I never bought the previous WW2 game by Slitherine, but decided to buy this one. I was between the PC version or the DS. I don't know what the differences are between them, only thing I found is a mentioning about the DS version has only fast maps, but I have no idea what that means.
Since I have hilariously many PC games, I decided to buy one for the DS Light. That was on Friday. Since then I have played about 8 hours.
The game is just superb. Better than I expected, not because of Slitherine, you guys have good points with me
, but because of the platform. I was worried that it would be a bit too small, both in terms of screens and scope. As I said before, I don't know what the differences are with the PC version exactly, but the DS version doesn't seem to lack much. Some bad things imo are, No usage of the buttons on the DS, it can get a bit hard to play for a long time with the stylus while in bed. The sound effects while IMO perfect for what they are, they don't sound very clear, if that makes any sense.
No diplomacy apart from the Declare War option. A slow down during AI turns after a while. I don't know if it is due to playing the game for a long stretch or because of the increasing large number of units. At one point I thought the game froze for good, but after a couple of min it freed itself. Now that I know I don't worry when (rarely) this happens. The manual in the game case states that scenarions are available from 1941 onwards. I was worried there that I couldn't play the 1939 whole war scenario. (yes, I do tend to read manuals!)
Suggestions, for a future game since patching is impossible, have the buttons do something. For example have the D-Pad move a selection "box" (as in Advance wars), perhaps also have if you hold pressed the left bumper button while using the D-pad, to move the map only. Have the bumper left and right buttons work as next/previous unit or something, etc, you get the idea.
More zoom levels, I find it now it has a very close zoom in level, and a very far. I would love to have one more in the middle. Say 20-30% more zoom out than the current default max zoom in level. Have it so that we can move then leave and move other units near the enemy then attack from more than one side or at least have it that the game calculates nearby friendly units in the attack odds. While Panzer General (most famous for most people I would guess) was similar, if that game changed in the future to allow this.
Good things. In short, the game is fraking amazing! The gameplay is top notch. The amount of sound effects and type of music, very fitting. The graphics are not only beautiful, which is always nice, but more importantly, so amazingly functional, clear, Spartan ;p but also gorgeous. The GUI is very well done. I haven't made a wrong move or selection/action in so many hours, and I "tried" lol. Several smaller things like showing the casualties in real numbers etc are very nice touch! The AI feels good enough so far. The following point is a bit long. Playing as Axis (from 1939), mid 1941 now, I occupy the whole, apart from the UK, western Europe, including the Iberian peninsula and gibraltar (the reason why I attacked them). Libya, Egypt are mine, Syria will fall any turn now, Iraq and Iran are next. Neutral with Yugoslavia and Greece. I own Norway and Denmark, controlling interest in Finland. Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria joined me. USA recently joined the war and have complete control of the Atlantic and keep ferrying supplies to the UK. The war in the USSR is going....interestingly. I have the upper hand and it is only a matter of time before the soviet line is irrelevant, but the soviets did manage to slip through a single armed corps from a coastal hex I thought it was impassable and captured romania, which made bulgarian armies there to evaporate, which makes the fall of bulgaria a matter of a turn or two if the AI decides to do so. My army in the East is heavily armored and I haven't bought a single non mechanised infantry unit during the whole war. The point I was trying to make was, having played all the above and so many turns, I am so glad I haven't reached 1945 or something. The length of the turns is very good.
The subs work very well IMO. While I lost half of mine, I like it how they can't be seen by the enemy unless they attack first. Such a small detail that works so well IMO.
A couple more questions, does random research make the purchase of labs in specific areas, irrelevant, as long as you buy X number of them to any field?
Apart from what I asked about the PC version earlier, if I bought the PC version from the only store here, what kind of DRM are with it? Online Activation, etc? Does the disc/retail version, also have it? If yes, I won't buy it. I hope one day you will sell it under GamersGate.com and perhaps Steam.
Suggestion, make a game ala RTW (in scope) for the DS or/and PC.
Great job Slitherine, from a long time supporter.
