While the entire continent of Europe has been enjoying a special game in Codename: Panzers, Phase One, from CDV, the United States has been missing out on an excellent and intricate real-time strategy game. Finally, on October 1, CDV will be bringing Codename: Panzers, Phase One to the United States, much to the delight of its American supporters, and people who have been following this game since it was announced. Real-time strategists will not want to miss this one, as Codename: Panzers offers a stellar helping about real-time combat, with a very friendly interface.
While almost every game that has been released in the United States and North America recently has been based on World War II, CDV is able to separate Codename: Panzers from the rest with amazing gameplay features, good graphics, and sound that will make you feel like you were in Normandy in 1944. The game features three campaigns, which can be played from the sides of the Germans, Soviets, or Anglo-American Allies. Each of these campaigns has a particular hero you play as, to lead your side to the ultimate goal of victory in your missions. The campaign system features some of the largest battles during World War II in thirty challenging missions. You can take the game online with a Gamespy in-game browser, and battle it out with your friends in four different game modes, including team-deathmatch, domination, assault, and coop mode. Over the course of a campaign your troops will gain prestige points. With these points you will be able to buy more units, and make upgrades. The more experience your troops have improves their combat performance. Thus, sending your troops in on suicide runs is no longer a smart thing to do in order for a victory. You must strategize what you wish to do, because the more experience a unit has, the more effectively and efficiently it will fight. Through this unique idea no two battles will ever play out the same. Every unit in Codename: Panzers has been designed with realistic fields of vision, or fog of war, shaped by sound, experience, and external conditions. Your troops will make use of objects such as bandages, field telephones, binoculars, flame throwers, Molotov cocktails, grenades, and rubber assault boats. Infantry can be used to capture enemy tanks, support vehicles, artillery pieces, and anti-tank guns. These are just some of the countless features available to you in Codename: Panzers. There is quite simply, too much to name in reference to the game.
The gameplay is stellar in terms of strategy, and realistic warfare. Some of the weapons have been toned down from realistic levels to make the game feel more balanced, and to provide with more strategy to win the battles. The different missions offer extensive objectives, and varying victory conditions. In one mission you may be asked to attack a city, and then soon after capturing the city, you will move to the defensive to protect the city from the Germans. This offers a very realistic battle scene, as this is the case in real combat the majority of the time as well, and was especially true during World War II. As I stated earlier in the review, your troops will gain experience through the more battles and fights they encounter, and survive. So leading your troops on a suicidal tear through the map, will most likely hurt you in the latter stages of your campaign. This is something that is very true to combat, but has been missing in many real-time strategy games. After each mission is fought, you will earn prestige points for how well you did, and with those you are able to buy more units to grow your Army. You will need a balanced Armed Forces to counter any type of weapon your enemy will possess.
Page 1 of 2
