9-Mar-2003 Playability and realism combine to make a formidable offensive force. Steve O'Hagan digs in for the latest WWII RTS assault
While obsessing about the heroic role the UK played in defeating Hitler, we tend to overlook the fact that the ones who did the most to thwart the Nazi juggernaut, like it or not, were the Russians. By the time we hit the Normandy beaches in 1944, the Red Army was already kicking the door down on the Reich, and the burning issue was not "can we take Germany and stop the Nazis?", but rather "can we stop the Communists from taking Germany?"
So in deciding on how the story of the most momentous war ever is remembered, it's only right that our former Soviet cousins have some serious input. And in the world of PC games at least, what better form should that input take than an extremely promising RTS full of historical veracity and gameplay swagger?
Straight out of Moscow, Nival Interactive's eye-catching Blitzkrieg spans the European theatre from the beginning to end of hostilities. It's festooned with weapons, vehicles and scenarios, and an absolute almanac of background details and historical footage to offer a little in the way of education. But instead of bogging down in a world of hexagons and instruction manuals, the developer has tempered this love of military detail with rock-solid and intuitive gameplay.
"It's all about gameplay and atmosphere," begins Blitzkrieg's project manager Dmitry Devishev. "We've put a tremendous amount into drawing the player into WWII with the amount of realism and historical background that we've included. But keeping you there will be great gameplay."
WHITTLE AND HUM Unlike more cartoonish entries in the genre, infantry won't be able to whittle down the hit points of a heavy tank with their rifles. Every vehicle is rated for front, side, rear and top armour, and every weapon for penetration and damage. So as you desperately try to manoeuvre your US Sherman tanks for a shot at the weaker rear armour of the formidable German Tiger, you'll understand why in reality a British commander suggested we should send eight Shermans for every Tiger spotted. And expect to lose seven of them. You don't need to know about the historical reality, but you'll soon come to learn about it first hand.
But when talking about playability in a strategy game, a good chunk of what you're interested in is its tactical richness. We probed Dmitry on what tools Blitzkrieg would place at the armchair colonel's disposal to out-manoeuvre his opponent.
"Blitzkrieg is more tactical because of the amount of units that you have to work with," says Dmitry. "This is no tank rusher's game. Best results come from using a mix of units with different capabilities. You have long and short-range artillery, tanks, self-propelled guns, rocket launchers and troop carriers. Infantry carry a diverse mix of arms from rifles to bazookas, and there is also a variety of aircraft. You can use or build trenches, barbed wire fences and antitank obstacles, as well as lay or remove mines. And as you have only a limited number of troops and vehicles, you have to choose carefully how and where you fight."
CLONE WARS Which brings attention to the fact that Blitzkrieg will be another RTS to eschew the once-standard aspect of resource gathering. "This is WWII after all - generals don't build barracks that 'clone' new soldiers on the battlefield," Dmitry points out. But in lieu of letting you build your own armies, the game at least offers the chance for you to nurture them into hardened, elite veterans.
"Your troops and units move with you from mission to mission throughout the campaign. They become more efficient fighters with bonuses for reloading times and accuracy, as well as an increased 'luck' parameter. The more experience they get, the more promotions and medals you get as their commander, which allows you to get hold of better equipment for your forces," says Dmitry.
With limited reserves, it's going to be vital to keep your troops healthy with constant battlefield repair and re-supply if they're to stay alive. To help achieve this, the maps are dotted with depots that can be controlled by either side to maintain a steady flow of bullets, shells and parts to the front, as well as maintaining morale with an abundance of provisions.
SCENE OF DESTRUCTION In bringing alive the deserts, forests, snowscapes and towns the world went insane over all those years back, Blitzkrieg sticks to the rigid though familiar isometric viewpoint of yesteryear, but concentrates in bringing a new level of incident to the scene. So when your tanks open fire, not only does smoke and flame billow from their guns, but their turrets recoil, buffeting the whole vehicle.
Fences and trees are crushed below the tracks of advancing heavy armour. Every shell leaves a crater, with hotly contested areas on the battlefield ending up resembling the part of the moon where they keep the meteor magnet. And all of this on your modest, year-old PC.
