I know Tim has already discussed the demo, but I've had a few hours with the final relased version of the game and figured I'd add my take.
Certain elements have been taken from the venerable classics as well as the newcomers and been blended together in a very workable WW2 RTS. For example, the games various units all have special abilities that can be used (pioneered in early RTS games like Warcraft and C&C) in certain circumstances - like throwing a grenade or improving their morale. From more modern RTS games we have the ability for pickup items on the battlefield (like rocket launchers or machine guns) to improve the unit as well as a units ability to gain veteran status or be resupplied with troups in the field.
I was surprised to see resource gathering in this game - when it was loading up I kept thinking, "there's no way they have you gathering some crazy resource in a WW2 game, right?" When in fact they do - you have three resources (manpower, munitions, and fuel) that actually fit the game. The plight of units spread all over France following D-Day, for example, is enhanced by the lack of resources they had and how much value they got from taking a munitions dump or fuel depot.
There is a population cap - at first I was annoyed by this as its often a crutch used to keep framerates up or keep games in balance. In thise case there is a bit of that, but the cap is also used to simulate the limited troops that were available during certain phases of the war. I suppose because I haven't felt that pinned down by it I don't find it frustrating yet - we'll see how that goes over time.
The graphics are solid, the sound is nice, and the voice acting doesn't sound lame - so far now, it's a fun one.
Posted by scottsh at Tuesday September 19, 2006 - 11:59 AM | TrackBack (0) | Category: PC Games | © 2006 Gaming Signal
Excellent, I was on the fence about this one, but with both you and Tim suggesting it. Well its time to flex my RTS muscles again.
Posted by tditto on Tuesday September 19, 2006 at 4:05 PM
Just a quick note here to say I finished the game, and I enjoyed the heck out of it completely. The ending was just as fun as the beginning. In fact, my only complaint might be that the game could have been longer - I don't know exactly how many hours I spent on it, but I would have happily continued on the path to eliminating the Nazis.
Here's hoping they create a campaign in the WW2 Pacific as a follow-up.
Posted by Scottsh on Monday October 02, 2006 at 12:46 PM