First Strike Reviews

I played the original “first strike classic” on FirstStrike store, and it was a really neat and interesting game. Not tons of content, but it was really fun. I figured this game would be like that, only with more content. While it does have more content, they ruined the game for me. First off, it looks like there are a ton of pay walls for super weapons and countries, but they are confusing pay walls, like they want you to accidentally buy it or something. Secondly, when I start the game, there are just satellite lasers in the sky from other countries that insta destroy strips of countries and there is nothing you can do about it. I was able to “auto defend” some of them, whatever that means, there wasn’t anything automatic about it, but I cannot for the life of me figure out the requirements I need to meet to auto defend. I built every form of cruiser and missile at my disposal, and sometimes it just didn’t allow me to defend myself, and other times it did. The balance of the game is destroyed. The gameplay makes no sense. Paywalls everywhere. It will never cease to amaze me how publishers/developers can be so misguided with their games. For all I know this game is a financial success, but even if it were, imagine how much more successful it would be if it were good.

First off, Blindflug makes great games, especially this one which I bought when it first came out. Wanting to play it again after such a long time, I was pretty happy to see that they haven’t ditched First Strike and are continuing to add new countries, features, and updates.

However, you guys really are now seriously over-milking your cash cow. One thing I love about paid games is that you pay once and never pay again, and you get to avoid the annoying ads. This all came with the original First Strike. But now, to unlock everything you don’t just require a one-time payment, but an entire monthly payment plan?! That’s absolutely ridiculous, I’ve never seen a game that even suggests that. Even worse, you guys add in the experience-ruining ads, putting you on par with any other cheesy free-to-play game. Shame on you guys.

Ever since Blindflug joined Apple Arcade it’s been nothing but downhill; I bet it’s all about the money now. Sad to see what this studio is really geared into. When the first version came out, I gladly followed this studio for a while I was excited about the new updates to come. But with Stellar Commanders and now this, I sadly won’t be a fan of Blindflug anymore.

I used to absolutely love this game, and I still maintain that what you’re provided with makes for a fun experience. However, that being said I think the new monetization model is a huge hinderance to the game’s sustainability. I understand the devs have to make a profit so it isn’t the monetization itself that I have an issue with, but rather how much of the games’s content is locked behind a pay wall.

I understand why the playable superpowers/superweapons are locked behind monetization, after all that is the primary draw for most players. That being said, I feel the decision to pay-lock the other game modes and especially hardcore mode is a huge blow to the ftp fan base. These modes should be 100% player skill based IMO, based upon how many opposing AI countries you unlock through regular gameplay with what you are provided. There is no reason why I shouldn’t be able to add more than 5 AI players after taking the time to unlock additional countries (presumably to play against). In short, extremely fun game, needs to be more accessible to the ftp fanbase.

The concept for the game is interesting to say the least. The gameplay is easy to grasp and enjoyable, if you think your moves ahead (shocking for an RTS game, I know).

The only gripe I have with the game is the monetization aspect, or at least the way that it is designed in the game. I understand that it’s a free-to-play game and the developers/programmers can’t get all their revenue from (admittedly low quality) advertisements. But paying a monthly subscription fee for certain superpowers that you might play only once seems a bit excessive. Especially if it isn’t clear if you can unlock superpowers for free by completing certain objectives.

If it was clearer if you were to unlock nations or have an one-time purchase instead of a subscription-based system for playing ad-free, then I would be more content with the fact that the game has in-app purchases.

I’m going to make this short. The game is enjoyable but the reason I’m writing this is to report a bug. In multiplayer rounds you cannot use your nation. You literally can’t do anything. No researching, expanding, attacking, building, etc. The nation’s color doesn’t even appear on the map. I’m not going to complain about the how you need to pay money to use most nations, since you’ve already explained why you took that step and you get every nation free in multiplayer. But please fix this bug I like to play multiplayer a lot. I’d normally put this at 4-5 stars but the bug kinda ruins it. UPDATE: I also got as told that you could get another free nation by subscribing to the newsletter. Well I did, and I don’t have another free nation. Blindflug, please help me out with this! Oh, to add another bug, when multiplayer does work, I can’t access the players button, so I don’t know who is still alive or dead. Please fix these bugs.