An aspect of the WWII battlefield that Blitzkrieg perhaps takes further than any game before is air power. Every five minutes or so, you can call on aerial support from one of five categories: reconnaissance planes, fighters, tank busters, bombers, para-transports. Need to take down that enemy spotter plane that's been zeroing in his artillery? Call for a couple of fighters. Want to reduce that village to rubble? Bring in the bombers for some carpet bombing, USAF-style. Fending off an armoured assault? A pair of tank-busters will open up his panzers like tin-cans.
"You control what type of aircraft you bring in, the time they come in, and the area of operation," explains our man Dmitry. "Once they are in the air, the AI takes over and they complete their assigned missions, handle anything else they find, and then fly out when their time is up. Their importance to you will be the same as they were to the real troops on the ground in the war - vital."
SUDDEN COMPARISONS When talking to a developer working on an isometric WWII RTS, to not bring up comparisons with Sudden Strike would be like interviewing Michael Jackson and not asking him if likes sleeping in the same bed with other people's children. So go on then Dmitry, how is Blitzkrieg going to be different?
"There are many differences, but I'll concentrate on three of the biggest. First is historical accuracy. Things like shell penetration and armour values are based on actual characteristics that we researched. Even the weaponry your infantry uses follows a chronological timeline as the campaigns unfold.
"Secondly, there's the RPG-like progression for both you and your troops, with an unlimited number of random missions available at each stage of the campaign to give you the chance to earn more experience and upgrades before taking on the historical missions.
"Thirdly is support for modders. We've provided a fully-featured map and mission editor that will even let you create and share your own campaigns, as well as a resource editor that lets you modify or add your own units, infantry, sounds, graphics and more."
So there you go Sudden Strike, an ill wind blows for you in the east. From our time with Blitzkrieg, we get the feeling this is one morsel of Muscovite militarism that your fans are going to love.
Anyone looking for an insight into the course the Second World War took in Europe need look no further. Blitzkrieg includes missions from almost every aspect of the struggle, including such forgotten fronts as the 1939 Winter War between Finland and Russia, and the 1942 fighting in Tunisia that gave US troops their first taste of battle against the Nazis. What's more, each mission is accompanied by a chunk of historical info to keep it all in context. "Each side has seven to eight historical missions taken from battles that in reality they won," explains Dmitry, "meaning you get to fight in Stalingrad for the Soviets, Normandy for the Allies and as part of operation Barbarossa (the invasion of Russia) for the Germans, to name a few. We wanted to make sure that we put the missions in chronological order and avoid 'alternative history'." "The missions include Tobruk, the Battle of the Bulge and Operation Jupiter in Norway for the Allies; The invasions of Poland, France and Typhoon (the advance on Moscow) for the Germans; and the Soviets will be defending Moscow and Kursk as well as driving into the Ukraine and Germany itself."
// Panzer Pornography
Taking its name from the German doctrine of swift, concentrated armoured attacks that would puncture front lines and burst through to envelop the static defenders, Blitzkrieg is understandably full of tanks. Polish shit-wagons with pea-shooters, crappy Italian Fiats seemingly continuously stuck in reverse, experimental Nazi Maus tanks that were as big as a block of flats and about as militarily viable too - if panzers are your bag, prepare to wear an 88mm wood. What we wanted to know was how the boys at Nival got all this hardware into the game, and with such spot-on accuracy in the models. "Being in Moscow helped immensely as most of these units are in museums here," says Dmitry. "We went to see them and we were even able to compare measurements between the books and the real thing, as well as get textures for our artists! We also have a host of material in the office concerning every aspect of WWII, from experimental weaponry right down to soldier uniforms, and we took on a military historian as a consultant from the very start of the project." From Moscow to Middlesboro, kids grow up wanting to drive tanks, so what would be Dmitry's armoured chariot of choice? "Favourite? That's a tough call. But if I had to choose only one, it would probably be the Soviet heavy assault gun SU-152 also known as the "Beast Killer". Sorry mate, never heard of it. Give us one of Blighty's finest any day - a tank with a proper codename like Valentine or Matilda. No wonder those Nazis were shit scared of us.
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