This is an add-on pack for "Sudden Strike " which I reviewed a
while ago. The play of the add-on is pretty much the same with a just a few
tweaks. You do get some different battlegrounds to fight over -
including deserts, and some new campaigns and battles. You also get some
new units, and some units have extra abilities - for example,
Your officers can now use binoculars to extend the view of your units.
If you liked the original game the add on pack is well worth getting, and
it's reasonable value too. The interface is still fairly easy to use and very
intuitive, and the game is just good fun. It's just like playing with the old
Airfix models that we probably all grew up playing with.
An unusual game, in that it comes from a company (Codemasters) who are
usually better known for racing games for consoles. Although the game is of a
genre described as a first person shooter, it's better than the usual games in
this category. The game is set in the hypothetical Malden islands, and you get
to play the side of the gallant US troops hoping to hold back the Soviet hordes.
You get to fight with infantry squads, drive tanks and a
range of other vehicles and even fly helicopters. Normally I would avoid this
type of game like the plague, but it works so well that you can't fail to be
impressed. The backgrounds and atmosphere are superb, and the missions and
campaigns are excellent too. Some missions might feature your having to carry
out missions by yourself, but in others you are part of a squad. I like the
latter, as you can hang around near the back and let the other squad members do
lots of the fighting for you! The
artificial intelligence is good, and squad members behave realistically - as do
the enemy. The driving and flying parts are fun too, though I'm not so good at
piloting anything.
The missions and campaigns have lots of play and there's a mission
editor so you can create your own too. This is especially useful for practising
the games, as they're not easy and if you behave in a gung-ho way you're not
likely to last long.