World War Zero
World War Zero
Game
Game2014
Iron Storm
Developer Microids
Iron Storm is a first-person shooter video game developed by 4X Studio and released for Microsoft Windows in October 2002. An updated version of the game called World War Zero was later released for the PlayStation 2 and Windows in 2004 and 2005 respectively. An Xbox version was also planned but never released. Set in an alternate history in which World War I never ended, the game takes place in 1964, the 50th year… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
106 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Sep 26, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
63
Fresh
55 positive · 33 negative
95% range 52–72%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 55 | 33 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 5 | 0 | 13 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mixed
59 of 96 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
63% recommend · 56 yes, 33 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 89 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mixed (139 of 200 positive).
Players praise the game's unique alternate history setting where World War I never ended. [1][2][3] Some players find the game frustrating due to unfair difficulty and unclear objectives. [4][5][6]
Liked
Representative posts
- [4]
Not a good shooter. Mainly because of the terrible balancing. Some enemies can kill you basically instantly, some sections, like the stealth sections are so bad. You just quicksave after every few seconds and you just do trial and error. You will die so many times, it is unbelievable. The game is pretty much unfair a lot of times. Weapons: you have a melee weapon which is mostly useless. Then you have EITHER a …
- [5]
Interesting alternative history WW1 game with fun gameplay, although sometimes the game doesn't make it clear how to progress, which falls short due to crazy bad balancing and unfair difficulty. Majority of enemies will wield weapons that can kill you in one hit, on lowest difficulty, this makes it super hard to actually finish the game, even with save scumming, but also to enjoy it. I managed to pull through to …
- [1]
War... war never... ends? "Iron Storm" is great example of alternative history, which has qualitatively-performed details of "turning point" and aftermath Little portion of lore - it takes the real history of baron Nikolai Robert Max Baron von Ungern-Sternberg (in-game - baron Nikolai Aleksandrovitch Ugenberg) and uses it to turn story of First World war in another way - Revolution in Russian Empire was crushed, new …
- [10]
I'll level with everyone here. This game is cheesy as hell and you can tell that it has a lot of heart. Though it looks like hell and is buggy, the story shines and that's what counts. Give Iron Storm a chance and try to overlook it's problems. It's worth the $2.99
- [2]
A Rough Gem from a Stranger Timeline Iron Storm is one of those early-2000s PC shooters that didn’t try to compete on polish or spectacle. Instead, it leaned hard into vibe, concept, and a kind of grim, half-finished ambition that only that era could produce. The premise alone was unforgettable: World War I never ended. By 1964, the world is still locked in trench warfare, powered by crude diesel tech, iron …
Summarised from 34 of the 107 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 10, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Iron Storm talk about unique alternate history premise; those who didn't talk about unfair difficulty and instant deaths. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
The original Iron Storm received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. IGN cited impressive overall gameplay and a unique storyline, but criticized the game's many glitches, overly-linear levels, and lackluster multiplayer mode. Eurogamer thought the PS2 version of World War Zero was unoriginal and contained elements from many other video games. It was still regarded as a fun game, however, and the multiplayer element was said to be "highly commendable", though reminiscent of Red Faction II.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 106 · most liked firstWar... war never... ends? "Iron Storm" is great example of alternative history, which has qualitatively-performed details of "turning point" and aftermath Little portion of lore - it takes the real history of baron Nikolai Robert Max Baron von Ungern-Sternberg (in-game - baron Nikolai Aleksandrovitch Ugenberg) and uses it to turn story of First World war in another way - Revolution in Russian Empire was crushed, new regime smashed Deutsches Kaiserreich and was ready to reach shores of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ironstorm is one of these games that really annoys me. Mostly because of how it's just a lot of wasted potential. It's a game with an extremely original premise, and it's bogged down by convoluted objectives and forced stealth missions. Ironstorm takes place in an alternate history 1964, where World War 1 never ended. So you have things like trenches and mustard gas, but you also have automatic weapons and nukes. This premise is very good and I've never seen a game attempt something like…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →WOW!!! This is amazing! great singleplayer campaign on ww1 in the 1960s. its like play wolfenstein 2014 but game was make in 2002! So many weapons and open levels! most non-linear. Multiplayer was so epic. Sniper wars across a big map felt like it was fallout 3 but mutliplayer!!! A must have. I hope they have servers up the tend to appear and dissappear. someone should really make a dedicated permant server. Many thanx if someone could Multiplayer was amzing!!! :D
