Rush for Berlin
Score: 88% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Paradox Interactive Developer: Stormregion Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 6 (Online) Genre: Real-Time Strategy/ Strategy
Graphics & Sound: Rush for Berlin is a different take on the standard WWII –based strategy game. Rather than aiming for complete historical accuracy (which usually translates into long, drawn-out gameplay), Rush for Berlin instead focuses on gameplay, resulting in a much quicker-paced and fun game. Visually, Rush for Berlin is impressive. While you’ll see more than a few look-alike units, everything is detailed and generally well done. The little graphical details are what really help to give the game a bit more life. As battles rage on, you’ll see all manner of dust and smoke kick up into the air, as well as some nice environmental effects like snow or trees swaying in the breeze. Even better, the game still manages to run at a pretty decent clip the entire time. This may not be the case for all PCs, but if you’ve got a decent machine, you’ll like what you see. Sound plays an important role in the game – perhaps as much as the visuals do. You can often hear a division of tanks coming towards you before you even see them, giving you the chance to quickly plan an ambush or plan an exit strategy. The sound effects and voice-overs really help to push the game’s feeling across, both of which are complimented by a great sounding soundtrack.
Gameplay: The German campaign, on the other hand, is a bit different. Rather than placing players in the role of speed bump to approaching forces, the German scenario plays around with history a bit and offers a “What if…?” scenario. It begins with Hitler being removed from power and has Germany fighting for national pride as well as trying out some of its prototype weapons. Most mission goals revolve around protecting a certain point on a map, whether it is a major base of operations, or a waypoint between locations. Each of the buildings under your control can be destroyed or captured, making them your primary concern. Each building offers advantages to your army, so losing one will make your task much harder. Smart players will make sure these are well defended before going after opposing bases; sneaky players will use them as bait for ambushes. Several multiplayer options are also available, including Co-op, Deathmatch and Domination. All three of these are fairly standard gameplay modes. These mode are joined by two new and very interesting modes: R.U.S.H. (Relentlessly Utilized Score Hunt) and R.I.S.K. (Race-Intensive Strategic Kombat). In R.U.S.H, players essentially play through a single-player mission in a race to see who can get the most points. R.I.S.K. has players completing random goals. No one knows what the other’s goals are, so this mode can become a bit of mind game if you have the right players.
Difficulty: Having played both a demo build, as well as being pretty familiar with the genre in general, I found Rush for Berlin to be on the easy side. The A.I. is challenging, though not overly so and can usually be outsmarted if you take your time and think about what you’re doing. Amassing a large division of tanks and sending them into battle isn’t going to work here. If you’re new to strategy games, or just want to get a refresher course on things, an incredibly detailed tutorial is offered. I’ll warn you now though; the tutorial isn’t the most exciting aspect of the game. Still, when you’re done with it, you won’t have many questions.
Game Mechanics: Though the gameplay is slightly faster than your standard strategy game, a lot of planning still goes into every move you make. This isn’t something like Command and Conquer or Starcraft where you can load up on an army of high-powered units and roll over everyone. Instead, you’ll have to assess the situation you’re going into and balance out your units based on strengths and weaknesses. Sending a bunch of slow moving tanks up against an army with anti-armor weapons isn’t a good thing; yet, throw in a few anti-personnel units and you’ve got a decent shot at victory. You’ll also have to mix in a good bit of trickery into your tactics. Officers also play a large role. Each officer has his own set of unique abilities. Some give bonuses to the units they are attached to while others can call in special help when needed. Resource management doesn’t play as big a role in Rush for Berlin as other strategy games. Again, the focus is more on the action rather than micromanaging an economy while fighting a war. Your only resource is time. Everything you do in the game is based on time. For example, do you take your time to build 10 light tanks, 5 medium tanks or one massive tank? This adds a sense of urgency to missions. Rather than rolling out whenever you decide to, you have to really think about things and weigh your options. Time isn’t always against you and you can use certain tactics, like building wooden decoy tanks, to help buy you some time. So, while there is always a bit of pressure on you, it rarely gets to the point where you feel panicked. If you’re a fan of strategy games, especially WWII –based ones, you can’t go wrong with Rush for Berlin. While the prospect of another WWII game might not sound like that great of a purchase, Rush for Berlin does enough things differently that its worth trying out.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
Minimum System Requirements: Windows 2000, XP; Pentium 4 1.7 GHz; 512 MB RAM; DirectX 9.0c-compatible 3D-Graphics card with at least 32 MB RAM; DirectX 9.0c-compatible 16 Bit-Soundcard; DVD-ROM-Drive; 4.0 GB free HDD space; 56K-Modem (Multiplayer)   Test System: Windows XP; Pentium 4 1.8 GHz; Radeon 9250 256 MB; 640 MB RAM; DirectX 9.0c; Cable Internet Connection
X-Men: The Official Game The Da Vinci Code