Command: Modern Operations Reviews

Such a pos game. Overly complex, can't even launch weapons when they are shooting at you. Graphics are basic. Waste of money cash grab.

I loved this game. I have hundreds of hours across multiple versions. I cannot recommend it in its current state*. *Note: If you dont own this game, but you are the kind of person that knows PRC built basically a whole new aircraft but called it the J-8B, so it looked like an upgrade to the J-8 to get it past their bosses, just like how the Super Hornet is related to the hornet, then you should strongly consider buying the game. No other person should own this game. I recently came back to it after some time away. Default flight behavior of aircraft basically makes the game unplayable. It used to be that i could have my jets fly out of the combat area and when they hit bingo fuel they would automatically go back to their home base. In my most recent game when they hit bingo they picked the closest airbase as the new home and go there. In the scenario i was just playing the base my f-22s picked was under rocket attack. Also sometimes I think they would RTB on afterburner? Default behavior is terrible. Aircraft will default to flying 400 miles to hit a tanker rather calmly loitering and then flying 200 miles home to base. Better remember to fix that. Assign them to a cap mission withe some rules to prevent that? Default cap behavior is to investigate contacts outside the patrol area, this can result in them flying waaaaay outside the patrol box. Better remember to unchecked that box. Also a bunch of messages default to resetting the sim speed to 1x, why????? It took me to long to fix that(at least you can). Everytime i clicked on something to read the data entry, there was a second or two of lag, this did not use to happen.

It's a tactical strategy game with few graphics. However, its somewhat more realistic in planning military operations. This makes the game more challenging and fun. If you have no patience for planning of possible tactical scenarios, then this game is not for you.

Command: Modern Operations, developed by WarfareSims and published by Slitherine Ltd., is arguably one of the most detailed and sophisticated military simulation platforms available to the public. It builds upon its predecessor, Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations (CMANO), but introduces enough refinements and new features to stand on its own as a monumental leap forward in the realm of digital war gaming. Designed primarily for players who crave hyper-realistic military strategy and tactical planning, the game isn’t just about pointing and clicking units—it’s about managing real-world logistics, interpreting sensor data, planning multi-domain operations, and responding to dynamic battlefield changes that mimic real-life modern warfare. The first thing to understand about Command: Modern Operations is that it’s not a typical real-time strategy game. There are no flashy explosions or cinematic camera angles—this is a sandbox for professional-grade simulation that places you in the role of a theater-level commander. The game spans scenarios from the post-WWII era all the way to speculative near-future conflicts. Every unit—be it a fighter jet, submarine, missile battery, or satellite—is modeled with an extraordinary level of accuracy based on real-world data. The breadth of systems, platforms, and doctrines across the globe is staggering, and WarfareSims' extensive database contains thousands of entries, each reflecting authentic capabilities and limitations. This realism extends to radar performance, weather effects, terrain masking, electronic warfare, sonar conditions, and more. The level of granularity is unmatched in any other military strategy title on the commercial market. What truly elevates the game beyond a database simulator is its dynamic AI and flexible scenario design. Enemy behavior is not static or easily predictable; each AI commander is influenced by mission parameters, detection capabilities, rules of engagement, and even morale considerations. Scenarios range from tight, tactical skirmishes to full-blown multi-day campaigns involving hundreds of assets across air, land, sea, cyber, and space domains. The player is tasked with everything from air patrol scheduling, submarine deployments, supply logistics, refueling operations, and time-on-target coordination. This level of control can be overwhelming at first, especially to players unfamiliar with military structure and operations, but for those willing to engage with its complexity, the game offers nearly limitless strategic depth. The user interface, while utilitarian, has seen significant improvement since CMANO. The introduction of the new "dark" theme, better menu organization, and more responsive map tools helps ease the learning curve. There’s also an event editor and Lua scripting integration, which allows for incredibly complex automated behaviors and dynamic mission triggers. Many players use this to create their own custom scenarios or simulate events based on real-world tensions and news headlines. It turns the game into not just a piece of entertainment, but a functional analytical tool. In fact, it’s known that some actual military institutions use versions of this software for training and simulation purposes. Despite its depth, Command: Modern Operations does make an effort to be more accessible than its predecessor. The new quick-battle generator, improved tutorial missions, and better documentation help new players begin to grasp the fundamentals. However, make no mistake—this is still a game with a steep learning curve. Understanding why your patrol aircraft was shot down or why your missiles missed their targets often requires you to dig through sensor logs, engagement reports, and platform specs. There's satisfaction in that analysis, but it demands patience and a willingness to learn the systems at play. Visually, the game remains subdued. The map-centric interface is reminiscent of military planning software rather than traditional game graphics, but this is by design. Functionality takes precedence over visual flair. That said, the game includes satellite map overlays, night/day cycles, and realistic detection zones, all of which enhance immersion for those who understand what they’re looking at. The real reward comes not from flashy explosions but from pulling off a coordinated strike on a defended airbase, evading enemy radar, and seeing your plan unfold exactly as intended—often after hours of careful setup. One area where the game truly shines is in its community and scenario support. The Steam Workshop and official scenario repository are rich with both historical recreations and fictional conflicts, ranging from Cold War flashpoints to high-stakes future warfare in the Indo-Pacific or the Arctic. The development team is actively engaged with its audience, frequently pushing updates, expanding the database, and even offering paid DLC “Command Live” scenarios that simulate current geopolitical events. The sheer flexibility of the engine means that one moment you might be commanding NATO forces in the Baltic, and the next, managing an anti-piracy patrol off the Horn of Africa. Each scenario offers a different lens through which to understand the modern geopolitical landscape and the complexities of armed conflict. Of course, this isn't a game for everyone. Those looking for fast-paced gameplay or easily digestible objectives will likely bounce off quickly. The simulation requires time, attention to detail, and a genuine interest in modern military doctrine and technology. There are no quick wins here—every operation must be planned with precision, and failure often results from overlooking a seemingly small factor like radar elevation or fuel limitations. For those who enjoy deep simulation and the intellectual rigor of high-level command, Command: Modern Operations is endlessly rewarding. It demands respect for its systems and rewards players with a sense of real achievement when complex strategies succeed. In conclusion, Command: Modern Operations is not just a game—it’s a simulation environment that blends academic rigor with strategic entertainment. It’s as close as a civilian can get to running a real-world military operation, and it’s both daunting and thrilling in equal measure. It’s a title that carves out a niche and commits to it fully, offering a rich, sprawling, and deeply analytical experience that stands nearly alone in its field. For those willing to invest the time and mental energy, it’s not just worth playing—it becomes something you study, experiment with, and ultimately master. It’s a rare gem that respects the intelligence of its audience, and in doing so, becomes one of the most compelling strategy titles ever made. Rating: 7/10

