The video critiques Star Citizen’s lack of true combined arms gameplay, highlighting how current mechanics favor air dominance and hinder coordinated ground and air tactics. It advocates for systemic changes, such as improved anti-air defenses, easier deployment of ground vehicles, and support for larger ships to enable sustained, strategic battles involving infantry, vehicles, and aircraft.
The video critically examines Cloud Imperium Games’ (CIG) repeated use of the term “combined arms” in relation to Star Citizen, arguing that the game has yet to genuinely implement or test true combined arms gameplay. While other games have successfully integrated infantry, ground vehicles, and air support into cohesive, strategic battles, Star Citizen remains disconnected in this regard. The current state of the game shows no objectives that require coordinated efforts across different unit types, and gameplay often favors air dominance, with ground forces and vehicles playing little meaningful role.
Successful combined arms games typically feature objectives that necessitate cooperation between different forces, a flexible respawn system that sustains prolonged engagements, and balanced anti-air defenses that prevent aircraft from overwhelming the battlefield. In Star Citizen, these elements are missing or underdeveloped. Ground vehicles are difficult to deploy and support due to lengthy setup times, fragile mechanics, and poor terrain interaction. Meanwhile, aircraft dominate due to weak anti-air defenses, making ground operations largely irrelevant and discouraging the kind of tactical interplay that defines true combined arms warfare.
The video highlights how the current design discourages experimentation with ground and combined arms tactics, burdening players with excessive logistical friction and little gameplay reward. For example, deploying ground vehicles requires multiple steps, including claiming, transporting, and carefully loading them into ships, which is time-consuming and prone to glitches. Additionally, the game’s terrain and collision mechanics make ground movement frustrating. The author suggests simplifying these systems—such as removing collision with small objects—to encourage more spontaneous and meaningful ground-based gameplay, similar to solutions seen in other titles like Hell Let Loose.
A major obstacle identified is the ineffectiveness of anti-aircraft systems, which are currently weak and poorly designed. For combined arms to work, anti-air defenses must be brutal enough to force aircraft to think twice before engaging, thereby creating a balanced battlefield where ground and air units rely on each other. The current state allows aircraft to easily destroy ground assets, undermining the potential for strategic cooperation. The author emphasizes that meaningful combined arms require a strategic environment where both ground and air forces are needed and threatened by capable defenses.
Finally, the video advocates for systemic changes such as enabling large ships like carriers and capital vessels to respawn vehicles and troops, turning them into mobile bases that sustain prolonged battles. It also calls for redesigning objectives—like facilities and bases—to support multi-layered combat involving infantry, vehicles, and aircraft. Without these systemic updates, the author fears that Star Citizen will never realize its potential for true combined arms gameplay, remaining a disconnected and shallow battlefield. They urge CIG to prioritize testing and iterating these systems to foster deeper, more engaging tactical experiences before the opportunity to do so is lost.