文章基本信息

标题：Highway to the Reich
作者：Bruce Geryk
期刊名称：Games for Windows
印刷版ISSN：1933-6160
出版年度：2004
卷号：February 2004
出版社：Ziff Davis Media Inc.

Highway to the Reich

Bruce Geryk

Last year, Panther Games brought a decidedly new twist to PC war gaming with its excellent Airborne Assault: Red Devils Over Arnhem. While the game had the misfortune of being released around the same time as Uncommon Valor and Combat Mission��s sequel, it nevertheless came close to capturing this magazine��s War Game of the Year award. A year later, Highway to the Reich takes the original game, upgrades it slightly, expands its scope, and adds an editor. Put together, it��s a pretty good package.

The game system is unique in that it concentrates on the command aspects of military planning, but it does so in a way that allows players to make significant decisions without burying them in pointless detail. Unlike some command simulators, such as Decisive Action and BCT Commander, Highway to the Reich feels very much like a game, in large part because the A.I. is designed to give orders to subordinate units. The individual companies of a panzer battalion, for example, deploy for action based on the orders you give to their headquarters. However, since the game offers company-level management, you can get in and get involved more deeply, and the order-delay mechanic is just realistic enough not to be annoying. While the game plays out in real time, it can be paused, sped up, or slowed down without penalty.

While the original game focuses only on the British (and Polish) paratroopers�� fight for Arnhem, the sequel adds the significant American airborne actions at Nijmegen, as well as XXX Corps�� drive for Eindhoven. There��s also an editor that lets gamers make new maps and scenarios. Even if you own the original, this game is worth buying. And if you are a war gamer and haven��t yet played the Airborne Assault game system, quit polishing your sword and join the fray.

Verdict

4 Stars

An excellent system gets better.

Publisher: Matrix Games

Developer: Panther Games

Genre: Real-time Historical War Game

ESRB Rating: E

Required: Pentium II 650MHz, 64MB RAM, 400MB install Recommended: None

Multiplayer: LAN, Internet (2 players)