Blitzkrieg

thing or object needed to help give subtle advantages. For example, an engineer can construct a bridge over an area of water for units to cross or build trenches for units to take cover in. Those tiny factors are quite helpful when in a heated battle of firing back and forth. In addition to covering in trenches, infantry units can also seek cover in buildings. Buildings, like trenches, give cover and certain firing benefits not given when fighting elsewhere.

Blitzkrieg requires a lot of patience and almost always relies on calling for backup. On the bottom of the screen is a tab with a picture of a plane. Once clicked, another panel unloads holding a list of units that can be deployed. From the list you can choose to set out a reconnaissance plane, bombers, fighter planes (two types), or send down parachuting soldiers into battle. Every mission requires the use of this tab at least once and without it victory would take much longer. Aside from the planes, there are no other ways of getting reinforcements. The lack of this power causes the player to make the right moves at the right time, or be forced to restart. Some missions are heavily one-sided and call for perfection. Not that the AI is hard, but don’t expect this RTS to resemble Warcraft III or Command and Conquer: Generals, which can be a common misperception.

Being an RTS, Blitzkrieg stresses detail in environment and units. Blitzkrieg is highly impressive when it comes down to graphics, with units rendered very smoothly and rich full of detail. Besides the units being stunning, the environments are just as imposing with textures looking almost photorealistic. On top of the great graphics, all objects in the game are destructible. If buildings are being bombarded by suppressive fire, they destruct flowingly like a real building would.  Trees and other objects are destroyed in the same way, and leave impressions of there state before being destroyed. The best aspect of the graphics comes within the cannons and bullets when fired onto the environment. When a mortar explodes within a river the water discharges in an upward spiral, looking absolutely amazing.

When it comes down to sound accuracy, Blitzkrieg doesn’t deliver over-produced effects found in every other RTS game. Because the game plays upon WWII accuracy and carries over 240 units, the sound has to differentiate between units. Hearing a U.S. Soldier fire his sub-machine gun does sound different then a German firing his weapon, and creates very realistic battles when tied-in with the superb graphics. The tanks and supporting vehicles have similar sounds, but a diverse range of sounds between vehicles is difficult to tell apart.

Blitzkrieg spans across three different campaigns (Allied, German, and Soviet) and traverses through eight different countries. Starting a campaign unloads a brief cinematic showcasing actual footage from WWII and subtly set the tone of what to expect. Before starting out on each mission, a map is placed in front of you along with a detailed description of the mission. Beside the objectives, an in depth analysis of the actual battle is given with all of the numerical details and current status of the war. Though reading these paragraphs does take some time, the extra knowledge of WWII facts is welcomed; educating those that aren’t die-hard WWII fans.

As a whole, Blitzkrieg does deliver a decent RTS that will last for a very long time; however the game isn’t at the stage to compete with current RTS standards, still sporting the 2D landscapes and scratchy infantry movement. If you can put that aside and the fact that creating units is virtually impossible, Blitzkrieg can become a fun and addictive being one of the best RTS games released this year.  

Eric Lahiji

July 13, 2003