After the rousing success of the RTS genre, there appears to be
three distinct directions that developers are heading towards to get
away from the Clone & Conquer mentality. The first is speeding up
the game into a frenzy, like what was done successfully in Red
Alert 2. The second is the adoption of the 3D perspective carried
out successfully by games like Ground Control. Finally, the third is
a flock to a RTS game with a heavy demand of tactics, instead of
the traditional cannon fodder mentality. Sudden Strike is
representative of the third type of RTS game. The developers' aim
here is to blend the clever use of tactics with a WWII thematic
motif.
When you think of tactics and WWII, one immediately dwells on
games like Close Combat. Sudden Strike attempts to make
tactical games more accessible by disguising it under the interface
of a traditional RTS game. Many would argue that this is exactly
what Close Combat has been trying to do and no doubt the
familiar interface makes it easier for gamers to take on this new
dimension of RTS gaming. For gamers who dread wargames,
Sudden Strike is definitely more akin to the RTS genre. For
example, your infantry squads can be positioned by individual
soldiers with razor-like precision, unlike
the semi-autonomous units in real-time wargames (this comes with
a mixed blessing of course, since you are responsible for more
micromanagement). That said, Sudden Strike does include lots of
features from the wargaming genre. For example, using a mixed
squad of flamethrowers and infantry grunts, I could attack the blind
side of a well-armed tank, in which under any normal
circumstances my infantry would be ripped to shreds within
seconds. Many RTS gamers shy away from this time of gaming
because is takes too long to set up these types of mini-victories.
Often if you lose a crucial unit, you can kiss the whole mission
goodbye. This is not so with Sudden Strike. It is a lot more
forgiving and the objectives laid out are fairly free. It is not
puzzle-like in the vein of Commandos. You are often told to
capture a specific point but how you do it is never really laid out
either consciously or unconsciously. This encourages armchair
generals to think of plans on their own.
When I talk about generals, I mean generals. Sudden Strike's
main caveat is the meticulous rendering of all major WWII units. It
uses a 2D engine and high-resolution graphics similar to what was
done with Age of Empires. Although, the engine is quite static, the
animation on the units is impressive nonetheless. Those keen on
WWII trivia will be able to spot Panzer tanks, Shermans and flak
guns. This authenticity extends to the aural experience as well.
Mortar fire and air strikes manage to instil fear while the units talk
in their native languages. In the midst of firefights, one can easily
discern the fire of the M1 Garand versus the MP40 or Mauser. I
was really encouraged by all this meticulous research, if only the
gameplay were as realistic. Each mission posed to the player is
effectively a map of sorts: the objectives are not transparent (Deus
Ex is a title with transparent objectives par excellence). In it, there
are often four or five objectives that can be accomplished.
Although the developers took the pains to hire voice actors that
have an English accent akin to German, British or American, I
found the speakers unconvincing. Moreover, this is the first game I
saw where the speaker actually speaks faster than the subtitles.
Often briefings end with "In short: do this, do that", albeit five
times as long. What I would have really liked, and this never
translated to the actual gameplay, is a mere list of objectives that I
need to accomplish always present on the screen. Because there
isn't a list, often late in missions I have to go back to the briefing to
listen to a good portion of it in order to find out what I'm doing
next. This happened often when you use unorthodox or extremely
creative tricks, so the game is not as flexible as I thought it would
be. The game certainly doesn't like you accomplishing tasks in the
incorrect order either. Sometimes, my games stagnated into a
standstill because of this.
When I began playing this game, I had the Close Combat
mentality, where I approached the game with a strong emphasis
on maximizing the use of all my troops while preserving the lot of
them so to hone them into an elite-fighting machine. I found I was
unable to do that, for the sheer amount of units in the game are
frightening to any commander. While I mentioned that you could
set up traps to outwit superior equipment or troops, those take a
significant amount of time. Time is often what you cannot afford.
