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| Build a good base, but don’t get too fond of it. It may not be around very long | It’s nice to be able to call in conventional weapons like paratroopers. Too bad they will get wiped out soon |
History takes a turn for the weird in War Front as Operation Sea Lion succeeds and Hitler occupies London and southern England. This gives the mad scientists of all nations time to develop some truly terrifying weapons. Like Nazi’s with jet-packs, ice spitting tanks, earthquake bombs, base shields and German Exoskeletons combined with the ME-262’s and Buzz Bombs of real history. When explaining this game to my father, a war veteran and history buff, his simple reaction was “That’s stupid.” But to fully enjoy War Front, one has to ignore the thoughts of my father and look past the jet-pack absurdity. Once they do, a solid game will be found.
The team of Digital Reality/CDV aren’t going to re-invent the wheel or make up any other new clichés with War Front: Turning Point, but they do offer a straightforward, go-out-there-and-kill RTS that plays well and looks better.
The story revolves 22 Axis and Allied missions. All of them require base destruction and there is little variety but honestly, this is not a bad thing at all. The game is designed for this style of play. What I would have liked to see however is Russian campaign. Perhaps this is planned for an expansion but to develop a faction as cool as the Russians and not support it with a campaign of its own is puzzling.
Fans of Red Alert will find gameplay to be very familiar; crazily making the most units you can and tank rushing. Combat then boils down to proper timing and numbers. That is, if your units survive. Once you commit them to an attack, they’ll pretty much lose unless you have a numerical superiority, air and artillery support and a good mix of units. Most units, except for the really heavy ones, don’t take much damage, and entire forces get annihilated routinely. And if all else fails, just crash an explosive-laden B-17 in the middle of your enemy’s base. Problem solved.
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| If your computer can handle it, hop into a bunker and take out some bad guys | Ice spitting tanks seem a bit gimmicky, but boy are they cool |
It seems to me as if the game developers thought up all the crazy stuff they could think of to include in a WWII RTS and threw them all in there with little thought to balance or playability. The first person shooting mode for example is a unique idea, but really is out of place in a game like this. You will be so busy making units and rushing bases that even a few seconds spent gunning down Nazis could mean the difference between victory and defeat. The first time I tried it my computer slowed down to a crawl and eventually crashed. And I think I saw a mushroom cloud come out of my video card… Anyhow, this is a misplaced idea simply because it doesn’t work. I would rather have seen the effort spent on the missing Russian campaign.
There are some balance issues between the armies. The Germans seem way too powerful and while the AI certainly is tough, it is only because it can make units and target enemies faster than you can.
Multiplayer is a treat, if you can find an opponent. There are a lot of games out there that are like War Front so the game may be fated for obscurity. One of the true innovations of multiplayer are secret orders, unique and individual win conditions that allow you to use a different part of your brain; a welcome break from micromanaging like mad.
The battle ambience and general sound is fine but the terrible voice acting really bothered me. I don’t think the American hero could possibly have acted any more macho. And units loop the same stupid acknowledgement phrases.
Graphically the game is a treat for the most part. The snow and rain are great and the explosions are sure to bring a devilish grin to your face. The colors and shadows are dark and gritty and they work well with the story. Unit selection is difficult, especially on a busy battlefield. Keyboard shortcuts (especially when building units) help unless you’re like me who in the heat of battle forgets the keyboard exists.
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| The heroes are really cool units. And judging by this screenshot, they know it too | They look silly, but these Nazi Exoskeletons have teeth! |
War Front: Turning Point really doesn’t do anything new for RTS games but it does take a neat story idea and combine it with some pretty cool units. It is a pretty fun game to play, especially if you can find a friend. This is a very good game, but timing, novelty and a number of stupid annoyances prevent it from being great. And I don’t think it will ever get old to frag Nazi’s.
Top Gaming Moment: Watching a soldier that take the full brunt of a bazooka or tank blast, his body flying straight up in the air about 20 meters. I still laugh when I see it.
