World War II games have been increasingly popular over the years, especially since they offer tons of historical play possibilities (and a lot of fictional ones too). One company that is no stranger to WWII titles is Matrix Games, and they have shown this by offering some good, detailed RTS style titles to the gaming community. One new RTS release that follows a similar style to one of their other releases entitled Korsun Pocket is Airbourne Assault: Highway to the Reich (HttR for short from this point forward).

HttR puts you in command of either the Axis or Allied forces during Operation Market Garden in either online or offline play. You select from 34 different historical and fictional scenarios to play in spanning Nijmegen, Neerpelt, Eindhoven, and Arnhem and look to accomplish various objectives like shutting down supply routes, taking strategic map points, and as the “AA” in the front of the title suggests … you have paratroopers at your command to drop into dangerous areas and take bridges or other points needed to successfully win the war. HttR definitely covers all the bases for being a detailed and challenging WWII game … so read on.

Unlike many other games that are out nowadays, Matrix chooses with some of their titles to keep the graphic details very simple to try and allow you to focus more on the detailed strategy possibilities of the game, sometimes in more of a board game format. Scenarios take place on a top down map viewpoint, and a square tile on the board represents each unit. Each of these squares contain multiple different types of soldiers or units like heavy trucks, tanks, planes, or foot soldiers, so don’t think that a simple appearance means a simple game … especially when you get to the details of what each of these units can do. Each piece that you or your enemy have can do things like move, attack, or bombard, and it also allows for the possibility of hundreds of troops to be represented in each piece that you use, allowing for multiple different options to go both on the offensive and the defensive as well. Every movement or combat option that I could think of that needed to be covered in each unit type was represented and included.

In HttR, each scenario contains multiple different objectives in order to win, so don’t think it’s going to be an easy battle. In addition, you also have to worry about things getting in the way of even the easiest looking of solutions, like enemy ambushes that you can’t see until you move almost on top of them. The first time I played, I saw a couple of my objectives in front of me and just selected all of my tiles and moved them to one of the closer ones, and quickly got pinned down and eliminated even with the size army I was using. Along with enemy troops, you also have historical weather data that can be selected which can also add to the challenge of the game.

In order to add to the enjoyment of HttR, the developers were also kind enough to allow you to use a mapmaker utility to design and save your own maps to play with online or even modify existing ones to your liking. This of course makes the possibility of “being your own general” (which is what they wanted to do here) even more fun since you can build your own scenarios and then challenge your friends to play them and see how well they do.

Since this is a super detailed game even in its simple appearance, this presents a potential issue as well since it’s not going to be for everyone … even RTS fans. The options and abilities that each unit can have can be confusing, especially for a new player, and I had a lot of difficulties up front really figuring out how to play. After getting wiped out a few times I finally started trying different things and options for my tiles to try and flip the tide of battle over to my side, and sometimes it seemed to work and sometimes it didn’t. With the amount of troops that you have at your disposal, it can also be extremely time consuming, and I spent close to 30 minutes or more in one sitting just giving move orders to pieces.

Overall, HttR is going to appeal to the die-hard WWII RTS strategist or fan of games like Axis and Allies … bottom line. For you armchair generals out there, it really doesn’t get anymore detailed than this if you’ve ever wanted to feel like you’re controlling an actual army, and the simple graphics interface allows you to focus more on the strategic element of the game instead of flashy looks. For you action / action RTS gamers out there, HttR probably isn’t going to offer the flash and speed that you need in your games.     

Gameplay: 6.9
While the game has a very simplistic look to it, HttR just proves that looks can be deceiving. Each tile on the screen represents a number of troops to use, and each tile can be given multiple different orders to carry out based on movement, attacking, and defending … basically just about anything you can think of … and you can pause, stop, or speed up the movement and actions to help in trying to make decisions. There’s tons of play time with 34 different scenarios, and the ability to modify existing ones or create your own (plus multiplayer) just adds to the replay value of the game. The downside is that the game is also extremely confusing and challenging due to the detail, and may be very frustrating for new players or players who aren’t used to this style.

Graphics: 6.0
Now, the graphics score is not because the graphics are bad, they’re just very simple and offer more of a board game affect rather than the typical RTS title. There are day / night effects and battles will incorporate explosive flashes onto the tiles as they fight with one another, but the overall game presentation is looking at a detailed top down map while your tiles slide along different paths to try and take their objective.

Sound: 7.5
The sound in HttR is good and the opening theme track had a good military style to it which helped to get into the game. During the game, the sounds consist of gunfire, explosions, and yelling of troops as they enter encounters, get routed, and take fire from enemy soldiers.

Difficulty: Hard
This game is very challenging, especially for someone who may not have played these kinds of games before. I played Korsun Pocket as well, and didn’t have anywhere near the amount of confusion at first that I did with HttR. Even after playing a while, it still is extremely challenging.

Concept: 6.5
Personally, I’ve always thought that these kinds of games are a very good idea to offer something to players who just want to play a solid strategy title. It won’t appeal to everyone though, and the challenge and difficulty of the game overall may turn a lot of new players away.

Multiplayer: N/A
Multiplayer is done by finding other players on www.wargamer.com, and there were no other registered players for me to hook up with at the time of this review. It is offered in HttR though for you to host or join a game.

Overall: 6.4
OK, if you happen to be a fan of Matrix Games WWII titles, than you may want to tack a couple of extra points onto the score for yourself. Big time WWII strategy fans will probably have a lot of fun with this title, and the amount of detail offers some good, strategic gameplay. New players to this kind of game may not find it as enjoyable, due to the difficulty and challenge of the game, and RTS players who are looking for something more along the lines of Warcraft III probably won’t find it to be fast paced enough for their liking.