Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory

Publisher CDV has made strategy games its bread and butter, offering up some of the most compelling titles that the genre has to offer. Among those games, the Sudden Strike franchise has been among the most successful, melding RTS action with deep and complex tactical elements. Now, CDV and developer Fireglow Games are readying their latest in the Sudden Strike series, Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory.

To call Sudden Strike 3 an ambitious RTS game would be a bit of an understatement, as the game presents some huge maps and intensely long missions. While many casual strat fans might balk at the idea of missions that last several hours, the devs have worked to ensure that the game is accessible enough the mainstream. Sudden Strike 3 is turning out to be every bit as deep as fans of the series would hope for, while still being accessible to casual strat fans.

Fireglow Games has created a brand new graphics engine, dubbed Next7, for the game, which will allow for more units on the screen at once. This means more large-scale battles and longer missions, which can span into the several hour range, depending on the objective. This calls for a lot of tactical thought, as the course of the skirmish can change quite drastically if you let your guard down. Additionally, there is a bevy of statistics associated with each of your units that allows you to approach a situation with the most information possible.

While the game offers a ton of elements for hardcore fans of the genre, it shouldn’t be too overwhelming for most gamers. The interface shouldn’t be unfamiliar to anyone who’s been current with the RTS genre, and should be easy enough for anyone to get into. Each of the units has their own specific traits much like in other strategy games, complete with strengths and weaknesses. The top-down isometric view is typical of the genre, and the user interface has all the menus and options that you could hope for.

One unique element of the gameplay formula is that the game’s AI can be set to perform actions without your explicit instruction. You can set your units to act defensively or offensively, and they’ll intelligently react to changing battle conditions, effectively allowing you to shift your focus on micromanaging certain units while the others take care of themselves.

Graphically the game looks pretty good, benefiting from the large-scale of the new engine. While the units could use a bit more detail, the maps are huge and the amount of on-screen action is very impressive.

Sudden Strike 3 is shaping up to be quite an ambitious RTS game, with large-scale battles and long missions that should satisfy hardcore fans as well as an accessibility that should let casual strategy gamers take the plunge. Look for it to release next month.