World War Games - Reviewed!

Hello friends, I wanted to contribute by means I could get really into, and consistently. I am a big enthusiast about the conflict, and well - as much as I would like to get into modelling or actually collecting militaria, other circumstances prevent me from doing that yet. So I wanted to provide you with what medium I know, and that is video games.

Here I'll consistently post for myself, and you the reader - my basic overviews and rundown on specific video games of our equal interest. Some of them will be bad, others good. Also I'll be looking at key components that I usually note for these kinds of games. These components will be regarded in these categories with a brief description and out of five score. Said categories can be seen below:
Fun
Historical accuracy/relevance
Game play
Valued*
Replay-ability**

*What value means, is I played all of these games at a set price, and if I set it higher, its more bang for your buck.
**Replaying a game over and over would get dull if the scenario never changed. Multiplayer or unique game play compound this, as well as value.


All the games I will under look, for now will clearly just be from what I have, most being on the computer but a few others will be taken from other platforms as well, and I will specify. Most reviews will have my own photos to go along with them. I'll try to be brief but interesting as much as I can, we all know you'd rather be reading factoids about the Eastern front than my drabble about video games. This is kinda going to be my own 'real' thread for me. I'm practicing my writing just as much as I am gaming and reading on this site. Thanks for the space, and doubly if you actually read any of this.



Men of War: Assault Squad
Genre: Strategy
Developer: Digitalmindsoft
Publisher: 1C Company, 1C-SoftClub
Release Date: 24 Feb 2011
Languages: English, Russian, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Polish

This is one of my many favourites for reasons you'll see. Firstly it's Digitalmindsoft's first contribution to the 1C Company's long list of Men of war games. This one is specifically geared towards a North American player base, with familar and common controls known by most players who daily strategy games (right click to move units etc) as opposed to the Eastern European market the previous games were (left click mouse to move units as well as other key differences, especially voice acting).

Overview:

Clearly set in the Second World War, this game is designed to pit your favorite faction - which all the big ones are accounted, you can play as the Japanese, Russians, Germans, United States or the United Kingdom/Commonwealth. There is no building of units and the most popular game mode, would be capturing of key locations/nodes amongst a battlefield. The locations you can play in are robust and interesting, with almost modern graphics every battle you play will make you rather watch whats happening around you rather playing.(first mistake of said genre ) Each faction has their own factional 'powers' whether it be to call in air strikes, or a 'veteran' Tiger tank or a banzai charge, making more complex strategy and tactics to add more different game sessions.

Fun:

This game is personally great, as with all of the Men of war series - there is a feeling of authenticity blended in with solid action game play that changes every time you load it up. The game is difficult for beginners but easy to master, and with said mastering do you get to appreciate the little things. The offline skirmish mode in this specific game keeps you on your wits especially with different difficulties as well as the highly detailed maps it has. Also there is a very very extensive mod community so there is always fresh content to keep things more interesting. I always come back to this game, whether it be for a hour or five. Though due to the game being very punishing through its mechanics, you can lose your prized units quite easily if you get busy with others things or screw up an attack. I give this 4/5


(German MG-42 nest firing on British soldiers)


Historical Accuracy/relevance:

I would give this game a 4/5 for this position alone, since it arguably tries the hardest to cram as much historically accurate information into a game. However some may argue, which is completely fair. ALMOST all of the combat equipment of that time is present in the game, from T-26 light tanks to jadgtigers, and crusader tanks, they are all present. There are no crazy wonder weapons, apart of a few Japanese tanks that never saw the light of day (only for balancing issues online) and every individual unit has an inventory you can look at, or manage. Light shells will ricochet right off specific armor plates, bazookas will smash sides of tanks or specific pieces of tanks or vehicles. There are special units and weapons included, like panzerfausts or Russian naval infantry. Tanks can be knocked out, but repaired on the battlefield or moved out of the way. Houses or buildings can be occupied or destroyed. Most infantry units are killed with a few bullets or one. Same with tanks and specific calibers. Uniforms and kits seem to be in high detail, though there seems only to be one or two models for specific infantry models.




