Codename: PANZERS Phase One Preview

At this year’s E3 publisher CDV was showing off an early version of Codename: Panzers.  I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to see the game in action and walked away very impressed.  With the games expected release date looming closer, August 2004, CDV was gracious enough to supply GameZone with a preview copy of the game.  My initial reports from E3 are still true but with some new additions and insight into the game.

The full retail version of the game will offer gamers the ability to play the game from three different perspectives: German, Allied and Russian.   The preview copy only had the German missions available for play, which was enough to get a good feel of the game.  The game is real time/strategy military game that is similar to other military & strategy games.  The game is mission based and each mission is composed of different objectives that must be completed before you can finish the mission.  For real time strategy game fans this isn’t anything new but Codename: Panzers does offer more.

The control system is very interesting compared to other real time strategy games on the market.  You have the ability to select any units in your army right away and move them anywhere on the stage.  You’re no longer limited to just a certain area that your character can move.  The way you control your army is very easy to use, but not over simplistic for advanced gamers.  You simply click on the unit you want to move and then right click on an area where you wish to move the units.  But there were several different options you can perform with the controls besides just point and clicking where to move your army.  Depending on the type of vehicles you have under your control, you can combine your foot soldiers with different vehicles such as tanks and other vehicles.  You can also tow and move different units around the stage with other vehicles as well. 

Advanced strategy gamers will also appreciate the ability to level up your units and characters during battles.  Each unit has a certain number of experience points that will increase as you destroy enemy units or soldiers.  The game also includes the ability to capture and use enemy weapon and soldiers.  The entertaining demo given at E3 showed the developers heating up an enemy tank with a flamethrower and then capturing the tank once the tank cooled down.  This option was available in the preview copy and it was just as entertaining as it was at E3.  During the tutorial mode the game showed off a repair truck making repairs on a captured enemy tank that had broken down.  Once the tank was repaired, I was able to take control of the tank again and use it during battle.

The battles themselves are played out in real time, but you have the ability to pause the game and ponder your next move.  If you move your troops to an area that is occupied by the enemy, your troops will usually start attacking right away unless you’ve ordered the troops to just defend.  Now this can be a great option or something annoying, depending on your opinion.  It was a little annoying during the preview version when I couldn’t see the enemy until after I moved my units to a different area on the map.  Now if the map were blacked out from view, such as in other strategy games, I would understand not being able to see your enemy.  But when you have full view of the entire map and can order your units to move anywhere on the map, you will need to think twice before moving a unit.  However the pause function will probably help you out in the long run since you will be able to stop the game and react to what the enemy has done.

Even with the early preview version, the graphics in the game are looking great.  All of the maps are very detailed with swaying grass and trees, and highly detailed units and environments.  The game is played out in an over the top 3D view.  You have the ability to move the camera around in any direction during the game and zoom in to a closer view of the action.  The sound and music on the preview copy seemed really low.  Even with my volume cranked I would barely hear a sound out of the movements in troops or explosions.  The one minor issue I did have with the game was the lag or speed of the mouse.  Every time I tried to move my cursor with the mouse it would seem to float just a little bit after I stopped moving the mouse.  I had to rely on using the mouse along with the keyboard to issue commands during the game.  Hopefully this will be cleared up in the final version.

So far Codename: Panzers is shaping up to be a fine game in the real time strategy genre.  The great graphics, easy to use control system and unique hero based missions will definitely please the hard core strategy fans.  The developers are looking to include 30 different missions in the game, multiple different types of vehicles and weapons that are historically accurate.  Even with the early preview the game is looking great, playing great and will provide loads of entertainment when it’s released later this year.