Blitzkrieg

Published by CDV
Developed by Nival Interactive
Platform: PC CD-ROM
Released - Out Now
Price : £29.99

Over the last few years CDV has established itself as a publisher of premium RTS games. Perhaps the best World War II RTS out there at the moment is Sudden Strike I, which just pips Sudden Strike for first place. Of course time moves on and new competition arrives. Blitzkrieg, developed by the accomplished Nival Interactive, could well be the title to surpass Sudden Strike II.

Rather than sticking rigidly to historical events Nival have made Blitzkrieg a subtle blend of fictional and historical battles. The game comes with 3 campaigns, one each for the Soviet, German and Allied armies. There are 80 missions in total, 23 of which are historical. Of course it would be cynical to think that the non-historical missions are simply fillers, missions to pad the game out. This isn't the case though and they are actually very important. Throughout the campaigns both you and your units will gain experience. In between scenarios you'll be given the chance to upgrade your tanks, artillery etc. Not all of the scenarios in a campaign are compulsory and it's possible to completely ignore some of them. However you have to think of the experience and promotions that could be gained and the valuable upgrades that you might earn with it.

What might come as a surprise in Blitzkrieg is that there is an over emphasis on the use of tanks in the game. If you're looking to enjoy glorious infantry battles then you'd probably be better off with Sudden Strike II in all honesty. That's not to say that the infantry are not part of the action though. You can even assign them formations such as aggressive, defensive or even have them sneak. They can even take their place in the trenches (which the engineers can build). One of the big innovations with Blitzkrieg is that you can steal the enemies weapons and use them against the enemy, which adds even more possibilities to your gameplay.

Whilst Sudden Strike II had hundreds of units at a time on screen you have to remember that it was in 2D. Blitzkrieg is in full 3D and to have rendered the same amount of units onscreen would have required enormous PC specifications. As a result the battles are on a smaller scale when compared to the ones in Sudden Strike II. Whilst the battles aren't as grandiose though they are just as entertaining. All the units animate wonderfully and look very pleasing. The explosions look much more satisfying and dramatic than they ever did in SSII too. One thing that you'll notice is that even in higher resolution your units are larger and easier to see than in SSII. Of course this means you don't get so many onscreen at once but as we've just said you don't have to deal with hundreds of units like in SSII. Whilst the game engine is 3D there is no ability to spin and rotate the map but perhaps this is a good thing as disorientating yourself during a hectic battle is the worst thing you could possibly do. The interface is reminiscent of the one used in SSII, which is a good thing as it felt comfortable to use.

The AI in Blitzkrieg is certainly very capable and you'll have to utilize the individual capabilities of your units to succeed. Only on the easiest of the difficulty settings will you get away with mistakes. In fact it would have been great to participate in a variety of skirmish modes with the AI but sadly the game has nothing to offer the single player once the campaigns are finished but thankfully that will take a while. The multiplayer options aren't comprehensive either. You can choose to play an Internet game (through Gamespy if you wish) or over a LAN. There are a variety of maps for 2-16 players. The only gameplay modes on offer are flag control and assault. In all honesty a lot more variation is needed to make the multiplayer game more enjoyable.

Blitzkrieg doesn't cause any problems for deaf gamers. All mission briefings and objectives are given in text. The tutorial messages are all in text too. You can recall objectives at any time during a game by pressing the TAB key. The mission briefings are actually recalled in great detail too whereas in SSII only a very brief summary could be recalled. The order confirmations that you receive from your units are not subtitled but this doesn't cause any problems.

Does the game surpass Sudden Strike II? Well in all honesty it's difficult to say. The use of units and the need to combine each of the units' abilities is definitely better in Blitzkrieg. The battles are not on the same scale but at the same time the excellent animations and explosions are easily superior to those seen in Sudden Strike II. The bottom line is that if you liked the one then you'll almost certainly like the other. Nival Interactive have created a WWII based RTS that feels both familiar and yet different and it's certainly another jewel in the CDV strategy crown.

Overall Game Rating: 8.9/10
Another very impressive strategy title for CDV. A skirmish mode and a more varied multiplayer mode would have been the icing on the cake.

Deaf Gamers comment:
No problems at all for deaf gamers.