Codename: Panzers Phase One Review

Alright, Comrade. Let's go and liberate our Fatherland!

Being a child of the eighties (although I cannot say for sure when and if the period of my childhood has ended) meant many things. First of all, you could get a terrible hairdo and get away with it, and possibly even be considered stylish. The same went for those Hawaiian shirts and brightly colored tuxedos, with the lunacy reaching its climax with those smelly moccasins that would fall apart if they happened to get wet. Growing up in the eighties also meant that most probably, you and your friends would spend your late afternoons by playing Axis and Allies (or Germans and Indians [Wha?! - Ed.], or Klingons, or any other nation, race or political faction that you could think of). The rules were simple - kill or be killed, but the main problem was not with the rules. It was with the fact that nobody ever wanted to be the Nazi, so it was the duty of the more popular kids to convince the geeks to play as Nazis, knowing full-well that they'll get killed horribly ... because they are Nazis.

Are you saying that all this is because you couldn't decide who will cross this bridge first?

I always hated neo-romantic style in architecture. Burn you blasted thing!

But people change, so although I'm still playing like a kid I now like to take part in all sides of the conflict, you see. In the course of these past twenty years, I have seen a lot of material concerning World War II and most of that material dwelled on the winning side (of course it does - history is always written by the victors - Ed.). I was curious to know what the war looked like from the German perspective - a wish I was granted with the growth of the gaming industry. It didn't take me long to realize that Germans could have won the war if only they had had my tactical expertise on their side... and if only wars were more like video games.

Being only a video game, Codename Panzers succeeds in getting pretty close to the real thing. This does not imply this game's supposed excellence or visual perfection. This is due to its charm and the atmosphere that feels pretty much like the hell of the WWII. There are three main campaigns - German, Russian and Allied - so you can choose any of the game's three main heroes and follow their mission. The campaigns differ as every side has its own missions and goals, so the German campaign puts you in the role of Hans von Gröbel on his way to invade Poland, France and the Soviet Union. The Russian campaign lets you defend your homeland from the invading Germans in the role of Aleksander Vladimirov, while in the Allied campaign you assume the role of Jeffrey S. Wilson, leading your troops in early '45 before D-Day.

Apart from being lengthy, the campaigns are diverse, well-rounded and will present a decent challenge, depending on the difficulty level you have chosen. Be warned - hard difficulty will not provide you with unit replacements after the battle, so you'll have to prove yourself and earn as much prestige points as you can. These points serve for buying new units and vehicles, so take care how you rank. Every mission can be replayed and you'll want to replay often, as you'll always think you can do better. This game is not to-die-for, but it is rather addictive and has a great replay value - Codename: Panzers also supports multiplayer (via LAN or Internet, 1-8 players) so that should slake your thirst for hot, sweaty multiplayer action.

Apart from this, there is a training camp option along with a not very satisfactory and highly unnecessary tutorial, which only pays attention to the obvious. The list of commands is short but it covers all the necessary functions in the game, which makes the game very logical and the game play easy to master. It is indeed a very good thing that it is so, as I couldn't think high of my units' AI. Sometimes their actions did not make much sense so I had to do a lot of micro managing, which can really be tiring at times. Of course, in order to do this I would have to zoom out and when zooming out, some of the smaller units (infantry) would become almost unrecognizable. The only solution to this was to zoom in and out constantly, which did not leave my fingers happy. Units by default react upon the closest units, whether it be to attack, repair or heal them, but this "priority rule" often fails. When my tank got stuck in the minefield, the repair truck hurried off to repair it as it was in its radius. The repair truck nonchalantly drove over the minefield and in a few seconds, my army was covered with parts of it that were raining down from above. Path finding varies from commendable (my tanks have found the shortest way through the woods - suffice it to say they're leaving tree trunks behind) to peculiar (two tanks have crossed their paths as they were going in the same direction and are now dumbfounded - they're just taking enemy fire and doing nothing). Although they can on occasion play rather dumb, the enemy units are known to execute some unpredictable and rather intelligent actions, but that won't be enough to truly challenge you in the single-player mode (more on that later).

The game mechanism is rather neat - mission objectives differ from defending a city, to attacking enemy positions and intercepting a train. Although the campaign's divided into missions, you'll be able to enjoy a rather seamless game play, thanks to the solid and smooth story and cut-scenes. During the battle, you'll be able to operate with no more than 25 units, which is the limit, so take care which units you choose for the mission. Apart from the rather weak infantry such as riflemen, snipers, mortars and flamethrowers, there are more than 50 controllable vehicles, from different light, medium and heavy tanks all the way to jeeps and trucks. The artillery (stationary guns) is also present but bear in mind that you'll need a truck in order to transport it to another part of the field. What is realistic about these units is the fact that they're most effective when you put them to proper use - use them for what they're meant to be used. All of the units, which are historically based, differ depending on the side you've chosen and can gain experience in battle.