Prattboy9394 Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Like all prognosis, it never hurts to get two. Mind you, I played the demo, waited a few days to make sure I really liked it, and bought the game online on Sunday. So, yes, I will be biased. Why am I writing this summary review? Well, I think this is one of the best tactical wargames to come along in a long time. FYI, I come from a background of playing other wargames such as CoH, Faces/Men of war, CC, Sudden Strike, Total War, etc. The Good: Graphics - major improvement over TOW, not quite at the level with Empire Total War, but on par with CoH. Sparks from AP hits on tanks, churning earth spuing from HE shells, plentiful rolling terrain, realistic dust/smoke, convincing troop animations esp. when they drop to the dirt, all of that works to suck you in. I also noticed a variety of faces on grunts...nice touch. Realism - mostly convincing, except on the surgical ATGs...see below. Camera - superb, but does take practice to get the right views. being able to follow tanks and soldiers down to the track and boots level is really nice. RPG elements – you can track every soldier’s progress and improve them at the end of the battle. The Bad: ATGs - did I mention they have stats that allow them to snipe soldiers? in fact, they seem to be able to target individual grunts better than tanks. I could accept the 88's in the demo being super accurate but a 105 taking out a speeding BMW motorcycle at 1000m on rolling hills is ridiculous. Interface - it can get clunky trying to switch between logs, soldiers stats, and inventory. I have a 1920x1200 monitor and all that can fit nicely on one screen. But I do know this game is based on an engine that was developed many years ago. Missions - 15!??! I knew that going in but thats just prepping us for an expansion pack. Come on, you know how much time it takes to make a good mission? Campaign - As in the lack of a real one. Just a bunch of missions strung together. Something persistent like the maps/territories in the Close Combat series would make this the perfect wargame. Imagine having a strategic map with sectors, each sector you have troops, which we can allocate and supply. The enemy attacks one sector with overwhelming force. You lose, badly. Next turn, you pull forces from surround sectors and counterattack, noting the previous wreckage from the earlier battle. If I can get this in an expansion pack, fine, I’ll pay. That’s it. Overall, this game comes pretty close to being the most authentic wargame to date, combining great visuals and realism. If you’re teetering, get this game. It has serious potential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flavious Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Good review, and a very fair summary, IMHO. Yes, a real campaign would have made this the Holy Grail of WWII wargames. But even without that, I've found the experience of the actual combat to be very absorbing. Tank battles are the best feature, and while infantry combat is OK, the troops' behavior start to act a lot more like circus clowns once they get to close quarters with enemy infantry (GI's throwing grenades into the middle of their own men, etc.) Maybe the community will grow around this game, patches will follow, and we'll see some even better stuff evolve. I hope so! For anyone on the fence about this game, it's really worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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