I initially bought this game wanting it to be a deeper, realistic Advance Wars game. Myself not being a turn-based stradegy duke I risked it and got the game when I didn't even know it was out in stores. Alright now to tell about the game. Panzer Tactics is obviously set in WWII allowing you to play as The Soviets, Allies (USA and Britain), and Axis Germans. There are over 50 different land, sea, or air units. The field of play is divided into hexagon shaped land areas or "hex spaces." You automatically start out with an army of panzer tanks, infintries, and artilleries awaiting your command. You can always recruit new units at your HQ with the cost of fame points. Fame points or "FP" are the currency you use and can be collected by capturing enemy bases or destroying the opponents units. FP are tediously difficult to get because you don't get that many of them from basic duties. This makes it hard to purchase any of the good army units. Game modes include Campaign, Scenario, and Multiplayer. The campaign mode lets you choose the German blitzrkeig from Poland to Stalingrad, the Red Army campaign which pits you as the Soviets from Moscow to Berlin, and The British and US ally assualt missions. The campaign mode gives you a nice sense of familiarity of your units because any of the "core" units that survive one mission continue to fight for you in the next ones. The Scenario mode lets you revisit Campaign maps to play them again. This is the only form of replay value in the game as there is no pick-up game option. The multiplayer option lets you play a one-on-one game with a friend in the Hot Seat mode, Wi-Fi battles for up to 4 players, and local LAN battles. The Wi-Fi mode in particular lets you choose the battle options such as map, fog of war, weather, etc. It may be very difficult to find a partner online to play with because the game hasn't been reached to a wide audience. Overall the game is deep with tons of stats that turn-based stragey fans will adore but the difficulty curve is so deep for beginers that they might as well quit. The tutorial in the campaign mode does a fine job of explaining the game mechanics but after the first real mission the game leaves in a fog against a hard computer the very next battle. Its definitely not Advance Wars and it can be confusing and frustrating but if you get good at it will return the favor.
I have been waiting for Panzer Tactics DS since I first saw the TBA status on Gamespot several months ago, and the wait has been well worth it. Though I am a war gamer, I have to admit the learning curve was steep, spend... Read Full Review
Ahh, strategy. I am a big fan of strategy/tactical games, especially on the DS. Don't get me wrong, PT has a wonderful strategy system and the controls are great, I just have one gripe that keeps me from giving it a big ... Read Full Review
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