(Tiger tank and its inventory strolling past a recently knocked out British tank)

Game play:

There is just so much to do, yet so little time in every skirmish, allowing full dynamic strategy and tactics melt together to make any armchair general pretty excited. You can deploy anti tank hedgehogs that stay until demolished with high explosives or dynamite. Create minefields with different types of mines (AP or AT), you can make tank hunter parties of mix and matched soldiers equipped with dropped equipment from dead enemies (anyone want German elite carrying M1 Garands, look no further) as well as trying to make sure you have ammunition for every individual. It is pretty tense when you're shooting 37mm rounds at a T-34 tank approaching your defensive lines, and the rounds just bounce or clunk right off without much to be done about it until your panzergrenadiers hit it with fausts on the side and it explodes in a fiery aurora. Every time you play, you will remember the fondness of your combat, making your own history with certain set pieces. I give it a 5/5.


(any Stug fans?)

Value:
Considering I purchased it virtually for its full price at the time of 29.99 USD, and 90 hours later still enjoying it offline and online, I will say it was worth it for that price. Though some people who are new to the game, I suggest trying to purchase it on the online steam store for 15 dollars or less, it is always on sale especially on the holidays - that also being said, all of the other Men of war series should be purchased no higher than said 15 as well. Only this one is worth the thirty due to its personal quality. 5/5

Replay ability - The replay is great, as the AI always throws wrenches in its battle plan as well as the online community is still somewhat there. You can always find a game - and there is always somebody who is looking for a good time. There is a offline skirmish mode to keep you settled, with a lot of maps to look at, as well as online as well as online co-op. 4/5 as of 2013.

 

World in War

Kinda wanted to go a bit out of the box for you folks. This little game brings the idea of 'grand strategy' to the smart phones, and it does it in an easy to apply - but difficult to master kind-of-way. The game is very reminiscent of Axis & Allies, for those who are into board games or any other remake of that since.

World in War
Version: 1.1.1
Size: 39.9 MB
Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
Developer: PAN Vision AB
© 2010 PAN Vision AB / Fabrication Games
Rated 12+ for the following:
Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes
Frequent/Intense Realistic Violence
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.https://itunes.apple.com/hk/app/world-in-war/id377183171?mt=8

Overview: With Pan Vision AB (some of the guys who have relations with Minecraft - plus very good artists and Fabrication Games at the helm of this interesting premise, you get a well established grand strategy game that doesn't necessarily beg for more than the original price for purchase, as opposed to most common phone games these days (usually the free to play ones). There are four campaigns - you can take a guess and probably be right to guess; Germany, Britain, Soviet Union as well as the additional United States campaign the promote as 'new'.

Fun: While this game seems quite easy while over looking all of the assets you have on the screen and all of the abilities and units you can manage, the game is deceptively harder than meets the eye. While I get the hang of most games I play, this one seems really in the dark with a lot of trial and error. Whether that is your thing or not, it comes off feeling quite accidental or random, I suppose whether what actions may happen - which can provide a very frustrating or delightful experience. I however got more frustrated than overjoyed with most experiences in this game. That being said, since its an iphone app, I didn't find it difficult to stop playing it until I have the patience to do it again. 3/5


Seems familiar, doesn't it?

Historical Accuracy/Relevance:
This game, understandably for the sake of game play and the target audience doesn't delve into specific units us enthusiasts might appreciate. There are only four units in the game, all of them are developed in a rock/paper/scissors formula. Though that being said I don't really agree with their methods, which you can read below in the actual gameplay. That being said the provinces are quite plentiful and interesting, as well as the individual campaigns try and stride for a timeline that loosely goes on the events we know and love to talk about, just in a weird... turn based way. 2/5


A Russian army in the Kharkov district awaits orders on what to do - notice the different units and detailed map of the Eastern front '41

