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World War II Online: Blitzkrieg
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Graphics & Sound:
Graphics don't always make great games, but they sure can hurt them. Such is the case with World War II Online. The mottled buildings and countryside vegetation will start to hurt your eyes after a while. The tanks and planes are decent looking, from far away. They're not bad up close, but you'd rather see them from the inside than from out. Infantrymen look about as alive as a mannequin does. The animations are a bit limited to make you feel like there's actually a person behind those few polygons. The day and night system is a nice addition, but turns out to be a double-edged sword. France in 1940 didn't have that many lights out in the country, where you will be most of the time. When the sun sets, it gets pitch black, with most of the light coming from artillery bursts. A realistic effect that can get very tiresome. What music there is will be heard while loading up and at menu screens. Once you're in the mix, though, the only things you'll hear will be the sounds of mechanized warfare. Engine noises and gunshots will pierce the peaceful French countryside. Thankfully, they sound alright. Cannon rounds will scream over your head, and you'll learn to fear the unique noises of fighter-bombers. Realism is what they were going for, and realism is what they got. Yet you will also be treated with the sound of silence, which will be about 90 percent of the game, due to the time it takes to get from battle to battle. |
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Gameplay:
Modeled after one of the most important, (not to mention costliest), wars in all of human history, World War II Online attempts to capture the essence of this conflict through its unique, yet flawed, gameplay. The importance of cooperative efforts has never been more important than in this game. There weren't a lot of 'lone guns' in the Second World War, as is true for WWII Online. The game's size (not only in hard drive space) is absolutely vast at the expense of being realistic. In the game, Europe is modeled in 1/2 size, which means if you're on foot then you'd better find a ride fast. You can expect long boring trips to the front, followed by a quick death that will send you miles away from the action, forcing you to make multiple treks. The game starts hot on the heels of the Second World War in 1940. The first theatre is set at the beginning of the Blitzkrieg, Germany's 'Lightning War' on Europe, and all the major battle points are included: strongholds, fortresses, forests and rivers, just as it was in 1940. Playing the game according to history is possible, but not necessary. In fact, it's encouraged to try and alter history. Stopping the Blitzkrieg in its early stages is possible, but it will also be possible in the future for Germany to successfully invade the British Isles. Starting out you will be presented with a global map from which you choose your starting side and location. You can pick countries from either the Axis or Allies, and depending on which you choose will decide the locations you can start at. Once these decisions are made, you can take a look at a number of different missions that people have put together. These missions will show a starting location, number of people participating in them, and what the target is. These missions are your best bet to get anything accomplished in the game. And, if you don't like what people are trying to do, you can either make your own mission, or change sides, whenever you feel like it. After picking your allegiance and making out your own orders, it's time to decide what kind of damage you wish to inflict upon the opposing side. Depending on your starting location, you have a variety of options. Airfields will give you planes to toy around with. Army bases will let you drive around in tanks, man anti-tank guns, or if you like combat on the personal level, to run around with a gun and shoot other people. Not only will having a better rank allow you to wield better instruments of destruction, but you can also become the commander of multiple missions. Armies' actions within the game will affect the flow of resources, resulting in the giving or taking of things from bases. The capturing of locations is done with a flag system. Areas under either side's control will have their respective flag there. Taking control of that location requires the abduction of said flag by the opposing side. Stealing the flag is done simply by running up to it, which will transfer it from its resting-place to your back. But taking control of these areas will not only require you to reach the flag, but to be able to defend it from the enemy who is sure to be slightly perturbed by the kidnapping of their banner. |
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Difficulty:
As all MMOG's are different, they each require a bit of patience to get used to their individual style of play. This doesn't necessarily mean that they are difficult, they just merely require a little while to learn. Once the basics of the game are mastered, the real difficulty comes in the form of trying to figure out the different ways in which to further the game's progress. Forming groups and working together are all good and well, but when nobody will help you then it doesn't really matter. Fortunately, WWII Online's community is more than helpful. Coordinating attacks is simply a matter of finding enough people who are able to help, as most of them are usually more than willing. Whether the people are like this out of the goodness of their heart or not is another question, but it is for certain that if the population wasn't this willing to work together then the game would have flopped in its first week.
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Game Mechanics:
It's hard to sum up the controls of World War II Online, as there are 3 very different areas in which to play. The game combines flight sim, tank sim, and FPS all into one game, all the while trying to make it fun. Flying a plane allows the use of a joystick, and is almost on par with any other WWII flight sim out there. Driving a tank is a little bit more difficult. You can only control one position while in these armored beasts, so if you're the commander and you want to fire, you have to switch to the gunners seat and fire it yourself. And at the expense of reality, the driver can only see through a tiny slit in the front of the tank. So if you want to know where that shot came from that nearly gave you a new hood ornament, you have to stick your head out the top and let the computer drive for you. The infantrymen are controlled like most other FPS's, with the mouse and 'wasd' configuration. Aiming is a bit odd, as you don't have crosshairs, but you can hold the gun in front of your face and look down the sights to aim. Given the size of the playing area, it is a must for soldiers to find rides to wherever they want to go. The stamina bar runs out way to fast, and takes a long time to regenerate. Just another stab at realism that ultimately takes away from the experience of the game. No simulation game has yet attempted what WWII Online has, and for good reason. Trying to simulate an entire war seems a little too ambitious, and has thus far proven true for developer Cornered Rat. However, the game has come a very long way since it first came out, and they are still working on making it better. It is still too hard and unrewarding for new people to get into the game. World War II buffs will probably even be turned off in the first few minutes, but as long as the few who have been with it since the beginning stay on board, it might eventually evolve into something good. Until that time comes though, only veterans of the Beta tests will want to spend their time with this game. |
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-Snow Chainz, GameVortex Communications AKA Andrew Horwitz |
Minimum System Requirements:
Windows 95/98/2000, Pentium III 400, 128 MB RAM, 16 MB 3D video card, DirectSound compatible audio card, 8X CD-ROM, Joystick, 56K modem w/Internet access |
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Test System:
Windows 98, 1.4GHz AMD Athlon, GeForce 2 mx 32MB video card, 40 gig hard drive, 56x CD-ROM, 256MB DDR Ram, Sound Blaster Live! sound card, T1 Internet connection, Wingman force joystick |
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