Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8843 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: THQ
• Released on: 2007-11-23
• Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows XP

Customer Reviews

Thankfully, the game makes the painful installation worthwhile.
I bought this a few days ago, and couldn't wait to get it installed on my laptop. Unfortunate really, because waiting is what you have to do!!!

I have never seen such a tortuous install routine. The load off the installation DVD took about 30 minutes. On starting the game, it said it needed a patch and proceeded to download a 110Mb monster file, quit the game and applied it. Fair enough - but on restarting the game, exactly the same thing happened again- I was told I needed another patch (again over 100Mb in size) after downloading, the game exited and applied it.

This happened a further 3 times, each patch being over 100Mb. It took well over 2 hours to get the game installed, and enough patches downloaded and applied before I could get the tutorial started and even look at the game!!!

The game itself is excellent, but graphically challenging on your PC. I have a Dell Laptop - 2 Gb RAM, Vista and 128Mb ATI Graphics card (shared memory) which I incorrectly thought would do the job of running this game quite nicely especially on lower graphics settings. Unfortunately, the game is sluggish with jerky frame rates meaning I will have to uninstall and put onto my Desktop which has a dedicated graphics card.

I'm glad that I am not restricted on downloads with my broadband package, but I am not looking forward to another 2 hours of install game off DVD, patch, exit, patch, exit!!

I am giving the game five stars for fun, but only 3 stars overall because of the ridiculous install routine. Why couldn't THQ have provided most of these patches on the DVD or even better incorporated them into the original install code? It's not like this is a new game release.

Superb RTS, great value now!
This is a WW2 themed RTS game. This review assumes you know what that is. If you require more information on the basics, please ask or do a little research.

As far as WW2 themed RTS games go, this is about the best out there. Great value as the game + expansion come in at under £20.

Gameplay:-
Excellent. Units are reasonably well thought out, and there is some variety. Initially, I wanted a bit more on that front, but having thought about it, the potential balance or graphics/performance issues cancelled it out. After some patching, balance is reasonable and the AI good. For some strange reason I seem to do better with Allied units than Axis, but the AI opponents do very well with both!
Multiplayer is a lot of fun, especially as one can co-op with friend(s) on a LAN against enemy AI(s). This is an important feature to me, as for some strange reason I have never seen the allure of beating or being beaten by friends. Strangers online? Maybe. But when playing with friends, I like co-op. There is some criticism about the 'capture point resources' system, but on the plus side it elimiates the need for traditional "harvesting" type activities, common in most RTS games. Whether that is a plus or a minus, is up to you!
The only big minus points are the single-player campaigns. Not plotted very interestingly, rather short, and some rather rigid scripting makes them seem often overly contrived. Not dire, just not very good. One of those games where skirmishes can often seem better than the campaign.

Graphics:-
The models are well detailed, the terrain looks good and effects are decent. Physics can sometimes come out very well. At the time of release, this needed a top home PC to run at max levels so perhaps was overly ambitious at the time. However, the plus side is that it has helped its visual longevity some.

Sound:- The sound is good, and does it's job. Unfortunately, as with many game of this ilk, it can become repetitive. However, background/battle chatter and sounds are done well. Works well in keeping atmosphere.

Longevity:-
The core gameplay is so good, that longevity is at least reasonable. I was disappointed with the paucity of maps released with the original game. But with the expansion now included, and more official (not to mention many "unofficial") maps being released, this has improved somewhat.

Summary: I normally play Fantasy or Sci-Fi RTSes, but this is so good that it is now one of my favourites. I have prefered it to all other recent offerings.

Amazing
This game is great. the gameplay is amazing, graphics are great even as i have mine on the lowest for everything. for £17 its insanely underpriced. buy it buy it