Axis & Allies

We've seen World War II strategy games come and go. Soldiers: Heroes of World War II, Blitzkrieg: Burning Horizon, Desert Rats Vs. Afrika Korps, War Times, and more, have marched patriotically into store shelves. Some are decent games, all are at least slightly flawed, and none had the tenacity to earn a coveted spot at the top of our CD rack as an addictive game that we can't bring ourselves to stop playing. They've all lacked that certain spark that takes a game from mechanically adept to utterly, drinkably, undeniably playable. Axis & Allies, from Timegate and Atari, hopes to break the WWII RTS slump with inspired action, realistic units, and a unique monitory system.

Let's get something straight right away: Axis & Allies (2004) is not a sequel to the 1998 game of the same name by Hasbro, nor is it heavily based on the popular board game. The new title is the effort of a design team to create a kick-ass RTS title based on the second World War, and secondly to please enthusiasts of the board game. Larry Harris, creator of the Axis & Allies board game, was reportedly involved in every step in the creation of the new Atari title.

The result is an RTS/strategy hybrid that that's a cross of Risk and Command & Conquer. In Axis & Allies, you'll be charged with typical PC RTS tasks, including base building, unit production, resource management, and rumbling into the enemy base with a screen full of heavily armed mechanized bruisers. You'll also have the opportunity to move little play pieces around a board in an attempt to gain control of the world.


RTS skirmishes against the A.I. give an excellent indication of the structure and unit trees available. You'll be able to join a fray as one of several countries, including the U.S., Germany, England, and Japan. I experienced numerous battle locales such snow covered tundra, rolling farmlands, forested greens, rocky badlands, and little townships. The backgrounds are drawn in exquisite detail, as are the units themselves.

From the tiny infantrymen to massive, lumbering tanks, the precision is incredible. Infantry leave little footprints as they walk along the battlefields, and half-tracks, APCs, and tanks leave their own tire and tread marks. Tanks rock on their suspension systems as they cross bumpy terrain or take shell hits from enemy tanks and antitank units. Explosions are gloriously animated and include realistic plumes of black smoke.

Other WWII RTS titles have failed to capture the gritty, brutal nature of combat. While you'll be able to create unit groupings in the standard RTS convention, orchestrating skirmishes and charges will be steeped in the chaos associated with real war. Your units think for themselves. You may order them to fire at a particular enemy regiment, but if your boys get flanked they'll return fire on their new attackers. Units try to stay alive, firing at targets that are a direct threat to them, and even retreating when it gets too hairy.