I continue to be delighted by the plethora of cool military sim games available these days, and if you want to participate in a virtually real land war in 2022, the choices are overwhelming: at last count, there are two major modern-day msims, three that are set in WW2 (top-down MMO's if you include Foxhole) and four set in WW1. It's a milsim boom right now.

Developer Blackmill Games took an early interest in WWI with 2013's Verdun. Its latest title, Isonzo, is the third in the series and by far the best. Not only one of the most beautiful shooters out there today, but also one of the easiest games to jump into and play against, Isonzo walks a fine line between simulation and video game-like convenience. It's not as punishing or complex as my other favorite, World War I's Beyond The Wire, but it's much harder than anything that says "Battlefield" on the box.

I wondered who the vague middle ground Isonzo lives in is for. At first I was annoyed that Isonzo was too simple, but as time went on I found myself playing it for much longer than I can usually tolerate in a milsim. It's fun, it's difficult, but it's totally accessible, and I'm beginning to think that Blackmill has created the first milsim that I can actually keep installed for more than a few weeks.

Seriously, don't jump into Isonzo expecting tanks and dogfights. I was immediately impressed with the deployment screens. The bird's eye view of the live map is clean and beautiful and clearly conveys the current situation. How far have other squadrons pushed up? Where will the next air strike land? The look and practicality of this map is clearly inspired by DICE, but I think Isonzo does it even better.

It also helps that Isonzo's only 48-player game mode is a push-pull war of attrition format in which attackers aim at targets in stages, much like Battlefield. Often, the two targets are divided into two categories: flags, which must be occupied without resistance, and things like bunkers or trains, which must be blown up with time bombs.

I really enjoy this asymmetry. Both objective types are variations on "raid a place and hold it for a while," but when I get tired of feeding the meat grinder on one side of the map, I appreciate being able to respawn on the other side and work toward a slightly different objective. Speaking of which, I especially like that every attack phase is accompanied by a secondary objective of building and maintaining an additional spawn point in close proximity to the target, which not only saves the 30 seconds it takes to get back into the fight, but also gives the defender an opportunity to attack. An aggressive defense should send out at least one or two squads to destroy the forward spawn, and DICE should take note on this point, as it is a good idea to have a "spawn" that is not only a "spawn" but also a "spawn" that is "forward.

The rush format works very well with Isonzo; it is a much smoother and more consistent experience than Beyond The Wire or Hell Let Loose, and I think a big reason for this is Isonzo's restrained scope. Isonzo's maps are much multiplayer shooters, but they are noticeably smaller and more boxy than similar MILSIMs.

All maps share a runway-like linearity, and the map is usually divided into two or three possible attack paths. One would think this would be boring, but in fact the opposite is true: the narrow battlefield concentrates firefights and minimizes the number of lone wolf riflemen sitting in the bushes throughout the match. Also, by narrowing down the layout, Blackmill has allowed for a more detailed map design. Foxholes, trenches, and blown-up vehicles are realistically and tactically placed to provide cover for disadvantaged attackers.

Isonzo's Italian setting is fresh and pleasant to fight in. Next to Battlefield 1, it is the most gorgeous and colorful depiction of World War I I I have ever seen in a game. Blackmill has had enough of the flat, muddy, hellish World War I maps that we conjure up in our heads, and has instead drawn postcard-perfect Italian countryside, quaint villages, and strikingly beautiful mountains. The mountains in particular are effective and visually pleasing, creating some of the most distinctive areas in Isonzo. One map begins at the foot of a mountain, where the attacker presses on at a great disadvantage. Once they have conquered it, it is the turn of the defenders to retreat to the other side with their tails between their legs.

Isonzo's classes are unfortunately not as elegant as the maps. My favorite is the Mountaineer, a scout class with binoculars and a speed boost passive. Every role starts with a bolt-action rifle, except the Officer, a special class limited to two people per team. Some classes can eventually unlock SMGs, pistols, and machine guns, but it takes quite a few 35-50 minute matches to get there. It's especially tough when the most unique roles, with only three to six slots available, are quickly eaten up. [I tried to be the only soldier on the team allowed to wear a scope on my rifle and failed at every turn. This is another example of Isonzo borrowing good ideas from other genres (in this case Tripwire's Red Orchestra/Rising Storm), but most of the time I ended up as a regular rifleman handing out ammo and generally being unremarkable.

I wish Blackmill had come out with a more adventurous kit. Some concessions are acceptable, such as unlimited use of bandages to stop one's own bleeding. Others are puzzling, such as the absence in Isonzo of my favorite class in every other milsim, the medic. Instead, all teammates can heal each other (but not themselves) by using bandages. Once everyone is a medic, survival is easy but also very tedious; the biggest thrill I had in "Squad," "Beyond the Wire," and "Hell Loot Loose" was recklessly charging (or crawling) into danger to revive a teammate and refund a respawn ticket. (or crawl) around.

Isonzo's gunplay is quite good when you have no yearning for anything but a similar rifle. The bullets are very deadly, and in my experience, shooting anywhere but a limb will kill you instantly. Weaknesses can be significantly more tense when you're eye to eye with the bad guys and racing to get your sights on them, but they can also be frustrating as hell. Aside from the realism, I really don't like the idea of dying and not knowing where the shot came from at all. If the camera zoomed in on the rough location of the shooter or highlighted him after he died, it would go a long way toward helping me remember the map and know where I went wrong. This is one immersion I'm willing to break, especially considering that Isonzo already has quality-of-life feedback that is hardly realistic, such as hit markers and kill feeds.

There are many things I would change about Isonzo's progression, but my complaints do not overshadow the fun and intensity of the game's scenic conflict. It's definitely a meat-and-potatoes affair, where you often die from unavoidable mortar fire and all but the top five players have negative K/D ratios, but the sense of exhaustion and brutality is sometimes exactly what I look for in a war game.

It's nice to have an FPS with the skeleton of a mil-sim and the convenience of Battlefield, and Isonzo has one foot firmly in two competing genres. While it may be off-putting for those with milsim experience, Iszonso could be an effective bridge for traditional FPS fans to give the genre a shot.