The first time I played this game was around a year ago. It was very fun and enjoyable with many different countries to play, as well as many different weapons to use. One thing that kept me towards this game was it being free to play as well as the endless fun that the game brought. Upon recently downloading the game to reminisce on the fun memories I made with it, I stumbled upon a pay wall, while this didn’t prevent me from playing as a few different countries, it limited the amount of weapons I could use as well as the different countries that were available. This doesn’t mean it was it wasn’t an enjoyable experience, but it greatly limits what you can do. I would be fine paying a premium to get extra countries, but what they offer is a monthly subscription plan, but my main issue with this is that they’re charging you more money than before and not adding any new content at the moment. If this was changed to a one time purchase I would consider buying it, but at the moment the game is not very enjoyable and doesn’t have much content for new players, especially considering the multiplayer the greatest, because there aren’t many players. Overall a great game, that would be better if it gave more content to new player, or at least offers a one time purchase to get additional content.

I just want to start off by saying that I truly love this game. Its challenging and fun without being overly complicated, and definitely one of the best on FirstStrike store. However, when playing single player, all of the free nations play pretty much the same, and it gets a little boring after about a dozen games. I wish there was a way to get more superweapons in single player, not all, but maybe an option to try them out, or get them after completing achievements. The free superweapons are pretty underwhelming, especially the dirty bomb and the cobalt bomb, which are basically useless, as they have small explosions and only make a single territory uninhabitable. If i had the option to work up to better superpowers and superweapons, then this game would be 5 stars. I understand not everything can be free, but the current game leaves you with no real objective or reason to keep playing after a few dozen games, as it all becomes the same. Multiplayer is marketed as a great place to use all the superweapons and nations, but if you join last, then all of the good nations are taken and you end up being flattened in a a few seconds. Multiplayer is also very dead, and there are barely any players, so good luck finding a game to join at all.

If the classic version is the same one as this one I will pay 8 dollars for that instead of a monthly payment for this one. Kinda ridiculous that only a few years ago this was all free. We know you must make money but at times it can seem greedy. Since to my knowledge there hasn’t been any new updates releasing more features or weapons or anything like that.
Other than that it’s a really fun game. And even without paying for it I still get enjoyment out of it. One thing that needs improvement is the AI needs balancing. It’s literally impossible to even do anything on the hardest difficulty, which yes that is the point, but only to a certain degree. You should still be able to make progress without being blown up in less than two seconds. It’s hard to research anything when all your doing is building cruise missiles in the limited space you have. I’d rather be able to fight back instead of constantly being on the defense while I watch the other countries destroy each other until it calms down.

Just my two cents
Happy playing!

there needs to be some option, second button, setting or something that allows us to first strike without cruise missiles. (first strike with only irbms and icbms). it is so annoying to fight any nation that is remotely close to you because you can barely do anything without using a first strike, but once you do you become completely defenseless because you've just thrown away all of your cruise missiles. the lack of this mechanic really takes away from the enjoyment and strategic feel of the game. it also forces me into requiring a hma/iron dome and often a stealth bomber to even play the game which becomes pretty bland and boring after a while. I recommend two smaller buttons that reveal after pressing “first strike” . one being to fire only icbms and irbms and one to fire everything.

I really WANTED to like this game. But the developers just don’t make that possible. The premise is great, and the graphics are excellent. But no matter how many updates they send out, they just don’t fix MAJOR bugs and exploits.

Somehow the developers can find time to make new in game political statements about Ukraine, or to create new ways to charge you a subscription fee, THEY JUST CANT FIND TIME TO FIX THE PROBLEMS!

