Publisher Team17 and developer Absolutely Game are keeping the strategy wheels turning with a new World War II themed entry that’s on the way to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC sometime this year. While there’s no firm release date at the time of this writing, the latest turn-based outing is Classified: France ‘44, which puts players in the boots of a special-ops team of Allied commandos and French resistance fighters in the months leading up to the June 1944 Allied invasion of France.

Throughout the campaign, players will need to work hard to build the resistance network while dealing with competing factions as they take out key German targets in occupied territory. The goal may be to cause chaos and leave a trail of sabotage and destruction in your wake, but you’ll need to be mindful of the fact that doing so will draw the attention of the Gestapo secret police, making your task increasingly difficult as you progress.

Classified: France ‘44 employs a morale system that highlights the impact of every single shot on your team and the enemy, and the nature of the tough, authentic combat encourages the use of stealth tactics to make it through in one piece. Building up to an eventual ambush as your enemies begin to become aware of your presence is one of the only ways to succeed in an environment that becomes increasingly hostile as your attacks hit their mark. All told, the base game comes with over 45 missions to hone your strategic skills, with further updates and expansions promised down the line.

The developers at Absolutely Game put a lot of energy into building a variety of specialists that you can utilize to form your team, each with their own unique skills and weapons. To make matters more interesting and engaging, it’s not just about the attributes they bring to the table, but their stories, as well. You can raise your team’s morale with some time around the campfire, learning more about their lives and the fights they took part in before crossing paths with you in the process.

Once you’ve exhausted all of the content Classified: France ‘44 has to offer, a Classified Mission Creator and other modding tools are available to put all the customizability you could ask for right in your hands. As long as the community latches onto this particular portion of the game, there should be plenty of player-created content to dive into well after the full game has launched.

Publisher: Team17
Genre: Strategy
System: PC, PS5, Xbox Series

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