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Computer Software / Games
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Displaying Reviews: 1 - 1
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Average Reviewer Rating:
 
Number of Reviews:
1
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Don't Believe the Hype!
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Reviewer
Rating:
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Reviewed by Antar Howarth (info@totalmodel.com) July 14, 2005
Even as I write this review I'm conscious of the two extremely powerful computers that cohabit in this office. I use one machine for my every-day work which includes maintaining the TotalModel.com along with a host of other websites. The other is used chiefly for rendering my CGI models. At least that's the theory! More often than not it is put into service as the office games station on which I entertain myself and my colleagues whenever a break is called for. Like most people in such circumstances, I usually lift the monotony with a quick frag-fest on a game like Battlefield or Call of Duty. Increasingly, however, I am also drawn towards tactical wargames - like Soldiers - Heroes of WWII and both the Total War and Combat Mission series. You would think, therefore, that a game like Panzers, Phase One would be right up my street. I only wish that were true!
Let me say, right from the outset, that I have read many reviews about Panzers and I haven't agreed with any of them. The phrase that springs to mind is, "Don't believe the hype!" First and foremost we've seen it all before. Panzers is just the next step in the evolutionary trail of a series of games that started with "Sudden Strike" many moons ago. Software houses have been churning-out derivatives ever since. Don't get me wrong. This game does have some fine qualities. The graphics, for example, are absolutely stunning. There are also some neat game play touches - such as the way you can "roast" AFVs with flamethrowers, forcing the crews to bail out. I also like the way troops are shown breaking-in to defended bunkers and buildings. Sadly that's where any admiration I have for this game ends.
The trouble is, the game play in Panzers is just unbelievably naff. Games are often decided by either sheer weight of numbers or by exploiting the holes in the AI. There is no real reliance on tactics. The main reason for this is that (in an attempt to beef-up the action) the game's designers have ensured that engagements take place over a very short distance. Units cannot see very far, so they cannot shoot very far. The net result is that encounters between opposing tanks - for example - often errupt at very close quarters. To make matters worse most AFVs can endure a great many hits before succumbing. This means you often have to sit and watch as a couple of tanks slug it out, toe-to-toe, like two punch drunk boxers until one or other finally crumbles under the pressure!
On one occasion, when I wanted my artillery to attack on an enemy bunker at the other end of a field, I was forced to push the weapon to within spitting distance of the target before they would open fire.
OK, I appreciate this game is more about frenetic action than slow, tactical precision - but I think it could have been so much better. There are never any "clean kills". There are never any "one hit and you're dead moments". Instead there are plenty of protracted slug-fests in which men, vehicles and weapons pound each other to dust. It can be a long and somewhat dull process.
Great graphics and great style - but lousy game play. If that wasn't enough, the sound sucks like a hollow tooth. Most of the weapons sound particularly spongy. Don't even get me started on the accents...
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6
out of
8
people found this review helpful
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