Blitzkrieg

Then real-time games seized their first beachhead, hardcore wargamers were dismissive. Good, realistic wargames could not, the common wisdom went, be done in real-time, primarily because RTS games eschew lavish tactics in favor of fast pacing. Time and titles such as Close Combat and Sid Meier��s Gettysburg have proved that realism and real-time are not mutually exclusive, but a good, large-scale realistic World War II game has yet to roll into battle. Sudden Strike didn��t do it, nor did World War II: Panzer Claws. Blitzkrieg doesn��t, either, but it has a fun time trying, largely succeeding with a game that can best be described as ��realish.��

Blitzkrieg accomplishes this by modeling the statistics that matter and placing them in a real-time context. For example, armored units have ratings for front, rear, and side armor strength, and each unit tracks shells and machine guns independently. Tanks can throw a tread or be disabled without being destroyed, and a battlefield repair unit can get them up and running again. Units expend their ammunition as they fight, requiring fairly constant attention to logistics.

Clearly, much research went into this game, and much of it is apparent in the gameplay. The problem comes down to one of scale. For a game to be realistic, it needs to work with historical orders of battle, which were vast and complex. Blitzkrieg deals with infantry abstractly, placing men on the field as part of a generic squad that can be moved as a single unit in marching, assault, or defensive formations. Although this effectively removes it from the realm of realistic wargame, it creates a remarkably playable game that captures the feel and many of the tactics of WWII operations.

The other large flaw is the quirky handling of air power. All aircraft (fighter, bomber, recon, and airdrop planes) are assigned to a single pool. You can only launch one mission at a time, and then you have to wait for an arbitrary cycle to end before you can access the pool and launch another mission. This effectively eliminates fighter support and relegates bombing to a rather confusing supporting role. Aircraft follow a preset route and cannot be controlled once they take off.

The maps provide a handsome 2D terrain complete with functional elevations and plenty of roads, rivers, houses, buildings, supply depots, and places for ambush. Infantry can pile into buildings for house-to-house fighting, dig in, build bridges, lay mines, and establish various defensive structures. The units and vehicles themselves are 3D and to scale, which has its up- and downsides. They do look quite good, complete with impressive special effects, but without a zoom or rotate feature, individual infantry units such as the sniper simply vanish into the map.

While there��s no shortage of gameplay spread among the three campaigns (Axis, Allied, and Soviet, each with seven long missions), extra features are somewhat wanting. A Skirmish mode didn��t make the cut, and a paltry three stand-alone missions are all that exist beyond the campaigns. Multiplayer modes feature Assault and Flag-Capture set on a dozen or so unique maps, but Internet play is a bit sluggish.

Overall, however, Blitzkrieg delivers the best World War II real-time gaming experience to date. It may be faint praise, but with so many stale RTS games, it��s good to find one that can hold your attention.

PUBLISHER: CDV

DEVELOPER: NIVAL INTERACTIVE

GENRE: REAL-TIME STRATEGY

ESRB RATING: TEEN; VIOLENCE

PRICE: $39.99

REQUIREMENTS: PENTIUM II 366, 64MB RAM, 1GB HARD DRIVE SPACE, 32MB 3D CARD

RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTS: PENTIUM 4 1GHZ, 256MB RAM, 64MB 3D CARD

MULTIPLAYER SUPPORT: LAN, INTERNET (2-6 PLAYERS)

Copyright © 2003 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Computer Gaming World.