Imagine a game that is like that on mobile, but you don't have to pay for it during the game, but only once. E One Military Camp is exactly that, a military parody full of "sarcasm", organizational chaos and so much charm that even the strictest sergeant would laugh.
Mission: Create a military machine from nothing
The story begins simply: an evil maniac has conquered all territories except one, and your task is to take over a neglected camp and turn it into a military force that will restore order and peace.
The concept itself sounds like something Michael Bay would direct for children, but that's where the charm lies because the villain's name is Dragan.
Yep.
Sweetheart. Captain Dragan in my headcannon.
It reminded me of the first Splinter Cell where the villain was called Kombayn.
the game doesn't take itself too seriously, and I figured I shouldn't take it too seriously.
Everything is permeated with rather bad humor for kids, caricature characters and dialogues that sometimes sound like they were written by a stand-up comedian on a bad day.
But beneath that comical surface lies a very serious management game. You have to plan the layout of buildings, monitor resources, maintain morale, keep an eye on supplies and train soldiers while at the same time spies, drones and saboteurs try to destroy everything you've built.
And at a level that is not easy for kids.
Commanding an army that never sleeps
Imagine running a military version of a dorm. Each of your soldiers has their own needs, sleep (okay, I immediately spoiled the subtitle), food, entertainment and training.
If you are not careful, they will get tired, lose their will or simply leave. In the first hours of the game, everything seems cute and relaxed: you build a canteen, lay tracks, build a training ground and watch the recruits march. But soon there are layers of micromanagement, soldiers demand attention, buildings need to be maintained, and resources are depleted faster than you can replenish them.
Fortunately, you later unlock automations and research that make life easier. Once you get the logistics up and running, the camp starts to breathe, everything works like a big clockwork, and you only occasionally intervene when a character decides to sleep next to the generator. It is this balance between chaos and control that gives the game its incredible rhythm.
Humor, details and characters that look like they fell out of a cartoon
One Military Camp doesn't try to be realistic. The graphics are colorful, isometric and reminiscent of Two Point Campus or Theme Hospital. The characters are exaggerated, the animations are hilarious, and everything exudes a light cartoon charm. Instead of gray barracks and mud, here you have a military Disneyland, everything is bursting with colors and happy soldiers.
Sound-wise, the game hits the right note: light marches and military drums accompany you in the background, and dialogues and voice messages from superiors bring comic relief. Let's say.
After a few hours of playing, some voice lines may become repetitive, but it will hardly bother you as you watch your camp become a city of tents, towers and antennas.
Progression system and specialization
One of the most fun parts of the game is soldier development. They start out as regular recruits, but over time you can turn them into pilots, snipers, engineers or spies. Each specialization opens up new research and opportunities, and even unique buildings and training.
Missions are designed as the climax of each training cycle. Once you've built the perfect team, you send them on quests to clear territories, recover resources, and progress through the campaign. That part of the game may not be the deepest, you don't participate directly in the battle, except for some decisions that don't even matter if you have a good team, but it serves as a reward for all the effort and planning you put in.
Campaign and sandbox mode
The campaign plays out through a series of maps and biomes, snow, desert, forest, each with its own challenges and resources. Humor and absurd dialogue break up the monotony, while the occasional heroes you rescue upgrade you with special abilities or camp bonuses.
For those who love freedom, it is there Sandbox mode. You can choose the terrain, the difficulty, the amount of resources and the pace of the game. No stress, no deadlines, just you, your base and endless possibilities. In this mode, how intuitive the building system is and how much space you have for creativity comes to the fore.
Flaws and minor frustrations
Not everything is perfect. The game can fall into a routine after 10-15 hours — once you automate everything, the challenge is lost, and repetitive actions (like supplying resources) become tiresome. The interface can be crowded, and the research system sometimes frustrates you because you progress more slowly than you would like.
The humor sometimes hits, sometimes not, the sergeant who yells "YOU!" every ten seconds may be funny to some, but it will be a nightmare to others.
I forgot to say that, they don't have voice actors for everything except for a few sounds and words.
However, technically the game runs smoothly, there are no crashes or serious bugs, and the performance is stable even when the camp becomes huge. All this gives the feeling that the Abylight Barcelona studio put a lot of care into polishing, even if some aspects are not perfect.
Conclusion
One Military Camp is an addictive combination of building, management and humor. It's a game that doesn't try to be a war simulation, but a parody of bureaucracy in uniform, and it excels at that. Layers of planning, silly characters, colorful presentation and relaxed pace make it the perfect title for nights when you don't feel like breaking your head with tactics, but want something that will make you laugh and keep you in front of the screen for hours.
Yes, it can be repetitive at times, but just as repetition creates discipline in the army, so here it creates rhythm, and precisely in this rhythm lies the charm of the game.
So I would say that One Military Camp is something like “military version of Two Point Hospital” with more charm than depth, but also with enough spirit to make your day. I had to bold those quotes.
A copy of the game was provided by publisher Abylight Studios for review purposes
