|
It's the summer of 1942 and the blitzkrieg forces of the
axis have crossed the vast Russian plains crushing everything
in its path. Victory for the Nazi's seems assured and only
one thing stands in their way Stalingrad. The cities fall
or survival will see a turning point in the war with the winner
determining the next phase of World War Two...
There's
no other word for it, this game is awesome, and from the opening
movie to the end of the game the developers have spent some
serious time on making the game as historically accurate as
possible. Action takes place between July 1942 and January
1943 as the Wehmacht assaulted the Red Army amongst the increasingly
apocalyptic landscape of the city. The game also contains,
in its mission menus, extensive information about the background
to each mission.
Across
thirty-six missions you get to play as either the Russians
or the Germans. For the Germans the object of the game is
to eradicate the defending Red Army units to take the city,
and conversely as The Red Army Stalingrad must be defended
against what appears to be a superior force, with the hope
of eventual victory after a battle of attrition. There are
also several secret missions to play, though I never did discover
them, though I feel that this is more a reflection on how
naff a player I was.
There is a vast array of units to control, on both sides,
and each has been modelled to reflect the originals range
and rate of fire. Controlling your units is fairly intuitive
once you get use to choosing a unit with your left mouse button
and issuing orders with the right. As you would expect units
can do the usual actions like entrenchment, and you can choose
more than one unit to issue orders to - but remember they
all travel at different speeds.
The
game is hard and that's not a bad thing, the player is given
only so much in terms of armour and troops to complete the
mission and careful thought has to go into how to use available
force. Try rushing forward with your troops or tanks, without
thought for tactics or the lay of the land, and you'll soon
find yourself on the sharp end of defeat. This game requires
careful thought and planning to win, just like the real battles.
The terrain can be used to good effect, as the game has a
'line of sight' element allowing armour and troops to interact
with any cover.
Graphically
the game is a delight with a high level of detail, though
I would have liked to have had the ability to zoom into some
of the action. In the midst of battle it can sometimes be
a little difficult to see what your infantry is doing. If
they are laying on the ground it's difficult to know just
by looking at them quickly if they are dead or alive. Audio-wise,
the game has a grand thumping dub-metal soundtrack that helps
to crank up the tension, though the repetitive phrases from
the German or Russian troops can get on your nerves after
a while.
This
game is going to take you time to master, but it will be time
well spent.
Charles
Packer
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
deal!
Click on the logo of the desired store below.
|
|
|
£16.99
(Amazon.co.uk)
|
| |
|
|
|
£17.99
(Blahdvd.com) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
|
|
