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Codename Panzers: Phase One |
CG rating |
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Developer: cdv Entertainment, Producer: Stormregion System requirements: CPU 1.8 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 3D Video Card with 64 MB, DirectX 9.0 compatible Game: Codename Panzers: Phase One Genre: Strategy |
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Codename Panzers: Phase One
| Posted by on 16-Dec-2004 11:14 |
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Yet another WWII Real Time Tactics title. I simply have no more inspiration to write an introduction to another WWII strategy game review. It's about WWII, it has tanks and infantry in it, the now standard three nation campaigns (German, Russian and Allies), nice 3D graphics and the same gameplay as the other 1315486 WWII strategy games that shipped these past couple of months. What more can I say? Oh, even the interface is starting to become standard, and I'm not talking about the buttons, unit description and minimap layout, the individual button pictograms and even the skin of the interface looks pretty much the same. And if we get to the story, well let's just say we saw the Axis rise in Western Europe, stall in Russia, and fall in Berlin just about too many times.
If anybody remembers S.W.I.N.E. they probably expect Codename: Panzers, Phase One to be another interesting game, because the 2001 Stormregion release was something of a satire, and even if it was mostly common in terms of gameplay, it certainly compensated in content. Well you couldn't be more wrong. If I ever played a boring, linear, and a 100% true to the market trend game, Codename Panzers was it. But originality is by far not the only aspect which determines the value of a game, and just to make this a fair review, let's take a more in depth look at the game.
The first thing that strikes you is the graphic quality. It may not be state of the art, but it certainly is enough to make even the cut scenes with the in-game engine, and this is not a small thing if we consider that this is a strategy game we are talking about. Don't expect any facial expressions or lip movement, but the range and diversity of the animations can handle the job at hand. Obviously, during the game, the units look very good and detailed, even when zoomed in on them.
Every mission (besides the first one in each campaign) starts with some pages from the commander's journal, a fairly common tactic nowadays to give the heroes some personality. As you have probably guessed, the hero is just a very powerful unit, which gives bonuses to the vehicle he mounts, like in all the other WWII strategy games we have played these last months. After the journal pages, you are presented with the equipment screen, where you can spend your prestige points on the different types of units available. Prestige points are earned by completing missions with minimal casualties and maximum damage to the enemy, and you will be rewarded with bonus points for completing secondary objectives, which you will do almost every time, since you usually have to explore the whole map to win the mission.
If anybody remembers S.W.I.N.E. they probably expect Codename: Panzers, Phase One to be another interesting game, because the 2001 Stormregion release was something of a satire, and even if it was mostly common in terms of gameplay, it certainly compensated in content. Well you couldn't be more wrong. If I ever played a boring, linear, and a 100% true to the market trend game, Codename Panzers was it. But originality is by far not the only aspect which determines the value of a game, and just to make this a fair review, let's take a more in depth look at the game.
The first thing that strikes you is the graphic quality. It may not be state of the art, but it certainly is enough to make even the cut scenes with the in-game engine, and this is not a small thing if we consider that this is a strategy game we are talking about. Don't expect any facial expressions or lip movement, but the range and diversity of the animations can handle the job at hand. Obviously, during the game, the units look very good and detailed, even when zoomed in on them.
Every mission (besides the first one in each campaign) starts with some pages from the commander's journal, a fairly common tactic nowadays to give the heroes some personality. As you have probably guessed, the hero is just a very powerful unit, which gives bonuses to the vehicle he mounts, like in all the other WWII strategy games we have played these last months. After the journal pages, you are presented with the equipment screen, where you can spend your prestige points on the different types of units available. Prestige points are earned by completing missions with minimal casualties and maximum damage to the enemy, and you will be rewarded with bonus points for completing secondary objectives, which you will do almost every time, since you usually have to explore the whole map to win the mission.
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