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game the reviewers back in 2002 laughed at because they found the idea of fighting in the trenches while attack helicopters exist absurd and stupid.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I playd this game with my friends and brother when it was new and we all loved it lots. It is great to have it in Steam too. This Steam version has some problems and does not log your playing time always. I have many more hours playd than what Steam shows. Very cool war game! There is no right way to do mission, you can try what works for you so game can be playd again and again. You have to play smart because you will die soon when you are getting shot, it is more real and makes you careful.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Last week, Hemulen released an English translation patch for Sega Saturn strategy game Iron Storm: Operation Files, and today, @bbayles.bsky.social reveals the cheat codes he found that made Hemulen's job easier! www.segasaturnshiro.com/2026/05/18/u... #sega #saturn #segasaturn #retrogaming
neutral · AI labelView post →Not a good shooter. Mainly because of the terrible balancing. Some enemies can kill you basically instantly, some sections, like the stealth sections are so bad. You just quicksave after every few seconds and you just do trial and error. You will die so many times, it is unbelievable. The game is pretty much unfair a lot of times. Weapons: you have a melee weapon which is mostly useless. Then you have EITHER a pistol or an mp. The pistol is almost useless, except in maybe one level. So at 95%…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Iron Storm is a FPS in an alternative history setting where world war 1 has never ended. pros ++ propaganda clips + performance + alternative history setting + first half of the game + atmosphere + gunplay cons - dull second half - difficulty spikes - forced stealth sequences - not always clear where to go - many instant deaths Verdict While Iron Storm starts strong with trench warfare and propaganda clips, later on there are forced stealth sections, difficulty spikes and backtracking.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A great alternate history FPS. The good: - Gunplay is pretty good. The rocket launcher especially feels beefy truly. - Fantastic war atmosphere. The bad: - Of what I so far have played, the fight in narrow corridors against the VERY heavily armored guy with a portable autocannon, is seriously frustrating. Only way to have it be playable is save ammo for the rocket launcher and try quickly offing him with it.. If you want a great war premise shooter, I recommend! Be warned, the difficulty…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In a world where everyone is suffering from a severe case of stormtrooper disease, a random guy whos name is James (Player) is the only non-infected person who shall use it on his advantage to crush the enemy and bring the victory to the good guys.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'll level with everyone here. This game is cheesy as hell and you can tell that it has a lot of heart. Though it looks like hell and is buggy, the story shines and that's what counts. Give Iron Storm a chance and try to overlook it's problems. It's worth the $2.99
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Best game ever made 10/10 still better than COD
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →his game has atmosphere that has yet to be matched in any other game I've played. From beginning to end, you're exploring a world that is cold, dirty, and depressing. While the gameplay isn't perfect (the biggest flaw, I think, is the amount of back-tracking you have to do), it is a near perfect balance between twitch skill, creative tactics, and following clues. This is not a game for people who need their hands held by waypoint indicators. You need to move carefully everywhere you go, and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ horrible, the AI barely even help you and you will find yourself fighting battles by yourself and you always get sniped, even behind cover
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I found a batch of cheat codes for *Iron Storm: Operation Files*, the Saturn strategy game with the new fan translation. These somehow escaped notice for 30 years: * Make/Allocate anywhere * Enable cheat options * Enable scenario select * and more! 32bits.substack.com/p/under-the-...
neutral · AI labelView post →A project nearly a year and a half in the making is ready at last — fan hacker Hemulen uploaded an English translation patch for Iron Storm: Operation Files, plus a retranslation patch for the original Iron Storm! Hemulen spoke about his process: www.segasaturnshiro.com/2026/05/15/f... #sega
neutral · AI labelView post →Pretty neat classic FPS. Controls are great.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Interesting alternative history WW1 game with fun gameplay, although sometimes the game doesn't make it clear how to progress, which falls short due to crazy bad balancing and unfair difficulty. Majority of enemies will wield weapons that can kill you in one hit, on lowest difficulty, this makes it super hard to actually finish the game, even with save scumming, but also to enjoy it. I managed to pull through to level 4 where I just couldn't take it any longer, from broken/buggy AI with…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lt. James Anderson Dies a Lot - the Game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There is 'Kaiserpunk' (2025) which is kind of civ-city game with an ongoing Great War. There was also 'Iron Storm' (2002) in which the Great War is still running in 1946. More recently, 'Iron Harvest' (2020) which sees a war running on beyond 1920 but is in a very dieselpunk world.
neutral · AI labelView post →A Rough Gem from a Stranger Timeline Iron Storm is one of those early-2000s PC shooters that didn’t try to compete on polish or spectacle. Instead, it leaned hard into vibe, concept, and a kind of grim, half-finished ambition that only that era could produce. The premise alone was unforgettable: World War I never ended. By 1964, the world is still locked in trench warfare, powered by crude diesel tech, iron exoskeletons, and experimental super-weapons. It felt less like history and more like…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In the video game Iron Storm set in a timeline where WWI never ends, shares in Allied armies were traded in the stock market.
