Detailed World War II strategy

What is it good for, war? It’s been very good for video game companies, for a start. Battlefront’s Theatre Of War 2 is a sober real time strategy that focuses on realism rather than Hollywood style action.

In the demo you are charged with protecting a small band of soldiers with limited resources against invading German troops and tanks. Unlike many tutorial missions, Theatre Of War 2 does not give you any information about how to play – for the controls, pause the game and find out for yourself! This hands off attitude is very much in the spirit of the game over all.

The graphics are nicely detailed, although they won’t wow people. The sound is good, with minimal troop voice responses and nice environmental effects. The mission in the demo is totally linear – your objectives are updated as you complete them, and there’s little freedom. Controls are pretty good, but the whole experience is let down by the lack of urgency your soldiers have.

When issuing commands, it seems irrelevant if you’re under fire or not, Theatre Of War 2’s soldiers will hesitate, go the wrong way, and generally act with a total lack of intelligence. This makes managing your troops difficult, as you need to move them and keep them from being shot, and they aren’t programmed to look after themselves, apparently.

Theatre Of War 2 is a very dry, serious strategy game. It’s pretty well executed, but only recommendable for hardcore fans.