift in the attackers' favor by giving them more time to take the trench. The defenders can however take back the initiative by pushing all enemy players out their trench and preventing any more players from entering until the attack phase ends.

In order for your team to be able to successfully attack and defend their trenches, working with your squad is an absolute must! But what is great about Verdun is how squad gameplay feels natural and fluid unlike other games that use a forced squad mechanic. Squads in Verdun are compromised of four men each assigned a role within a overall squad type. As of this writing, the three squad type include line infantry, recon, and assault squads. Line infantry squads can call in artillery strikes, have machine gun capabilities, accurate rifle fire and access to grenades. Recon squads are fast moving, highly accurate riflemen that can use a recon plane to reveal enemies positions to the squad. The assault squad is able to call in gas to harass the enemy, can be equipped with melee weapons (think trench clubs and shovels) and have access to advanced weaponry.

While these squads on their own can be rather deadly, they can get much better through squad experience points you earn when you play with the same players repeatedly. As your squad levels up, each squad role will get access to better skills such as the ability to hold your breath longer and upgraded capabilities such as improved artillery strikes or a recon plane bombing run depending on what the squad type is. As you individually level up, you will unlock career points which can be used to purchase more loadouts for each squad role. This can all sound a little intimidating at first, but everything comes together seamlessly creating a highly customizable playing experience that caters to individual players' tastes.

So after spending more than 300 hours in Verdun since getting the game in October 2013, what makes me continue to come back to the trenches? Every time I play the game feels fresh and frankly just plain fun to play. One of the best mechanics of Verdun is how well paced the overall gameplay is. You can easily have a slow moment in the game where you are hanging back in the trenches waiting for the the enemy to come. Next minute, artillery is raining down all over the trench-line, gas is quick seeping in creating a deadly and terrifying sensation as you quickly dawn your gas mask. You look to your side as some of your unfortunate teammates asphyxiate to death on the fumes since they were too slow to equip their mask. Suddenly you hear a shout and see enemy players charging over the top of your trench bashing in any your teammates they see leaving you only seconds to fight them off or face certain death.

It's these little experiences in Verdun that really make the game worth coming back to again and again. The only real complaint I had and still somewhat have with Verdun is the thorny issue of optimization. Ever since the game was moved to the Unity 5 engine, it has always been difficult for a fair amount of players including me to get a consistent framerate with the game. The issue seems to be irrespective of what your hardware setup is, as I meet the recommended system requirements and I have seen users who more than meet recommended get a paltry FPS. However the developers to their credit have and continue to release numerous patches that have addressed optimization issues. There are sill annoying micro-stutters in framerate I encounter from time to time, even when there is not too much action onscreen. But again recent builds largely created a highly playable game and I am confident the developers will only improve the game further.

All in all, I cannot highly recommend Verdun enough. With exciting new squad types, game modes and maps in the works and the possibility of expansion packs in the future, Verdun has dug its foxhole and is here to stay! With that then, see you in the trenches!

Verdun, simply put, is one of the most ambitious and fully realized first-person shooters that a lot of similar games never come close to achieving. This game literally bleeds with passion for recreating one of the most horrifying chapters in human history. From the ambient WW1-era music in the main menus to the sprawling trench-lines on the battlefields to even individual soldiers' uniforms this game is truly the product of a dedicated team. The core game mode of Verdun entails capturing and holding trenches of course. The Entente and Central Powers take turns attacking and defending until time runs out or one side captures every line. Many other games have a similar "capture and hold this area" gameplay mechanic but Verdun takes a different approach. Soldiers can establish footholds in a trench so that their teams' overall attack can continue, and if enough defenders are killed momentum can swift in the attackers' favor by giving them more time to take the trench. The defenders can however take back the initiative by pushing all enemy players out their trench and preventing any more players from entering until the attack phase ends. In order for your team to be able to successfully attack and defend their trenches, working with your squad is an absolute must! But what is great about Verdun is how squad gameplay feels natural and fluid unlike other games that use a forced squad mechanic. Squads in Verdun are compromised of four men each assigned a role within a overall squad type. As of this writing, the three squad type include line infantry, recon, and assault squads. Line infantry squads can call in artillery strikes, have machine gun capabilities, accurate rifle fire and access to grenades. Recon squads are fast moving, highly accurate riflemen that can use a recon plane to reveal enemies positions to the squad. The assault squad is able to call in gas to harass the enemy, can be equipped with melee weapons (think trench clubs and shovels) and have access to advanced weaponry. While these squads on their own can be rather deadly, they can get much better through squad experience points you earn when you play with the same players repeatedly. As your squad levels up, each squad role will get access to better skills such as the ability to hold your breath longer and upgraded capabilities such as improved artillery strikes or a recon plane bombing run depending on what the squad type is. As you individually level up, you will unlock career points which can be used to purchase more loadouts for each squad role. This can all sound a little intimidating at first, but everything comes together seamlessly creating a highly customizable playing experience that caters to individual players' tastes. So after spending more than 300 hours in Verdun since getting the game in October 2013, what makes me continue to come back to the trenches? Every time I play the game feels fresh and frankly just plain fun to play. One of the best mechanics of Verdun is how well paced the overall gameplay is. You can easily have a slow moment in the game where you are hanging back in the trenches waiting for the the enemy to come. Next minute, artillery is raining down all over the trench-line, gas is quick seeping in creating a deadly and terrifying sensation as you quickly dawn your gas mask. You look to your side as some of your unfortunate teammates asphyxiate to death on the fumes since they were too slow to equip their mask. Suddenly you hear a shout and see enemy players charging over the top of your trench bashing in any your teammates they see leaving you only seconds to fight them off or face certain death. It's these little experiences in Verdun that really make the game worth coming back to again and again. The only real complaint I had and still somewhat have with Verdun is the thorny issue of optimization. Ever since the game was moved to the Unity 5 engine, it has always been difficult for a fair amount of players including me to get a consistent framerate with the game. The issue seems to be irrespective of what your hardware setup is, as I meet the recommended system requirements and I have seen users who more than meet recommended get a paltry FPS. However the developers to their credit have and continue to release numerous patches that have addressed optimization issues. There are sill annoying micro-stutters in framerate I encounter from time to time, even when there is not too much action onscreen. But again recent builds largely created a highly playable game and I am confident the developers will only improve the game further. All in all, I cannot highly recommend Verdun enough. With exciting new squad types, game modes and maps in the works and the possibility of expansion packs in the future, Verdun has dug its foxhole and is here to stay! With that then, see you in the trenches!