Their biggest problem is connectivity issues. Many times when the game tries to match, it just sits there trying to connect, but never does. Magically if you close the game, reopen it, and try reconnecting, the same match instantly connects with some people there and others not.

Then you have so many freaking exploits! Launch a certain type of missile to a certain place on the map then magically the game glitches and your session can perform certain functions faster than the other players who aren’t glitching. I have seen this dozens of times now and even managed to get it to work a couple of times myself as a test. I’m deliberately not saying how because this just ruins the game.

My recommendation would be to skip this game and don’t give the game studio one single penny until they get their crap together and fix the bugs.

I love this game. But the bugs in this game are getting outrageous. (1) Wont let you continue other previous games. (2) Unable to quit and restart games. (3) Won’t let you win. What I mean by that is that when you DESTROY the other nations it won’t let you leave. Sometimes the screen freezes, or completely zooms out. (4) Doesn’t record your victories. I can’t even imagine how many times I played a nation and the game didn’t record my victory so I had to restart and even then it doesn't count the win. (5) Wont let me choose the difficulty (6) Won’t let me unlock super weapons. Plz not that this isn’t a hate comment. I absolutely love this game I’m always telling my friends to download the game but even they get the same issues and end up hating the game. I’d love to see this game become super popular but with the way it is rn that’s impossible with all the issues and bugs.

Honestly when I started playing this game back in 2019 it was a huge blast I was hooked, until recently when I started to play the game again since 2021 and I soon encountered that most countries I used to play where now behind a pay wall, and most of the abilities as well I was kind of sad for that, since most of the countries you used to play on the older versions had to be unlocked which gave me a sense of purpose in the game which made me grind for the countries I wanted, but now since most countries are behind a pay wall there’s barely any purpose to grind or stay in the game for a long time to get invested in the game. Not to say that the game itself is a blast! It still retains some of the old mechanics from the older version which is absolutely adore but with that underlying notion of the huge paywall on everything makes want to give this gem of a game a 4 star review!

Evening Blindfug, I’m going to be straight forward, you need to go about a smarter way with this. Why do I care you ask? Because is an extraordinary and unique game! As a consumer I have come up with a way to satisfy both consumers, and producers. Here’s my plan: 1). Remove all in-game-purchases along with a big and exiting update, and get Apple Arcade to show it off for a good advertising strategy. In result you will get thousands of more people to play this game and perhaps others made by your company. 2). Produce merchandise that attracts your many fans (consumers) and make your money to make new and improved First Strike. The more the consumers enjoy the game the more they will support and buy from your company. 3). Repeat. Use the earned profits to make new updates alongside with Apple Arcade supporting you. Apple is a big asset for this plan considering how big they are. This benefits them to so don’t worry about them declining your offer. Use the earned profits to finish and refine the game to its peak and create more attractive merchandise. 4). Be patient and wait for the enjoyment of your fans and your money rolling in. Note: use popular social medias to advertise too. That’s were people spend most of their lives :D. (TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit) I think this will benefit everyone. Personally I think this is a great plan. But then again I am only 14. Sincerely, Your biggest Fan

It’s a good game. I do have a question, though: How the HECK do I unlock new places without paying? I searched it up and, according to everything I found, you can unlock is Israel by winning 2 times with North Korea. So, I won 2 times with North Korea. And guess what? Didn’t get no Israel. Like, I know it was steam achievements they were talking about, but like, why wouldn’t those apply to the regular game? I dunno. Maybe it’s a glitch? Maybe it was intentional? If it was intentional, then that’s just lame. Also, according to everything, you start with the USA unlocked. Well, guess what? It’s not unlocked and there is nothing saying how to unlock it. I would really appreciate if you could make an achievements spot or something that can tell you how to get the achievements and make achievements for unlocking things, so that you can see how to unlock things. Overall a meh game though [edit: meh game as in it’s a good game but would be better if it explained how to unlock stuff], would be better if it explained how to unlock things without paying.