Game play:
Now as said before, this game is quite tricky. There is a weird combat system of rock paper scissors on top of math and numerical superiority. Artillery is defined as the anti-tank unit, tanks as anti-infantry, and infantry as anti-artillery. Tanks being the most expensive, artillery second, and infantry the cheapest, is up to the commander (you) to figure out what works best. Usually I mass tanks and hit provinces with high infantry for a break through, however the turn based system works sometimes against you living your gains quite vulnerable. There are also naval units, just whatever land units you had, put on a water tile converted into ships - that being said it doesn't matter what unit you put to sea, because whoever has the most ships wins, they all have the same state and the units you put to sea can then travel or flank from said water tiles. Most battles end up being a slugging match which leaves strategies kinda limited. Oh right strategies, there are in-game bonuses you can get called 'strategies' whether it be adding a defence bonus in a section, higher income/production, reinforcements or air strikes. They are quite interesting, however investing in them seems a bit moot due to the actual game play mechanics. I can be wrong though. To construct units, you have to select provinces with factories in them and produce accordingly. Each province has a different value to it, adding to your income - this is nice because you can figure out from being a somewhat history buff to know which provinces would probably generate more income - ie renown urban centers (Berlin, Paris etc) 3/5


Look, a unit! You'll be looking at this unit a lot - and frankly it probably wont be doing much anyways.

Value: Now since this is a tablet/phone game, the price is fixed at 2.99$, yes that isn't a typo. It is appropriate for the audience and the quality of game. If you have a smart phone or tablet, and you're looking for a scratch your can't itch about world war strategy on the go, look no further. Though that being said, there might be something better nestled in the online store that I haven't found yet, and we certainly could use more games to look at. 4/5

Replay-ability: This is tough, because you'll be replaying a scenario over and over until you can win it, but whether that is actually fun or not is up to the person playing it, I somewhat feel neutral about it because I was only strained by the actual gameplay, the scenarios are interesting, and there are a lot of them. There should be plenty of difficult missions to do, but I don't see myself touching it for a while after beating it. And its been two years since anything has been done to the game. 3/5

So it's an alright game, for your phone or tablet or whatever new gadget you can get it on. For three dollars, I say why not - the actual art in the game is interesting enough to look at, and looks pretty damn cool. Playing it however, might be another thing.

 

Hey, I appreciate the feedback thanks Otto.

 

This could become an outstanding thread, keep at it!

 

We have sub-forums for Book reviews which work quite well in my humble opinion. A sub forum for Game and movie reviews sounds good to me as well.

 

I'm with the idea of a review sub-forums, however I would probably be pretty reluctant on making new threads, I kinda like the idea of a compact thread, so all of my opinions would be shuffled under one rug rather making dozens of threads with the same writing style and tastes; kinda like an AAR. Though, that being said I don't mind either way. I was going to do this once or twice a week depending on what games I can stumble upon and what feedback is like - I love reading this site, and wanna get in on that juicy sharing of knowledge just like everyone else haha.

 

Who doesn't want brownie points with internet dudes I will probably never meet in life?!

 

Dogfight 1942

Consoles/PC
http://store.steampowered.com/app/217790/
http://dogfight1942.com/en
September 2012 release.

Overview: This little game was created by the Polish studio CITY Interactive, they are commonly known for a handful of mediocre titles, including their 'sniper:ghost warrior' game, as well as it's upcoming sequel. Like the title says, it revolves around the dogfighting of the second world war, in an arcade flight shooter with a keen sense of budget and mediocrity. They make up for it with some solid gameplay and a honest attempt at a video game, and only charging you quite little for the whole experience.



My gut tells me this doesn't look somewhere near Caen, occupied or not.

Fun: This game has fun, yes you can stop holding your breath. Though lacking in some very serious problems, like a good overall plot or a real reason to why some situations are given to you, it has some sort of - lets call it 'charm' for a lack of a better term that most Polish games have. The graphics are pleasing and the combat is real, as well as the controls for your aircraft. I played this on the computer, and with a gamepad (xbox 360 controller for the PC for those who need details) and it was quite responsive and easy to handle and carry out what I wanted to do. Though, that being said there didn't feel really any sustenance to what I was doing, all of the combat was sort of flat with some nice moments as well as extreme immersion killers with infinite ammo, regenerating plane health and atrocious English acting and sentences. 3/5



The zooming in camera effect is pretty cool, but a little disorientating - especially since you don't have any control over it.


