Codename: PANZERS Phase One – PC – Preview 2

Strategy
games never seem to go away and for good reason, tried and true gameplay.  If a
strategy game is good then it can take away hours upon hours of your time, all
in a good way.  Codename: Panzer is shaping up to be more than a good strategy
game, but a fantastic strategy game.  By giving players the ability to play
through the game as three different types of leaders, players will get a better
understanding of WWII.

The game is essentially
composed of three different leaders, one leader for each regiment.  You have one
German leader, one Russian leader and one Western leader.  The game starts off
as the German leader and as you progress through the game you will open up the
other leaders.  The developers mentioned that you cannot start the game as one
of the other leaders, but only as the German leader.

The leaders in the game
play a critical part in the development of your troops.  Depending on how well
you as a leader perform in commanding your troops, you’ll earn Prestige Points.
You can then use the Prestige Points to purchase additional units for combat.
The Prestige Points are earned only during combat so you need to be careful how
you control your troops.  If most of your men fall during battle then you won’t
earn as many Prestige Points.

The developers were
really happy with the graphics in the game.  All of the characters in the game
were motioned captured.  The developers did this to provide a more realistic
animation for the different units.  The troop and machinery graphics were very
impressive.  The game is presented in quasi over the top mode (standard view for
most strategy games) with all of the graphics being in 3D.  The landscapes were
just as breathtaking with all of the locations having very realistic and
striking graphics.  You have full control over the in-game camera as well.  You
can move the camera around the screen anyway you want.  The developers showed
off an impressive display where they called in an air strike to a certain point
in the game.  Once the plane hit its target the developer paused the game and
then moved the camera around every direction of the explosion. 

All of the environments
react to the movement of your units as well.  It’s not a real time physics
engine like other games from this year’s E3, but it was very effective.  When a
tank was moving through a wooden area the trees would crash to the ground from
the weight of the tank.  Another impressive display was the interaction with a
tank and a flamethrower.  The developers called in a unit of flamethrowers to
take on a tank.  The flamethrowers started hitting the tank and a temperature
gauge came up on the display.   As the temperature increased the enemy jumped
out of the tank because of the heat.  You can then let the tank cool off and
then take control of the enemies’ tank.  All of the movement and controls were
also very simple with just a few mouse clicks.  There wasn’t a large combination
of confusing menus to maneuver through in order to issue commands.

Codename: Panzer is
coming together to be another excellent strategy game.  The incredible graphics,
easy interface and interesting concept of leadership should please strategy
fans.  The developers were very proud of this product and they have every right
to be.  Look for the game in August 2004.

For All E3 2004
Previews