Amazing game. It is very fun and it is a good game to play if you only have 5 minutes. The controls are simple and easy to maneuver once you understand them. but it is hard to understand at first as there are only basic instructions so it would be good if the player could have an actual tutorial and practice battle.
The rockets’ damage also seem to be inconsistent to me as the same rocket could decimate multiple countries or barely do any damage. The ADS system is another feature of the game that seems to not work as it should (unless I misinterpreted its purpose). It rarely fires at rockets and when it does it is sometimes late.
Despite its faults this game still deserves 5 stars it is an excellent game that never gets boring.

The game is totally great. If you are wondering if you should get it, you definitely should. It really is awesome to blanket your enemies in nuclear death. However, sometimes it seems that there aren’t that many options for managing more than one country. In fact, the only feature like this is the first strike. I think some features for managing more than one country would be great. Maybe you could click on a research button, click what you want to research, and then click 2 or 3 countries you want to have research that without going into each one and clicking through the research menu. Another thing is when you try to attack another country nearby, and it attacks with your cruise missiles. You stand there with a tear in your eye as your only defense flies away. A way to select which missile you would like to launch would be great. All in all, great game.

First Strike is a great game but I think that there can be some minor improvements that would go a long way. One of them could be a way to select multiple territories at once or select them all so that I can make a missile in multiple of them at once without having to tap on all of them. After playing for an hour I have to quit because I am tapping stuff so much and my hand and fingers hurt so that feature would really help. It would be cool to be able to change the colors of stuff too because when I play it is sometimes hard to see where the individual territories are at because if they were damaged or something and it is night time it is hard to see. Maybe highlight the borders or change the color of territories that you own a different color. Other than that the game is fun to play. Sometimes the little touches make the gameplay so much easier.

Hi, I have a suggestion for First Strike, a free Chinese version of FirstStrike Store in China. Suggested that the Chinese version of the game for free, can have a multiplayer game mode such as online networking is not a computer, but the real players to interact with the players of the game and play, also suggest to add more fun game model, and the content, including more game state as more countries will make the game more fun at the same time to optimize the game map to countries or regions become more stereoscopic 3 d, etc., and the store account because the game is not a account to log in, this game account set and there is no way to store the clouds, It will cause the problem of losing data when adding again after uninstalling the game. I hope it can be improved. It is also suggested to set up game servers in Melbourne, Australia and Canberra, as well as In Beijing, China. These are my current Suggestions. At the same time, it can speed up the update of all game versions in APP Store in China. Thank you very much! 0.0

This game was one of those games were you go in weary but this game is actually really fun! I don’t know why but most of those cool looking war game literally take hours to complete one action like moving your troops but in this game there is no troops and it’s quick you don’t have to wait forever it takes like less than a minute to do a action if you fast forward now the game is a little pay to win but it’s not super unbalanced if one person is America and one is Eastern Europe also the multiplayer is free and fun with a ton of people but if you play bots I suggest that you don’t go over 3 unless you plan on making a lot of alliances and the ability to expand and research is so very helpful to the main game play expanding your nation and researching new weapons is a key part of game play

The easy game play fun quick game play great multiplayer and Amazing gameplay mechanics is why I give this game five stars ✨

Hi! I have played this game for over 2 years now!! I love seeing the development of the game, and wish for it’s best. It is a very fun and interactive strategy game. However, There are some features and problems I would like to report. 1. On some mobile devices (yes I use more then 1 device to play, this game is too good :D) Like LG, When you load a game, sometimes the diplomacy window is messed up, and cannot leave/make pact. (I wont talk about crashing, because it rarely happens.) Now for suggestions. Maybe you can join another pact? I always wanted this idea to be true, and also, can you make some more nations, like Japan. Also, I would LOVE if you could make some more conquest available. When I first played Western Europe, I wanted to go to Africa, but couldn’t. And lastly, Maybe you could make Alaska an area too? It’s missing. That’s all, If you read this, Thanks, And I wish you a good week!