neutral · AI labelView post →Pretty sure this was part of the plot from the game Iron Storm.
neutral · AI labelView post →I played the World War Zero (the IronStorm remake) first. The graphics is kinda good, pretty easy, cool concept, unfortunately linear level design. Then i played this, and believe me, it is not that easy.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is horrible, my framerate was in the thousand until I set it to the correct resoultion (1920x1080) and turned on vsync at which point the FPS became locked in at 24. Controls are terrible. Crappy shooting, bad game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Metacritic score of 69/100. AWWW YEAH!!!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →T-Rex battle scene in Saturn strategy game Iron Storm / World Advanced Daisenryaku, courtesy of Low Score Boy (youtube.com/lowscoreboy). It can be found in the US campaign in "Landing at Leyte" at X=30/Y=42, although the video demonstrates it from a different scenario.
neutral · AI labelView post →World War Zero is a great game(remake of Iron Storm). This is not. So happy, that later on, the remake was added to Steam as well. + Combat is good + Weapons are awesome + Save system is great. You can save any time and no saving load times. + Game does not tell you what to do. Sometimes you have to think real hard to guess how to progress. - Level design is difficult, many times not sure where to go. - It has horrible stealth sections. - Crashes. - Difficulty spikes. - Full of cheap traps.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unique storyline. Suprisingly fun.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very good old shooter game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bad Game Dont Get It!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →M8 WW2 DID NOT HAV LASZERS. I DONT PLAY GAMES DAT HAV LASERZ
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dude, this game is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ awesome, and the fact that I'd never even heard of it until about a month ago is absolutely insane. I went and bought a PS2 copy of World War Zero just so I could do a back-to-back comparison of each different version, and after playing through them all within the span of two days, I can say for sure that this one is my favourite. It runs flawlessly on modern hardware right out the box, and as far as old school shooters go, this is some of the most fun I’ve had in a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the games I used to watch my dad play when I was a kid, gave it a try when I was younger but never got it through bc of the difficulty spikes and being a kid with not too many braincells, and now that i finished it, i'm abit in conflict.. but more towards the good side of this game Pros: -The setting -Level design's pretty nice (confusing at times) -Atmosphere -Creative looking weapons and many choices -The first half of the game with the trenches is.. *chef's kiss* -The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game. Steam ruins it by using the WRONG EXE to start game and then it stops. GAME.EXE in iron storm folder will start game. make a shortcut.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There's something that I find charming about this game. So far I've played about 90 minutes and it's "good enough" for an old game, It has some challenge to it, which makes it fun. Offers both first and third person perspectives for shooting. 7/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →wtf is dis ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥♥♥
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The premise is good, but as junky as I remembered. TPS view is a joke and only good for peeking over walls. Also, without some file tweeking, steam doesn't count your game time
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unique setting, fun gunplay, diverse environments and deadly enemies. Iron Storm is the FPS game you play whenever you want some good old 2000s fun.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A game with a good story the graphics are kinda dirty and brown looking but i like the 2000's look overall its pretty ok game if you overlook the bad ai
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wouldnt reccomend this game unless you played it when it was released and you feel some nostalgia for it for whatever reason, its a funny game, the AI is really awful, sometimes you die way too easy, the voice acting is bad and sometimes the subtitles dont even use the same words e.g the "magic" key, I never played this when it came out and now that I have completed it I shall never play it again, only buy this if u like old outdated games that are about alternative history, I would just…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great Timeless Classic.Supports windows 10 and high resolutions. Beautiful attention to detail, cool atmosphere, combat and gore. A great shooter. Might run into a few bugs. I had a progress stopping bug mid of the level 4 (out of 6 levels), where barrels wouldn't explode to let me go through, in the lab. Solved by downloading save games for the entire game. Had several bugs where NPCs became immortal for some reason. And the second half of the game has some really convoluted level design.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →https://youtu.be/pvCmWFaNsuI Spotty AI combined with stiff shooting controls make this alternate history war game a chore to play. The years have also been hard on the visuals.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →HUH, god mode activated ? There are 2 times some enemies are invulnerable unless you kill them in a specific way, that is game mechanics/design failiure. You will be killed by tanks, soldiers, helicopters, snipers instantly and they can shoot trough anything, walls, bunkers, caves, all, good luck with the rage. 3/10 rating. Get Serious Sam or Painkiller instead of this, those are crazy but fun, this isn't.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Recommendation level: |-|░░░░░░|▓▓▓▓▓▓|░░░░░░|░░░░░░|░░░░░░|+| Iron Storm is a fictional semi-futuristic world war fps released in 2002. Although it had its issues back then and still cannot be crowned as the king of shooters or any kind of video games, still, IS is able to grant a few hours of brainless fun. The graphics are acceptable, I do not have the urge to throw up every few minutes. It is ugly, but still does not stand in the way of gameplay thanks to the overall simple design. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →definitely a little rough around the edges, but overall still a solid experience. The game seems to run consistently, no crashes and no need for third party patches, shooting is what you'd expect, point and click. Checkpoints CAN be pretty generous (dependent on the level) and can save the game at any given time. Gameplay just bleeds early 2000's, Backtracking, visual cues for progression, lacks that handholding tutorial most games seem to have nowadays. Features both a first and third person…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Been playing Thief series lately. Really cool to see how these Looking Glass / Iron Storm Austin games were a huge influence to Dishonored (2012) in particular; and now playing the Thief reboot (2014), to also see how this game also got some notes from the Arkane Austin title. A perfect circle!