Buggy mess. The UI is total crap riddled with visual and functional bugs. Not recommended.

I want to enjoy this game, the idea is badass, but the design is just bad. Falls short of a game and just plays out like a badly designed program.

A really fun, deep, and complex simulator. It's worth learning how to play.

Been playing this game for years! Still a bit clunky for mid-tier gaming PCs. But awesome experience, if you know how to play it.

As a military man (Army) I find the planning an implementation of the battles on point. There is a couple of things lacking in the game that are really glaring. The use of Nukes is not clearly implemented in the game. Nor is the use of Chemicals/Biological weapons which would add to the realism. In this regard (Persistent) and Non-Persistent biological should be added to the weapons stores. This would greatly enhance the realism of the game. I would also like to see the use of Battalion level ground troops. Para-Troops ect. Without this the game simple becomes more of an AREAL/NAVEL BOMBING GAME. Not a true Command example of the battle field. This is The one thing that Keeps this game from going to the ultimate level. I am not sure why this has never been thought of or added to the game. Having been in NBC I will give you another GEM that the US played with but never use. (Vectors). This was the infection of animal and insects that would be flown over a City/Town or Battlefield. And released by air planes. The resulting infections would kill a number of troops and then the insects would die off in a matter of hours or days as the case may be. That and the use of Bio and ground troops would add to the games realism. Until that happens we are still NOT THERE.

At risk of becoming one of those "War Thunder Sucks with 10,000 hours played" memes, I have to say the state of this game now, in Summer of 2025, is so ridden with previously fixed bugs that It has become flat-out unenjoyable and, frankly, unplayable. And to say that kills me, because for a huge amount of those 1,000+ hours I have with this game, the first 70-80 percent were fantastic. TL,DR: This game just isn't worth the money and time required to play it anymore, not like it once was. Command was the ultimate wargamer's dream: a massive, almost obsessive level of detail in the broad domains of air, sea, and even land combat, plus a truly encyclopedic data bank of vehicles, sensors, weapons, and units with which to live out any war scenario you could dream up. There is a huge group of very diverse missions included with the game, numerous campaigns available for purchase, and an even larger repository of free, player-generated missions with the community scenario pack here on Steam. And I would be remiss to not include the (what should be) award-winning "Fury" series of campaigns by Bart Gauvin, which have literal novels written to support their stories. This game in the late 2010s and into the first couple years or so of the 2020s was so, so good. Now, it's a different story. An endless cycle of updates that fix some things and even add exciting new features, only to also re-break old fixes and reintroduce previously fixed bugs and issues. Aerial refueling, aircraft formations, the behavior of surface to air missiles, formations and unit navigation, and on and on and on. And they're big bugs, too. Most interesting scenarios will include multiples of almost all of those things, and you never know what is or is not going to work because when they update again to fix the bugs, something else (and usually all sorts of other previously stable things) are now broken. I get that the game is very complex and has many, many moving parts. But at some point you come to a realization that the scenario you want to play or build just isn't going to work right now, and the update to fix the problems might be months out, and who knows what else will be broken by then. The game has become constant frustration. The developers, from my outsider perspective, definitely seem to be in a situation where they have bitten off more than they could chew. On a recent thread on their official forums, a senior developer straight up said they had thousands of issues on Github to work through. Thousands. And that number never seems to get any smaller, either. Beyond that, those missions included with the game (as well as most of the community scenario pack) have not been updated to take advantage of any of the new features or updates that change the way things in the game work, and so many are in need of updating themselves to remain relevant and playable. New $15 to $20 campaigns are occasionally drip fed by the dev team, but the mission list is pretty static nowadays. There also aren't many people building their own missions or campaigns anymore, either. Lastly, the online support on their forums has also become rather unwelcoming, to the point that I have abandoned any hope of being able to get or provide support for any issues that I also run across. The dev team seems burned out with the endless sea of complaints and support requests, and one or two very prolific forum trolls add to the negative experience in a big way. For a game that I have spent well north of $100 on, I find this to be unacceptable; but, alas, I'm just one person who can only write a multiple paragraph review to hopefully forewarn others about who might be thinking about taking the extensive time it takes to learn this game might be walking in to. This game just isn't worth the money and time required to play it anymore, not like it once was.