Review @ Out of Eight

[JaguarUSF]

A review of Officers – The Matrix Edition has been posted at Out of Eight PC Game Reviews:
http://www.outofeight.info/2010/01/offi ... eview.html
Enjoy!

[Rosseau]

An accurate review. Except they didn't mention the impossible to figure out game editor with no documentation for it.

I would also not recommend this game--at least until it goes on sale for $10.

[SeanD]

Hi guys, I just wanted to address a few points on that review:

The editor is not designed for the novice but the manual does include documentation on it (starting on page 41). It will take time to learn but the documentation is there and with it you can get the hang of things.

The 008 review has some valid points but ultimately I think the writer failed to "get the hang" of the game. When you really start to understand the game mechanics units do not die nearly as quickly. Generally you lose units a lot when the underlying tactics necessary for success aren't observed. I realize this is vague but there is a rhyme and reason to the way tactics play out during a battle - it's just a matter of getting used to them.

Secondly, the game is not a realistic representation of the Second World War but we never positioned the game as such. It's an arcade-ish real time strategy game. You still use tactics and need to devise a strategy but ultimately this title is not, nor does it try/pretend to be, a grog take on WWII.

The last thing I wanted to address were the scripted "hidden" units. Recon is very important in this game and you are often given units that aid to that end. Once again, when you've played the game a bit and gotten the hang of it you will see that you can scout out enemy positions and maintain a good formation such that a counterattack can be spotted before a group of panzers crushes your flank.

There are some difficulty curve issues, but playing the game on easy first time around and trying out new tactics/conducting solid recon can make a world of difference.

[Redmarkus5]

Um...  so if I read your sales blurb on the Matrix site, which says, "Officers puts you in command of the Allied force in the largest conflict of our time. Take control of the US and British armies in order to strike back and defeat the Axis menace on the Western front of Europe. With over 1500 units on maps up to 10 square miles, Officers is the first WWII real time strategy game to let you fight on a truly massive scale!" and I deduce from this text that the game is in fact an attempt to deliver a somewhat realistic take on WW2 I am merely being a 'Grog'?  Come now. 

Why didn't you describe it as, for example, "Officers puts you in command of a large force in a mythical arcade-style RTS conflict. Take control of the Red and Green armies in order to strike back and defeat the Blue menace on a series of maps based loosely on Western Europe in 1944. With over 1500 units on maps up to 10 square miles, Officers is the first real time strategy game to let you fight on a truly massive scale!"  Surely that's 100 times more accurate than your actual text, would appeal to as many buyers as the WW2 message probably turned off, and doesn't serve to offend all those paying customer who will now never return to any of your future titles?  A lesson here for all developers planning to launch a game - beware of the 'Grogs'!

By the way, all I ask as a Grog is that a game that claims to be based on a historical event bears some kind of relationship to the historical reality.  Is that unreasonable?

[SeanD]

The marketing text did not intentionally mislead anyone into thinking Officers is something that it is not. I think what is written on the product page reflects the game experience. There are ample screenshots, preview materials, videos, etc. depicting the action within the game. It's not hard to deduce what the game would be like to play based on the readily available. There is also a demo of an early version of the game available for free to download. The version is different from the Matrix Edition but ultimately the core concepts are unchanged and it would undoubtedly convey the arcadish the feel of Officers.

We're not trying to hide anything about the title from you. It's unfortunate that your expectations were apparently far from what Officers actually is; but this game aside, I think you'll find most of our descriptions are generally informative and wholly representative.