Historical Accuracy: Well the game lacks, as mentioned before - certain polish (no pun intended) but I will give them credit that they have put thought and effort in to what matters the most, their airplanes. There over over fourty of them to choose from and all have different sounds and feeling which is pretty cool I will admit. However there are extreme problems with this, with probably honest reasons like entertainment or flow. One of the first levels you're taking off and landing on the USS Yorktown carrier at Midway Island, literally in the hardbor area of the island - during combat. I should probably let you guys wrap your head around that one. Also, from the screenshots you can see English pilots using P-51 Mustangs in '1942' - which is a bit weird though on the wikipedia of the Mustang fighter it goes on and documents the use of the mustang with the Polish forces, which there you can kinda go ah alright. Which is pretty cool and interesting in a little game like this. 3/5



Polish fighter, somewhat boring in combat but a neat little treat that isn't your Spitfire or Mustang you see everywhere.


Game play: Like most of your arcade combat games of today or any day really, there is a standard affair of things you can do, if there was a checklist you could make in your mind of the usual suspects you would find in these types of games, this title would share it along with the others. You have your escort missions, dogfights, anti-naval objectives as well as destroy X or shoot down as many Ys you can before the time limit. Well it makes no real standout from the large list of games, it at least accepts that and throws in a very apparant scoring system that seems to be the real overall objective of each mission. Since the missions aren't thoroughly long or complex, there is the appreciation of scoring, getting double kills or completing side objectives for more points make this game have more purpose than a historically inaccurate fighter experience. Which is probably for the best. 3/5


Clearly the Germans have done much to the Caen area it seems, mountain ranges in the distance - oh mein got!

Valued: I purchased this game for exactly one dollar, and the DLC for fity cents. There are currently two pieces of DLC which would net you another dozen plus missions set in the African campaign as well as the Russian campaign with respective crafts of those locations. Considering I didn't hate the game, I see the price being very fair for what it is, a mediocre flying game, it really just brings me more nostalgic to other games (Secret Weapons Over Normandy comes to mind), which isn't too bad either. If you have steam on your computer and are looking for another game to chew on this weekend, it is usually on sale. This game is also on the xbox as well as the current playstations for a price around ten bucks. Only on steam does that price really drop. I am sure there are other ways to get the game as well. 5/5

Replayability: There is an online element, though not very active it seems, as well as a co-operative. But since the missions are pretty short with the ability of customizing the look of your plane, as well as changing what plane you use in some of the missions, you can really just focus on increasing your scores rather the settings themselves, which might be a waste of time for some people it is an average experience. There are also achievements as well, though none of it really appeals to me. 2/5

This game is quite average but oh well, you pay with what you get. With a budget shooter, you cannot complain but I did have a few moments of interest as well as the Polish influence on the game makes it somewhat comedic in what the deem important in their budget flight combat sim.



Couldn't have said it any better gentleman.

 

I might branch out a bit in this subject depending how deep the rabbit hole goes, since the title says world war games, not specifically the second one

 

I am all for the details like the controllers needed, hate to buy a game only to find out there is hardware I still need to get!

 

Hah, luckily I don't have a flight stick either - or anything high tech. I've seen how crazy and sophisticated that gets, and I wonder if it is really fun playing with that style.

 

The Saboteur

Consoles/PC
http://www.ea.com/ca/the-saboteur
Developer(s) Pandemic Studios
Publisher(s) Electronic Arts
Platforms: Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3 Xbox 360
Release date
NA December 8, 2009


Overview: Some of you have watched Inglorious Basterds, and for better or worse - this game is somewhat closer to that than the second world war and the French's resistance to Nazi Germany. I mean you're even an Irishman in Paris, jeeez. This all being said, going in with low expectations you'll leave insanely surprised and always be compelled to pluck away at the game.

