Panzers demo

[ASHBERY76]

You want to try that "soldiers-heroes of WW2" demo by codemasters, it is very impressive, not only does it have great detail like tanks having AP or HE shells(your choice) and every weapon of WW2,, but the terrian is totally destructable.This game could be the "new" close combat.

[Bunker22]

I think the game will be like those really worthless games that you can´t control your troops at all. The game is probably fast, there will be shooting sprees everywhere....IMO it is just a very nice good looking (graphically) game, nothing else, mechanics will probably be very very stupid.

My $0.02

[mavraam]

ORIGINAL: wodin

After playing through th tutorial I wouldnt say it ia like Close Combat at all.

It does play a bit better than most RTS. BUT it is still has typical RTS game mechanics.

However that said it works far better than SS and Blitz.

On further review... I agree. This thing is LAME.

I was very impressed with the graphics but the gameplay is absurd at best. All it takes is one 3 minute point blank tank battle to convince you of this. Not to mention artillery with a range of about 100 feet!!!!! Watching my guys continually wheel forward about 10 feet, take a shot, and move again was at least entertaining. Look on the bright side, it can only fire 100 feet but its 100% accurate at least!

Anything but offboard artillery in a game this scale is rediculous.

And what about the repair and medic crap??? Are you kidding me? My infantry guys can get shot at by a tank's machine gun from 10 feet. Escape. Find a medic and be back to full strenght in about 30 seconds. Come on!!!!!!

And let's not forget about the air strikes that are more or less instantaneous with the dive bombers! Wow, what incredible reaction time by the pilots. They must just be circling above waiting for the GPS co-ordinates of the target. [8|]

The graphics are as good as anything I've seen, but the gameplay just doesn't cut it. Watching my 12 year old dominate the demo by using some of the most rediculous techniques that would never have a prayer in reality is what finally convinced me.

I remember when he told me he'd sold off all his tanks and instead got a bunch of tank crews and a few flamethrowers. Then he'd find a tank, torch it, steal it, repair it. Lather, rinse repeat.

[Charles2222]

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76

You want to try that "soldiers-heroes of WW2" demo by codemasters, it is very impressive, not only does it have great detail like tanks having AP or HE shells(your choice) and every weapon of WW2,, but the terrian is totally destructable.This game could be the "new" close combat.

I played the demo thanks to you. It took me quite a while to figure out how to siphon gas to the Sherman, and a few other nuances, but it's quite fun. I've seen claims that the rear and front armor on tanks are different, but I'm not so sure. It may be different in the rear, but I don't think it is on the sides. It is neat to see so many tracks being broken, and it is interesting to see your guys repair it at times.

The HE shell explosions from the ATG and Sherman are quite nice. It's also nice to see men prying around corners when you have them behind a wall and tell them to try to shoot.

From what I understand the game itself will have 30 missions. Though I'd prefer to have a dynamic campaign too, there's a lot of play to be had even just off the demo. Admittedly it probably had more to do with me going through learning pains more than anything, but it is noteworthy to see that there seems to be little or no precise reaction to the same events by the AI. I've only put in 3-4 serious attempts to play that demo, with much more inserious probing trys, and everytime it turns out differently.

Only thing that frustrates me a bit is that the range of the main large guns seems very short. I can never hit the truck dumping off the infantry from my ATG for example.

The battle is all the more fascinating for taking direct control of individuals or individual AFV's. You get used to the general eb and flow of the shooting going on around but it's quite impressive at times to take control of something and have it drowning the enemy in an ocean of fire.

I'm probably going to buy this one. Just being able to take over so many different weapons and having to scrounge around for fuel/supply makes things all the more interesting.

[mavraam]

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76

You want to try that "soldiers-heroes of WW2" demo by codemasters, it is very impressive, not only does it have great detail like tanks having AP or HE shells(your choice) and every weapon of WW2,, but the terrian is totally destructable.This game could be the "new" close combat.

Thanks for the tip!

After a murderous download attempt last night, I finally got the demo at midnight.

Definitely has a more realistic feel to it.

A couple (RELATVILEY MINOR) issues:
1) Not enough range on zoom and tilt of camera making it difficult to really get a sense of the overall position. (Apparently that can be modded, BTW so not really an issue I guess).
2) I had some issues with the gun range as well. I really want to be able to torch that truck, not sure if its an LOS issue, it looks more like the gun simply won't fire at something beyond its range which is rediculously short. It's possible that is moddable as well though.

Otherwise, it seemed MUCH more realistic than Panzers. Tank hits really look like a shell tagging a tank. Sometimes they bounce off. Sometimes they wound. Sometimes they kill. At least that part really had a Close Combat feel to it with much better graphics.

Not sure I like the comando-mission theme though. Would have preferred more of a standard squad on normal missions like take this bridge, defend this town, etc, instead of make sure this guy survives. I want to keep my own guys alive, not defend someone elses! [:'(]

I guess they are coming up with Wartime Command as well which looks really impressive and is more the theme I'm looking for.

However, I would say that Soldiers has WAY more potential than Panzers. I will not buy Panzers unless they make RADICAL changes to it. I almost certainly will buy Soldiers or Wartime Command or both if they pan out.

[Charles2222]

mavraam:

2) I had some issues with the gun range as well. I really want to be able to torch that truck, not sure if its an LOS issue, it looks more like the gun simply won't fire at something beyond its range which is rediculously short. It's possible that is moddable as well though.

The last time I ran through that demo, that truck was destroyed but I don't know how. There's one idiot on my side that uncontrolled by the player typically charges out to meet the enemy, who gets involved in scrapes with the crew of that truck. Certainly a different outcome from what I'd seen before. I had probably played my best game to date on that try and it may had put different characteristics into more bits of the mission.

