By the time we hit the Normandy beaches in , the Red Army was already kicking the door down on the Reich, and the burning issue was not "can we take Germany and stop the Nazis? And in the world of PC games at least, what better form should that input take than an extremely promising RTS full of historical veracity and gameplay swagger? But instead of bogging down in a world of hexagons and instruction manuals, the developer has tempered this love of military detail with rock-solid and intuitive gameplay.
But keeping you there will be great gameplay. Unlike more cartoonish entnes in the genre, infantry won't be able to whittle down the hit points of a heavy tank with their rifles. Every vehicle is rated for front, side, rear and top armour, and every weapon for penetration and damage. So as you desperately try to manoeuvre your US Sherman tanks for a shot at the weaker rear armour of the formidable German Tiger, you'll understand why in reality a British commander suggested we should send eight Shermans for every Tiger spotted.
And expect to lose seven of them. We probed Dmitry on what tools Blitzkrieg would place at the armchair colonel's disposal to out-manoeuvre his opponent. Best results come from using a mix of units with different capabilities. You have long and short-range artillery, tanks, self-propelled guns, rocket launchers and troop carriers. Infantry carry a diverse mix of arms from rifles to bazookas, and there is also a variety of aircraft.
You can use or build trenches, barbed wire fences and antitank obstacles, as well as lay or remove mines. And as you have only a limited number of troops and vehicles, you have to choose carefully how and where you fight. But in lieu of letting you build your own armies, the game at least offers the chance for you to nurture them into hardened, elite veterans.
The more experience they get, the more promotions and medals you get as their commander, which allows you to get hold of better equipment for your forces," says Dmitry. To help achieve this, the maps are dotted with depots that can be controlled by either side to maintain a steady flow of bullets, shells and parts to the front, as well as maintaining morale with an abundance of provisions.
In bringing alive the deserts, forests, snowscapes and towns the world went insane over all those years back, Blitzkrieg sticks to the rigid though familiar isometric viewpoint of yesteryear, but concentrates in bringing a new level of incident to the scene.
So when your tanks open fire, not only does smoke and flame billow from their guns, but their turrets recoil, buffeting the whole vehicle. Fences and trees are crushed below the tracks of advancing heavy armour. Every shell leaves a crater, with hotly contested areas on the battlefield ending up resembling the part of the moon where they keep the meteor magnet. And all of this on your modest, year-old PC. An aspect of the WWII battlefield that Blitzkrieg perhaps takes further than any game before is air power.
Every five minutes or so. Call for a couple of fighters. Want to reduce that village to rubble? Bring in the bombers for some carpet bombing, USAF-style. Fending off an armoured assault? A pair of tank-busters will open up his panzers like tin-cans. Their importance to you will be the same as they were to the real troops on the ground in the war - vital.
So go on then Dmitry, how is Blitzkrieg going to be different? First is historical accuracy. Things like shell penetration and armour values are based on actual characteristics that we researched. Even the weaponry your infantry uses follows a chronological timeline as the campaigns unfold.
From our time with Blitzkneg, we get the feeling this is one morsel of Muscovite militarism that your fans are going to love. Anyone looking for an insight into the course the Second World War took in Europe need look no further. Blitzkrieg includes missions from almost every aspect of the struggle, including such forgotten fronts as the Winter War between Finland and Russia, and the fighting in Tunisia that gave US troops their first taste of battle against the Nazis.
Taking its name from the German doctrine of swift, concentrated armoured attacks that would puncture front lines and burst through to envelop the static defenders, Blitzkrieg is understandably full of tanks. Polish shit-wagons with pea-shooters, crappy Italian Fiats seemingly continuously stuck in reverse, experimental Nazi Maus tanks that were as big as a block of flats and about as militarily viable too - if panzers are your bag, prepare to wear an 88mm wood.
What we wanted to know was how the boys at Nival got all this hardware into the game, and with such spot-on accuracy in the models. We also have a host of material in the office concerning every aspect of WWII, from experimental weaponry right down to soldier uniforms, and we took on a military historian as a consultant from the very start of the project. But if I had to choose only one, it would probably be the Soviet heavy assault gun SU also known as the "Beast Killer". Sorry mate, never heard of it.
No wonder those Nazis were shit scared of us. As demos go Blitzkrieg's is pretty damn meaty, with three single player missions, one each for the Russians, the Allies and the Germans. In the first map you have to use your entrenched German troops to defend against an infantry and tank attack and then make your way across the river, taking out enemy installations with a variety of units.
As the Allies, you have to sneak a scout into a heavily defended German town and take out the anti-aircraft guns before staging an impressive aerial bombardment. The last mission is basically a survive for as long as you can affair as you take control of a large Russian base and fend off wave after wave of Allied attacks.
Hardcore vets have the option of engaging the enemy immediately in a desperate struggle for battlefield dominance, or more cautious players can choose from pre-defined or unlimited randomly generated side missions as they gain experience, promotions and weapons upgrades as well as wear down the enemy before the central conflict.
Historical accuracy is pushed to the edge as each unit is endowed with the actual capabilities and characteristics that existed at the time. Each campaign has been meticulously researched to provide an accurate depiction of the battles that took place, while still maintaining the flexibility and fun!
The Mission Editor allows you to generate and add your own missions, chapters and campaigns according to the options you want most, from level of difficulty to type of action.
The Resource Editor gives you total license to redesign the game, add or modify units, characteristics, colors, textures, sounds and more — unlimited freedom to play the game on your terms.
Most Popular. New Releases. Desktop Enhancements. Networking Software. Trending from CNET. Download Now. Developer's Description By cdv Software Entertainment.
Blitzkrieg is the latest development in WWII real-time strategy gaming combining flexibility, historic accuracy and endless playability into one of the most challenging and enjoyable games yet. Full Specifications. What's new in version 1. Release November 7, Date Added October 23, Version 1. Operating Systems. Total Downloads 38, Downloads Last Week 5.
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