Meridian: New World

Meridian: New World is a real-time strategy game developed mostly by a single person, aiming to evoke nostalgia for classic RTS titles like Command & Conquer and StarCraft. The game features a single faction, customizable unit loadouts, and a story-driven campaign with RPG elements such as commander abilities and crew interactions. It offers decent graphics and sound with some vibrant visuals and metal music, and missions include unique twists like tower defense and stealth. However, the gameplay suffers from critical issues including poor unit pathfinding, unintuitive controls, lack of micromanagement features, and frustrating AI behavior that often leads to units acting suicidal or unresponsive. The campaign is relatively short and sometimes unbalanced, with some missions feeling tedious or near-impossible without precise strategies. The game is still in early access with some bugs and crashes reported, and multiplayer is not yet implemented. Overall, it is a mixed experience that appeals mainly to hardcore RTS fans willing to overlook its flaws and support indie development.

Despite its shortcomings, Meridian offers a solid foundation and interesting mechanics such as weapon customization and commander abilities, showing promise for future improvements.

Highlights

Players praise the game's nostalgic RTS feel reminiscent of classic titles like Command & Conquer and StarCraft.

The graphics are generally considered vibrant and polished for an indie title, with good optimization and smooth performance.

The customizable unit loadouts and commander abilities add strategic depth and variety to gameplay.

The campaign includes interesting and varied missions with some unique gameplay elements such as tower defense and stealth.

Soundtrack and voice acting receive mixed but occasionally positive notes, contributing to the atmosphere.

Many acknowledge the impressive achievement of a mostly single-developer project with ongoing updates.

Criticisms

Common criticisms focus on poor unit pathfinding and AI, causing units to separate, get stuck, or act suicidal.

Controls are often described as clunky, unintuitive, and lacking standard RTS features like patrol commands, attack-move, and effective unit grouping.

The campaign is short, sometimes unbalanced, and includes frustrating missions that rely on precise timing or patterns.

Multiplayer is absent, limiting replayability.

Several players report bugs, crashes, and technical issues, especially on certain operating systems.

The story and voice acting are seen as uninspired or poorly executed, reducing narrative engagement.

Some feel the game fails to innovate meaningfully and does not meet modern RTS standards.