neutral · AI labelView post →2v2 game after todays 1k tournament! Blood Angels and Drukhari vs Tau and Iron Storm SM. Ended up 8/14th today on Drukhari after not playing them in 6ish months
neutral · AI labelView post →eBay pick ups this week. The Atari games are still sealed! I was skeptical at first because the seals look almost new, but the hang tags still attached have that classic yellowing. Iron Storm is probably the only Working Designs game I can get for a decent price right now. Awesome finds! #Retro
neutral · AI labelView post →WW1 never ended and turned into a nightmare straight out of 1984 where war is continued purely for profit. Unfortunately the game doesn't do much with it's unique setting other than use it for set dressing and bizarro weaponary. The gameplay is your standard FPS affair, the enemies are a bit brain dead but they make up with sheer numbers and explosive spam. Combine this with unfair enemy placement behind doors and corners, a 5-6 hour game extends to 10 hours for no bloody reason. The last…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you're not a brainlet and like Alt history this is the game for you
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An obscure shooter from 2002 that has a "What if WWI never stopped" plot. The controls are a bit weird at first buty more ffluid once you get used to them. This game is primarily viewed in the third person though using first person view is optional as well. So far it is a difficult game with a steep learning curve...and it will test the metal of any veteran FPS shooter for sure.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Uh. Uhm. This game is in need of some serious reconfiguration when you first start it up. And a lot of alcohol. The alcohol improves the game. A lot. I wouldn't recommend playing this unless you're nostalgia struck. Or soused to the gills. Also note: the game uses an improperly done launcher making it difficult to prove you played the game long enough to write a review. Very annoying to mess with the game for an hour and find it says I only played a minute.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Iron Storm pros: //fast game with modern day graphics with easy controls that moves from location A to B to C and so on //good amount of action and special effects cons: //some difficult battles //some difficult objectives //some lack of directions/instructions //good game Personal Suggested Purchase Price: $0.99 Or Less During Sale
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is nice, but if you actually wanna complete it, you most likely will need a guide. It's hard in some sections and buggy. There's a part where you have to go to different floors using an elevator and pressing the buttons is hell. If you try pressing the 1st floor button, it selects the 3rd or 4th. I might just be stupid but it took me so long trying to go to floor 0. Some enemies are a bit too hard sometimes, and there's some that just are godmode. I had to find out the hard way that…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Video game music that has been playing in an inordinate amount of time in my life, a thread: #10, Iron Storm's soundtrack for playing the Americans, which I played even when I wasn't playing the Americans.
positive · AI labelView post →Started playing a WW1 themed game called Iron Storm. Difficulty select has me choosing between easy, normal and "realistic". Obviously I pick realistic because it sounds interesting. It was not kidding, I climbed out of the trench in the first level and was inmediately killed by a sniper
positive · AI labelView post →finished the game on realistic difficulty and enjoyed my time in the trenches. i played about 10 hours but this game doesn't properly record game time so i only have 5 mins so i can review it. in this game any headshot on any difficulty will result in an instant death, if you aren't up for dying this way a lot of time this won't be that much fun, and generally im kinda conflicted on if i really would recommend it or not because of the difficulty and confusion present throughout the game, but…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A great alternate history FPS. The good: - Gunplay is pretty good. The rocket launcher especially feels beefy truly. - Fantastic war atmosphere. The bad: - Of what I so far have played, the fight in narrow corridors against the VERY heavily armored guy with a portable autocannon, is seriously frustrating. Only way to have it be playable is save ammo for the rocket launcher and try quickly offing him with it.. If you want a great war premise shooter, I recommend! Be warned, the difficulty…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Iron Storm is an absolutely atrocious game; awful gunplay, annoying AI, terrible level design, lazy and boring art. It blows my mind that this got 8/10's back in the day, and there are positive reviews for it on Steam. Did we play different games? If your idea of a fun level is running through endless trenches -- literal corridors -- using weapons that feel like nerf guns, hitting enemies that soak damage and snap-shot to you, with animations that don't line up and don't even remove the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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