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Review:

12th June 2005:
Stalingrad
It is 1942 and you must either fend off or deliver Gremlins from the Kremlin as the Nazis begin to advance on Stalingrad.
Posted by Chris Snook - PC - UK and Europe

There are a few defining moments of World War Two that stand out. The victory in the Battle of Britain, The Battle of Midway and the failed Operation Market Garden. All were critical in shaping the course of the war and how and when it ended. Of all those turning point, one stands out as being the most brutal and harrowing for those who took part. The Siege of Stalingrad lasted six months and resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands if not millions of people spread over both the German and Russian sides, civilians and soldiers alike.

Now you have the opportunity to play both sides of that conflict, initially taking charge of the German Wehrmacht as it regroups from a failed advance on Moscow to try and take the southern city of Stalingrad, thereby weakening troop movements into the Soviet capital. Later you switch and take control of the besieged defenders as they desperately try to hold off the Nazis as winter begins to extend her icy grip into the land once more.

The version offered for review was the Special Edition Great Battles of WWII - Stalingrad (the fuller name for the title) and comes in a slipcase that includes both the game itself and an expanded manual that details the siege in detail, outlining each sides moves an counter moves in a chronological order, often in relation to the missions that are to be undertaken. Further there is original historical footage and a wealth of information regarding the conflict. The sixty-four page manual is well presented but has what appears to be translation errors as some of the English whilst clear is imperfect. The snippets of footage also help to hammer home the reality of this part of history and builds the historical basis for the game.

It is this historical and chronological accuracy that drives Stalingrad. It follows both as accurately as is possible within an RTS, you are given a mission that corresponds to an event that occurred during those long, hard six months and then it is up to you to fulfil the victory conditions, as closely as possible. It is this realism that adds extra bite to the proceedings, as you realise that this is much more than a game but a recreation of history. As such you can become attached to the units as they slowly become ground away by the enemies firepower and yes there is an option to make your units harder, you often feel you just do not wish to do that and that you have to 'fight fair'.

The whole feel from the design of the menu screens through to the briefings given is that of conveying the reality of it all, there are images there, detailed briefings of your mission and how you may wish to proceed. You gain rank and honour through completing missions, by how many units of yours that survived, even what tactics you employed to achieve that victory - showing how well you coped with the fog of war. Over time you improve your stratagems and slowly you gain ground in how to attack heavily fortified areas. Then once you finish the Wehrmacht campaign they switch your roles and invite you to defend as the Red Army. Which is a great way to avoid familiarity and is for once nicely done as you can leap right in and try to defend. Not an easy task.

Outside of the menus there is a near classic feel to the visuals, it is the usual isometric view with buildings and trees and earthworks dotted around the landscape. Water looks stunning and the simple fact that a shed load can be destroyed, buildings, emplacements, trees shattered as a tank drives through it all are nice graphical touches. There are a number of details too in the units, tanks have variances in design and troops raise weapons to fire at targets and change positions depending on how dangerous the terrain it.

The sound of machine gun fire and tank fire are predominant, though you hear the crump of shells and explosions also. There is enough here to keep things flowing but not much more. Speech wise every unit has a few phrases and there is interplay between them and the environment, often if you are concentrating on one aspect of the map a cry from one spot will alert you to something you're missing. They also speak in German or Russian depending on the unit type a very subtle but defining touch. Music is rocking, often guitar, occasionally more suited to a rock video it however works and weave sin and out as required throughout the levels, briefings and menus. Very nice.

There are seven main chapters, each detailing a main phase of the conflict, within these there are subchapters to be completed. The battle areas are decent in size ranging from open country through to villages. The difficulty level is pitched just right that if you follow through the campaigns in order you get a feel for the curve and can adjust, though you may take more than one attempt at a mission before achieving a satisfactory result.

Stalingrad behaves like many other RTS games out there, indeed there is a mention to this effect in the manual but there is no actual listing for any of the commands, how to move units, engage them and often this is only found out by trial and being blown up. One you do suss the system out it is slick, relatively easy to use and offers a lot of information and control of just what you can accomplish. Despite this and despite the historical placement there is a sense that you have seen this before. Yes you can call in air strikes, yes you can order artillery barrages to pound people but these have been seen many times over the years. That there is a loose resource system in place, limited units, limited ammo and the like that you must try and find warehouses to resupply from, it can be bland and disengaging at times. The first Russian mission is a good example, you have to wait for the enemy to come to you and then marshal your forces to repel them.

For those who enjoy historical games this is a good bet, for others it may provide a few days worth of diversion and may indeed suck a few in but it lacks the killer strike that would propel it into the frontlines.

Chris Snook

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Review Summary:

Smooth and well polished RTS that delivers historical and chronological accuracy to its campaign. With a split set of missions, first attacking then defending it avoids the usual difficulties of familiarity but ultimately over time it can appear to a bland waiting game punctuated by periods of frenetic action as an attack builds.

Related Games:

Great Battles of World War II - Stalingrad
for PC

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