Blitzkrieg 2 Preview

Here we are again, another WWII RTS game.  Why must we still have these games?  Well I guess because gamers look for them since they keep gobbling them up when they come out.  What new innovations are left for the WWII RTS genre?  CDV wants to try to get gamers interested by focusing on an ultra realistic simulation for WWII fighting.  But this time we’re no longer limited to just Europe anymore, yippee!

The focus of Blitzkrieg is on being extremely realistic when it comes to the stats of artillery and units.  Fighting a tank on foot is an almost sure fire way to get killed, this we know.  But how many games have you played where a player was able to take on a tank and win?  There are more than a few but Blitzkrieg doesn’t want this to happen.  All of the stats of the vehicles and units are as accurate as possible.  Certain tanks have stronger armor up front than in the back.  A gun just isn’t a gun.  There are hundreds of varieties of guns in the world so why not try to include that information in a WWII RTS?  Blitzkrieg tries to have authentic weapons in order to create authentic gameplay. 

The game will include 3 campaigns; 1 American, 1 Russian and 1 German.  The 3 campaigns are composed of over 60 different missions.  A nice feature of the campaign system is what’s being called the Dynamic Campaign System.  What this offers is the ability to complete a campaign without having to finish all of the missions.  For example one mission might be composed of 6 different parts or areas but only 4 out of the 6 have to be cleared in order to finish the mission.  This should be a welcomed feature compared to other RTS games that tie you to a specific path that has to be followed.  It also increases the replayability of the game as well since you can always come back and play the other areas that you didn’t finish previously. 

Like other RTS games Blitzkrieg II will offer the ability to level up specific characters in the game.  During the game you play the role of a main general of your army.  As you win battles you will earn points that you can use later to upgrade the abilities of your general.  The better abilities you possess the greater chance you have of winning battles.  Another feature in the game is the ability to pause the game and still issue commands to your units.  This has always been a nice feature that I’ve enjoyed. 

The graphics in the demo shown at E3 looked great with some nice detail on the different units.  The game will include some nifty lighting effects to add a better sense of realism to the look of the game.  I’m not sure if we need another WWII RTS game but it really isn’t for me to decide.  For everyone out there reading this you probably already know if you want this game or not.  I guess it’s like an addition that you just can’t get enough of and CDV is the dealer that’s happy to help.  Look for Blitzkrieg II later this year.

For All E3 2005 Previews