There is one thing I'd like to clarify about the ATG though. Normally I hadn't ever seen the truck destroyed, nor had I ever seen it park anywhere else, BUT, the camo-tank sometimes doesn't come down the main street and instead goes down the street the truck came from. With the ATG I WAS able to hit what was actually a further shot with AP rounds. Bear in mind I was trying to use HE on the truck so maybe it has a lesser range for some reason. Another thing too: I believe those longer shots may work, but only differently. Typically I'll target when in direct control and click and it'll fire, but what I seen time and time again with that tank coming down that truck's street is that it won't fire unless I release the ctrl key also, and then with like a second of delay. I don't think otherwise that the ATG will try to hit that tank. IOW, when it isn't working I have the orange ball on the target and click repeatedly with no result, but when I instead click once and then release the ctrl key it'll fire. It's almost as though holding down ctrl keeps it from firing and maybe then multiple clicks throw it off. Of course if I don't get an orange ball I know I can't hit it, but I've always been able to place an orange ball on the truck, but I sure hadn't tried the technique I did on that distant tank till yesterday and the truck was destroyed before I was ranging out in any case.

I can see how the commando role might but somewhat tiresoem, but there is quite the element of fun to it, to where you have to scavenge to get supplies, therefore even when there's only one perceivable enemy firing at you, you still have to be careful when refueling or repairing.

The demo was at the point where the game was only 80% done. I've been digging into their forums of late and it if there will be something of the FPS element to the game, what we will be seeing is one of those cross-genre type games that are so rare.

One of my first turn-offs was that the map wasn't terribly large and the lack of FOW. There's at least one mode of playing where there will be FOW and I doubt the maps will be larger, but after playing a good while and finding I am able to outflank, unfortunately albeit at the expense of having a view of where the enemy is at all the time, the size didn't matter so much anymore. BTW, as non-realistic as it sounds, you can actually repair enemy AFV's and operate them, which definitely adds to the fun factor. I would suppose the regular game won't let you carry equipment from one mission to another.

[Charles2222]

mavraam: Have you played a Wartime Command demo yet? I believe there is one out, but so far for what I've been able to see they're looking to be all foreign sites. Yeah, this is that unltra-realistic game I recall from a few months back that I forgot the name for it.

[Charles2222]

As best I can tell, WC doesn't have a demo yet, but as there are movies of it, in some people's minds that fits into the demo category.

[Real and Simulated Wars]

Thanks for the reviews and for saving me the time to download or try it.
I had a bad opinion regarding this game since the first screenshots came out. I have developed a good clinical eye for games; the screenshots are ussually enough for me. But your qualified opinions are the confirmation.
Thanks again,

[mavraam]

mavraam: Have you played a Wartime Command demo yet? I believe there is one out, but so far for what I've been able to see they're looking to be all foreign sites. Yeah, this is that unltra-realistic game I recall from a few months back that I forgot the name for it.

Oh God! I started to hyperventilate when I read that. [:-][:-][:-]

I was already thinking about how I was going to find it, download it, burn it to CD and then find an excuse to go home early when I saw your next post!

Oh well, I'll have to wait...[&:]

Has anyone played Desert Rats Vs Afrika Korps?

[Charles2222]

Funny, I was thinking the same thing until I tried it; really. There's enough 'fun' and exploring, that while it's not entirely historically accurate it's definitely interesting and fun. It seems no two battles, of the same battle, are alike, and yet we see this sort of thing all the time with SPWAW (scenarios that are entirely predictable). It's definitely worth a free demo. I was a bit frustrated at first, but then I learned to actually think and use what was in the readme file both, and things progressed from there. It's definitely not standard RTS fare, though there's a lot of RTS in it. If nothing else, there's a rude enough departure from the likes of Sudden Strike you may find it hard to believe the major step it's taken. In my mind it just make me at least think of the visual/audio potential that CA could have. It's pretty close to CC and in some ways better, though it's been quite a while since I've played CC (which unfortunately too seemed entirely predictable).

Yeah screen shots don't do it for me as far as RTS goes, and screen shots will only tempt me a bit as far as FPS goes, but to actually take a stab at some of them, particularly ones that people say are "too hard" really ought to at least touch our grognard curiousity a bit. In any event, the game's only a free demo which was only 80% done at the time, and which with any patches coming afterwards be hopefully a bit more grognardish.

[Frank W.]

mhh.. the website + screenies look quite good.

i also find it a good service, that german ppl. can
order a demo on cd. hope it will arrive soon !

[Charles2222]

ORIGINAL: Frank W.

mhh.. the website + screenies look quite good.

i also find it a good service, that german ppl. can
order a demo on cd. hope it will arrive soon !

Are you saying that Germans can't download it from the internet? Is it too slow a phone connection? Are people just not able to keep the phone away from calls that long? When I had dialup I never had a problem with that, but then again I'm not exactly Mr. Popular and being single and living on my own helps that situation tremendously. I did find a way to get around my ISP cutting my connection off fro inactivity while I was downloading however.

BTW, if it makes any difference, I think this game is made by Ukranians (not USA).

[Frank W.]

Are you saying that Germans can't download it from the internet?

no. it´s only a fruther option given to german people.

i guess the company is a german one.

no probs with net connection here.

i have fast DSL and can phone and surf the same time...

[Charles2222]

ORIGINAL: Frank W.

Are you saying that Germans can't download it from the internet?

no. it´s only a fruther option given to german people.

i guess the company is a german one.

no probs with net connection here.

i have fast DSL and can phone and surf the same time...

Oh, I thought that nobody would want a demo on cd unless they had a slow internet connection.

[Charles2222]

BTW foks, I noticed that one of the US soldiers in the Soldiers demo is named Bill Watchtower.