What game theme has been used over and over and over again? The answer to this question is World War II. This is the setting for a multitude of games currently out on the market ranging from first person shooters, action games, to real time strategy genres. The reason for this is that a lot of things happened in this time period and there are many different stories that can be told or expounded upon. Along comes World War II: Frontline Command by Strategy First, which is a RTS game with a different approach, but is this game just using the popular theme, with nothing solid to back it up? Read on to find out.

There are two difficulty modes in this World War II: Frontline Command, Recruit and Veteran, and unlike most games there is a noticeable difference between the two, and it isn’t the AI. Recruit mode is for beginning players, and has a total of 12 missions to play. These missions are separated in blocks of four with three missions in each block. The mission locations will range from France to the North German Border. In this mode players will have access to more vehicles, infantry, and unlimited ammunition.

Veteran mode has over 25 missions to be played; these are divided up into five blocks with five missions in each block. Players have the choice to play four of the five missions in each block. The missions will take players from France and it will finish once they are deep into Germany. In this mode, the enemy AI is ramped up, players will have fewer infantry, vehicles, and they will have to re-supply ammunition as well as repairing any damage to vehicles. The biggest change is that anything players do in the previous missions will directly affect the next missions.

World War II: Frontline Command is a different RTS game. This game removes all of the tedious resource management and just throws players into the fray of battle with a set number of units for each mission. Once players lose all of their units they are done for. This makes the game really unique because they cannot create more units, so the players have to be extremely strategic in each of their moves to complete the mission. In veteran mode they not only have to look out for the unit count, but also the ammo each of the units has as that makes the game extremely life like. One of the biggest disappointments for many people will be the decision that players can only play as the Allies. I theorize that this was done so players will be fully immersed into the Ally campaigns.

World War II: Frontline Command plays like a dream! The best thing is that players will be able to see all of the graphically glory that this game has to offer due to the fact that there is not numerous screens blocking your view. The command interface is really easy to use, and only requires the players to do a few mouse clicks for everything. The better the players do in certain circumstances the higher the troops moral will become and because of that, players will be rewarded with “Heroic” actions that are really neat to see in when done.

The best thing about this game is that everything players command and all of the technology they use is taken from the World War II time period. This includes all of the missions players will go through, the different vehicles you will command, to the weapons and technology that is available to them during this war. It is amazing the amount of meticulous detail that the developers put into this game to make sure that everything is authentic.

One of the neatest parts of this game is how the enemy can catch you. Most games have a “line of sight” meaning if the enemy can see you within a certain range you will be caught, but if you are just out of it you will be flying high. Frontline Command has that but also includes a “hearing” system. This means that players will have to be quiet if they are trying to sneak around a town, because the slightest noise can ruin a mission for you. Your troop AI is not stupid either, as they are well aware of the dangers that they face. They will know when you send them on a suicide mission and your troop marline will drop as well, meaning there is a less chance of seeing the Heroic actions.

The bonuses that this game has to offer are really astounding. One of these goodies is real WWII archive footage that gives information about a certain mission. This really draws players into the game this much more. There are bigger and better things for the players to find out once they complete the missions.

World War II: Frontline Command is rated T for Teen.

The system requirements are:
Pentium II 500 MHz or greater
128 MB of RAM
Windows 98/ME/2000//XP
8X CD-Rom
DirectX 8.1 (included on disk)
16 MB or greater Video card
Windows compatible soundcard
56 Kbps or better Internet Connection to play online
TCP/IP installed to play over a LAN (Local Area Network)
750 MB of Hard Drive Space
Keyboard and Mouse.

Gameplay: 8.8
The game’s interface is really easy to learn and get used to, it is all mouse clicks and a few short-cut key commands, most of which are universal to any RTS game. There is plenty of action, strategy, and stealth involved during the entire course of this game, without the tediousness of collecting all of the resources. Even though this game sounds simple it will have plenty of things to keep you busy and on your toes at all times.

Graphics: 8.8
World War II: Frontline Command looks really nice. During the course of the game players will be able to see all of the beautiful landscape of France and Germany, which include war torn towns, farms, and many other things. There is no slow down at all in this game, which is really nice when you only have a few units to work with. The camera that is used in this game never hinders the game view in anyways.

Sound: 8.2
The sound here is what you would expect from a World War II game. This includes plenty of gunfire, explosions, and units responding to your every command. There is nothing out of the ordinary that players will hear in this game, but it is done.

Difficulty: Medium
I really like how there is not only a difference in AI in each difficulty mode, but also in some of the missions as well. This makes players want to play through the entire game more than once so they can see it all. The game is never too hard to play, but it always provides a challenge as the AI is always adjusting to what you do in the game.

Concept: 9.0
I really like how what you get in the beginning of the each missions is all that you get. This really makes players really cautious during the course of the missions, because if you lose one unit it could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

Multiplayer: 8.5
It is pretty nice playing against AI but this game is even better playing against up to four human players.

Overall: 8.8
World War II: Frontline Command really puts a unique spin on the RTS genre and even the different difficulties modes. Check this game out, as you will have a blast while playing it.