Although some will argue this is part of the realism, I find the
casualties are needlessly high (and via extension, not fun). It's
great to see twenty paratroopers landing in an occupied city but I
question the motive of the developers if only ten survive the
landing. It's fun to see realism. It is my belief that realism brings
something to games that make them more
profound. But if I were to play a WWI campaign of czarist Russia
(to use an analogy here) where Russian forces never even won
one single battle or engagement, although it can be realistic, it is
certainly not fun. The giant scope of up to one thousand units per
map has its dramatic effects. There are many maps to play on and
because of the lengthy objectives on each map, players will not
find the game short. Moreover, there is a bonus CD with even
more maps so the title is definitely not bereft of material in
quantity.
Sudden Strike features a wide variety of terrains from snowy
plains to dense forests. These challenge gamers to think up new
ways to ambush the enemy, as often you will be outnumbered if
you want to go toe to toe with the enemy. Frequently, one is able
to call in massive air strikes on towns and reduce them to a cinder.
This is particularly effective since Sudden Strike proves that urban
warfare is brutal and ugly. The buildings and ruins all have a
European flavour to it. I particularly like the fact that units can
garrison many of the buildings or towers. This is like Red Alert 2,
only more realistic and flexible. There are a few quirks with
Sudden Strike that are related to the interface. I paraphrase
someone that all games from the motherland appear to have a
slight learning curve. This game is certainly no different. A few
minor annoyances include the existence of British,
American, Russian and custom mission campaigns that have their
respective save games lumped into one folder. Another
annoyance is the moving of troops into transports. At default
speed, the troops move much too slowly for anyone's comfort. I
wish there was a move fast button (a la Close Combat) but I
recognize this might be a feature of realism. Troops move a lot
faster by being "mobilized" through a variety of transports,
motorcycles or cars. However, when you assign a team to a
certain group of infantry and
load them into a vehicle, unloading will cause that team to
disappear altogether. This proved fairly annoying when I was
unloading troops in the middle of an ambush.
In multiplayer, Sudden Strike pits up to 12 players together. There
is no doubt the WWII motif gives any RTS a unique flavour but I
found the types of multiplayer games were lacklustre. I found
myself wishing there was some way to do attack/defence or some
sort of co-operative mode that would certainly make this game
more enjoyable. Sudden Strike is a good game that is
compromised by some interface problems. I found many of the
units, that I was supposed to save with tactics, died only because I
didn't have time to
react to the situation (and in some cases, can't react at all period).
On the one hand, Sudden Strike does suffer from some annoying
problems. On the other, I can overlook some of the uninspiring
briefing speech and in-game cinematics because at its heart this is
a game where one focuses on tactics. Here, this title exudes a
distinct European feeling. Sudden Strike, with its RTS interface,
certainly makes it easier to introduce gamers to overcoming
inferiorities on numbers and capabilities. There really is no
greater joy than charging a diversionary infantry attack on an
entrenched AT gun while
taking over the gun itself with a squad on its flank. Sudden Strike
is unique in this way, in that it often lets you take over the enemy's
equipment whether it is transports or displaced AT guns. I also
loved the fact that you could launch an eight airplane wide
carpet-bombing campaign on the enemy. These were issues that
were never addressed properly by Close Combat or any other
games for that matter. When all things are said and done, Sudden
Strike is a solid game and a great introduction for those who are
tired of the mindless carnage in RTS titles but aren't ready to cut
their teeth yet in hardcore wargaming. Those who approach this
game with a cannon fodder mentality will definitely be in for a
rude awakening.
Note: Sudden Strike is currently widely available throughout Europe.
It has also been spotted on store shelves in Canada and the United States,
imported from Europe without permission from Strategy First, the company that owns the publishing
rights across North America. If you live in North America and would like a copy of Suddden Strike,
grab it while you can before it disappears from the shelves (if it hasn't already). Strategy
First is expected to officially publish Sudden Strike across North America in February, 2001.
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