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I like it...


funkybax

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I love it now! Had probs to begin with, couldn't run it, but one of Rune's tweaks (disabling second monitor) fixed that and it runs beautifully and smooth at full spec.

Then had some gameplay frustrations with what basically boiled down in the end to my lack of understanding of the depth, subtlety and complexity of this game. Took the best part of a week to really get to grips with it, but now I find it possibly the most immersive 'single-player' ww2 game out there that approaches any kind of 'realism', and certainly the most visually spectacular. As well as general tactics, there are intriguing elements of roleplay as your troopers develop skills and have to scavenge on the battlefield for necessary equipment as their own ammo runs out.

Quite a reasonable variation in battle scenarios (I'm five battles into the German campaign), from armour battles to small scale squad skirmishes, though the maps aren't all that varied. Sometimes a battle seems very easy to win, others I get regularly pasted! The AI can be pretty aggressive and relatively 'smart' - but not always.

Yes, it will definitely benefit from a tweaky patch or two, and can't get MP to work, which is a pity. Also, MP won't permit campaigns, which is another pity (well, it will be if it gets running). Hopefully, there'll be some add-ons with more maps, scenarios and campaigns.

But this game is fun and challenging. I'm a longtime wargamer, pretty demanding as very few games can keep me coming back for more, but ToW scores pretty damn high so far. Whether it'll have serious replayability after a month or so is another question. I think once you've 'sussed' each battle at highest difficulty level, you probably won't want to replay it, so again, it'll definitely be down to serious add-ons and MP.

If BF and 1G keep supporting this game, I reckon it'll be a winner.

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Then had some gameplay frustrations with what basically boiled down in the end to my lack of understanding of the depth, subtlety and complexity of this game.

I've heard this a couple of times from other as well, but no one is offering anything really specific.

What types of frustrations were you having, the same as a few others here?

If so, care to share some of that understanding?

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The main problem I was having was my troops running out of appropriate ammo, usually AP. Two ways around that: 1) control your vehicle and field gunners so they're conserving AP as far as possible, not popping it off at everything at random or at unrealistically long distances. 2)Get your inf scavenging, particularly from enemy bodies. (Talking about the early part of the German campaign, where German inf don't carry AT rifles or grenades, but their Russian counterparts do).

Another frustration, in part related to the first, was the difficulty sometimes in finishing a mission. I have occupied the objective, but the presence of a single late arriving Russian tank, main gun damaged or out of ammo, even tracked, would prevent me winning, and mow down alot of my inf with his machine guns, as I had no AP left to finish him off. Again, that was solved by my inf getting AT grenades off enemy dead, then sneaking up behind to take him out. Sometimes, too, I've been prevented from winning by the presence of a single hidden enemy inf, who I've eventually tracked down and killed. That can be a bit boring. The victory conditions need clarifying a little in some scenarios.

A third issue was the inexperience of my men, particularly vehicle crews, which can make them do some pretty dumb things in battle (like firing the wrong kind of ammo, driving smack into enemy LOS, changing positions at really bad moments etc). It's important, before each mission, to click on Units and get the best drivers, gunners, officers, marksmen, scouts etc that you can. Makes a hell of a difference to their behaviour and abilities on the battlefield. Also makes you much more careful with them, as you want to preserve them for future fights. The multiple roleplay elements in this game are highly effective. Each of your men really will perform according to his skills and abilities.

In general I would say that most of the problems I've had in completing battles, I solved by getting right into the depth of the game and using the men and arms I've been given.

Most battles take three or four attempts, so of course with quicksave/load you benefit from foreknowledge of enemy positions, but even so it's pretty much down to tactics and the effective use of combined arms.

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Krull - you've posted a lot about fanboys, yet I have yet to see an example of one on this forum. Sure, there are those who are (to varying degrees)enjoying the game, but that doesn't necessarily make them fanboys. A fanboy (as I understand it) believes that a product/developer/publisher is perfect, 100%, etc. All of the broadly favourable comments I have read are qualified by suggestions/complaints about various aspects of the game.

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I was running the game on my work computer (HP with NVidia FX5200) and it was nice. Now that I just got my XPS with NVidia 8800 GTX - wow. Supurb!

This game has a steep strategic learning curve and a very shallow interface one. I love it. I expect to be entertained a long time by this game.

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"I expect to be entertained a long time by this game."

Me too! Initially I found some of the missions too challenging (& a bit corny too, I doubt you'd find IRL a formation with single examples of lots of tanks.), so I copied & edited them, & now I'm having a blast!

I'm especially looking forward to MP (which needs alot of work IMO, although I'll wait for SP issues to be fixed.) & a few other features like ability to set the scroll speed as it zips too fast at times making selecting units without pausing difficult which will be vital for MP (no pausing).

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