-note- I played this game on the Xbox 360, so I don't have any screen shots that I can declare as mine. I could play it for the PC however I disagree with EA's origin program and refuse to play games that require it to function, but that's not really important.

Fun: Where to begin? It's a sandbox game for starters, you can go anywhere you want, more or less - you can literally climb every building to reach vantage points and interesting points of interest and views. Not only do you have a somewhat accurate Paris to explore, you have the outer regions, like Normandie, Lorraine, and even some parts of Germany. There is a main quest-line that has a fleshed out story with some cliched characters (not as terrible as you might make it out, but consider you're not really here for this part anyways) as well as side targets you can 'sabotage'. You'll find yourself placing explosives on any sort of Nazi target you can imagine, from guard towers to idle recycled French tanks. It's pretty fun setting up explosives and high tailing it behind a back alley to escape the authorities. Though I never found it dull, there seems to be some frustrating points I'll get into gameplay as well as it getting stale pretty quickly, well at least being on the brink of that. You're an Irishman, who's backstory I wont really go into detail - but I somehow can seem to hate him, he's cheeky and bit of a dick but it works somehow, It's really hilarious seeing how the game doesn't really seem to care about the fact you're yelling with an accent so different from the rest, the Germans don't seem to care until you've shoved your schmeisser down their trousers first. 4/5


An Irishman fighting for the French resistance with a MP44, in the early 1940s. There's going to be a few things that rub you the wrong way, but ignore them for the sake of keeping your sanity!

Historical Accuracy: Considering the German's invade peace loving France in this version of history in mid 1940 might give you the initial heads up of where accuracy seems to go, as well as the introduction of zeppelins and crazy Nazi tech that is bizarre and interesting. That being said there are a few quirks and interesting set pieces. There are all the monuments in the great city of Paris you can check out, though some of them have been -decked out- with large calibre nazi cannons on the top of them (yes, I know - just go with it), as well as a few weapons of the time frame as well as the use of a few French vehicles, like the RT-17, and Panhard 178 - with Wehrmacht insignia painted on the sides. 2/5


The game has great atmosphere and beauty, too bad you'll be too busy breaking heads and swearing to notice!

Gameplay: There is much to do in this little package, from climbing buildings and blowing up bridges - between that you can race the streets of Paris, save victims from their execution, liberate sections of Paris - wear disguises (which in my opinion seems to be the best disguise system I have ever seen a game to date) and literally hundreds of targets that need sabotaging! There is one major game component that really makes this game standout. Areas that are heavily occupied by the Germans are literally in the black and white hue. The entire game blends into a greyish atmosphere where there is very little color, very little hope. Though it's a bit rough on the eyes as well as can be confusing at times, it brings about a mood that there is an oppressive entity that only YOU can destroy, and the game really makes it work. I apologize if this is a real spoiler about it, but towards the finale of the game, as you climb the Eiffel tower, there is a real shocking mood and atmosphere, it blew me away and I really loved it. 5/5

Value: This game is dirt cheap by now, as the studio who made it no longer exists, as well as the game itself kind being slipped under the rug of modern gaming you can pick it up between 10-30 depending on the circumstances. I picked it up at a local game store for ten dollars and enjoyed the hell out of this. 4/5

Replayability: Pretty decent considering there's a lot of objectives to knock out as well as dozens of achievement to hunt - all for the perfectionists, and the bored. Though the story itself was a bit short - and most of it forgettable there are a few key parts that will stay fresh in your memory and keep the taste of the game pretty good. Considering how easy the game is, as well as the insanely many objectives you need to strap some TNT to - you'll be able to clock plenty of hours on it - though once you hundred percent the game, I doubt you'll be compelled to play it again. 3/5

I say get it! It's fun, quirky and a bit weird considering they chose to ignore history in turn to make their own game - I still ended up enjoying it anyways. Think of it as an alternative reality - but the good guys still win!