|
Wargame Reviews Return to Wargame Main Page Return to Wargame Reviews Index WW II Online a snapshot - June 18, 2001 by Dan Masterson The concept is intriguing, become one of a cast of thousands re-fighting World War II. In World War II online from Cornered Rat, StrategyFirst and PlayNet you can become a foot soldier, a tanker, operate an anti-tank gun, fly a fighter or bomber, or take the helm of a fighting ship. Your actions contribute to the success or failure of either the Allies or Axis powers. Yep, the concept is intriguing, but Cornered Rat (their name may have been a bit prophetic) and StrategyFirst released this game too soon. From day one their have been problems. The servers have been overloaded, there have been problems with the WEB site, and the software that shipped in the box is so buggy once you initially sign-up you'll get a large download to patch all of the bugs that Cornered Rat has fixed so far. There are a bunch they have not fixed yet, also. That is the downside and it's a pretty big downside. The game though is fun once you get past all of the problems. When you join the game you can chose what side you want to play Axis or Allies. If you choose Allies you can then choose whether to be English or French. You can then choose where you want to fight in the Blitzkrieg theater, the interface gives you the feeling that more nations and more theaters are on the way. Currently fighting is taking place around Brussels in the game world I have been playing in. This will change over time depending on how each side does. You can also choose to perform a mission. During the day different missions are handed out to each side to perform. Once you have chosen where to fight you chose how to fight infantry, armor, anti-tank gun, fighter, and eventually bombers and ships. This is not your normal Duke Nuke'm shooter. Everything has been model very well. Maybe a bit too well, I rolled my tank the first night out, ouch! If you don't follow good combat tactics you die very quickly. The assumption by the game developers is that players will begin to form their own combat units that then will use a variety of different equipment to achieve objectives. Towns cannot be captured by anyone besides infantry right now so you gotta have some infantry. Anti-tank guns have to be towed. Infantry are slow getting into battle unless they hop a ride with someone. And you better have air cover if the other guys have aircraft in the air. Many of the vehicles have the option to be fully crewed. So you and a couple of friends can man a Panzer together making it more effective. The efforts of you and your friends contribute to the ever changing battlelines. Also, there is a rank system that as you gain more experience in the game you attain a higher and higher rank. Should you buy the game or not? I have two recommendations. First, don't buy the game if you don't want to deal with the current bugs and problems. You should wait a couple of months until things settle down and the game become more solid. One of the great thing about online games is they are always improving and evolving. Second, do buy the game if you want to learn how to play and not have to pay for it. Normally, PlayNet the site that hosts the game would be charging you $9.99 a month to play. The pay clock is off right now until the system is more stable. So, if your willing to put up with a few headaches you can come up to speed on the game and not have to pay for the time you are learning the game. Stay tuned and we'll update you as things progress.
|
|
| © 1998 - 2010 StrategyWorld.com. All rights Reserved. |
