Please let Panzer Corps 2 live up to the untapped potential of the Grand Campaign
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 1:27 am
Panzer Corps 2 has managed to build an impressive fan base, even among more casual gamers on places like Steam, where it has attracted fans outside of the traditional hardcore wargame demographic. We are on the cusp of a new round of DLC releases that will help determine Panzer Corps 2's future trajectory. As most of you know, although the base game of Panzer Corps 1 was a big success, but it was with the Grand Campaign that Panzer Corps truly entered the annals of gaming greatness. It was that super deep, detailed campaign where your core stayed with you over the course of dozens of battles. Even the Polish campaign was incredibly epic, with all sorts of battles not typically featured in wargames taking the spotlight. Who could forget the Battle of the Bzura scenario where you are suddenly on the defensive against a strong Polish offensive? Moreover, this long campaign had a level of creative and interesting scenario design that was never matched even to this day and it somehow maintained this level of quality throughout the massive campaign.
But as great as the Grand Campaign was, in some ways, its reach exceeded its grasp. It ultimately hinted at even more creative innovations that would have pushed it as a game and indeed wargaming as a whole even further and towards an even larger audience. The Grand Campaign was the first example of this type of game where your briefing officer took on a more human character, rather than just a generic, faceless general, Field Marshall Haberman had a distinctive character and was quite a likable fellow. The desire to earn his praise was a major incentive for continuing to play, and indeed the quality of the writing greatly added to this. I think some of Panzer Corps 2's better writing, such as the field marshal's reminisces about Verdun during the French campaign were inspired by the GC. But even here, there were much greater things hinted at. For example, you are introduced to his daughter for a couple scenarios during one of the eastern front campaigns, but she never returns. This subplot seemed like a narrative thread destined for great things (namely, a greater significance of some kind and possibly even a romantic interest) but is instead left as an unsatisfying loose end. Story is such an important aspect to modern gaming, there is no reason why a wargame should not have a good story as well. If you look at the games that people truly love, they often have a strong narrative element. As great as the writing was in the grand campaign, there was much more potential to Haberman's character. The frantic, despairing ature of Haberman's late game briefings filled the player with inspiration to succeed and what the kids these days call "feels" but there was still so much more that could have been done, so much more of a payoff to the player's connection to Haberman. I felt the Grand Campaign was really wanting to innovate and push the genre even further than it did, so this time I say, don't pull your punches! Be bold!
Another area where the game hinted at much greater things was the introduction of a morality system of sorts during one particular mission, the Warsaw Uprising scenario. For one, I am incredibly proud of the devs to even include a battle where you are clearly and undeniably the villain, but it was also a battle where you could choose not to follow your orders and put down the rebellion and the game would still continue regardless. A game set during World War II is just begging for a morality system or some kind of a decision system. I can understand not wanting to explore the darkest aspects of the war, but there could be decisions like you can choose to push your troops forward which would give you say an attack bonus or to take a more cautious approach that would give you defensive or replacement bonuses. It could be like so many of the more popular games we see outside of wargaming, like Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect, or Fallout. If you take the more aggressive option, it would also give you points toward an aggressive reputation, or more chivalrous reputation and there could be things like certain missions that require a certain temprament or another. or perhaps a large bonus if you reach a certain level in one extreme or the other. This isn't as essential as having a good, written story, but there is so much room for creativity and giving the player a sense of agency and shaping the story to his desire.
As mentioned earlier, Panzer Corps 2 did have some well-written briefings but the game majorly hurts for not having debriefings. First, it removes one of the fun incentives for beating the different scenarios and exploring different routes, but it also removes some of the replay value where you might have had a different outcome to a certain battle and you could look forward to seeing how the debriefing differed. This is the one change that Panzer Corps 2 made that is pretty much universally hated by EVERY fan. If Panzer Corps 2 wants to live up to the grand campaign's potential, it can't limit itself by removing one of the two major areas of narrative, the debriefings have to come back.
Well, I thank the devs for reading my wordy essay. I have been greatly enjoying my time with Panzer Corps 2 but I want to see it truly push wargaming forward in ways that were only hinted at in the first installment. Panzer Corps 2 has achieved the rare level of mass market success so rarely seen by a war game, but if it wants to continue to make inroads into the gaming community on Steam and other larger communities, it needs to be willing to embrace innovation and become the kind of game that modern gamers finds compelling.
But as great as the Grand Campaign was, in some ways, its reach exceeded its grasp. It ultimately hinted at even more creative innovations that would have pushed it as a game and indeed wargaming as a whole even further and towards an even larger audience. The Grand Campaign was the first example of this type of game where your briefing officer took on a more human character, rather than just a generic, faceless general, Field Marshall Haberman had a distinctive character and was quite a likable fellow. The desire to earn his praise was a major incentive for continuing to play, and indeed the quality of the writing greatly added to this. I think some of Panzer Corps 2's better writing, such as the field marshal's reminisces about Verdun during the French campaign were inspired by the GC. But even here, there were much greater things hinted at. For example, you are introduced to his daughter for a couple scenarios during one of the eastern front campaigns, but she never returns. This subplot seemed like a narrative thread destined for great things (namely, a greater significance of some kind and possibly even a romantic interest) but is instead left as an unsatisfying loose end. Story is such an important aspect to modern gaming, there is no reason why a wargame should not have a good story as well. If you look at the games that people truly love, they often have a strong narrative element. As great as the writing was in the grand campaign, there was much more potential to Haberman's character. The frantic, despairing ature of Haberman's late game briefings filled the player with inspiration to succeed and what the kids these days call "feels" but there was still so much more that could have been done, so much more of a payoff to the player's connection to Haberman. I felt the Grand Campaign was really wanting to innovate and push the genre even further than it did, so this time I say, don't pull your punches! Be bold!
Another area where the game hinted at much greater things was the introduction of a morality system of sorts during one particular mission, the Warsaw Uprising scenario. For one, I am incredibly proud of the devs to even include a battle where you are clearly and undeniably the villain, but it was also a battle where you could choose not to follow your orders and put down the rebellion and the game would still continue regardless. A game set during World War II is just begging for a morality system or some kind of a decision system. I can understand not wanting to explore the darkest aspects of the war, but there could be decisions like you can choose to push your troops forward which would give you say an attack bonus or to take a more cautious approach that would give you defensive or replacement bonuses. It could be like so many of the more popular games we see outside of wargaming, like Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect, or Fallout. If you take the more aggressive option, it would also give you points toward an aggressive reputation, or more chivalrous reputation and there could be things like certain missions that require a certain temprament or another. or perhaps a large bonus if you reach a certain level in one extreme or the other. This isn't as essential as having a good, written story, but there is so much room for creativity and giving the player a sense of agency and shaping the story to his desire.
As mentioned earlier, Panzer Corps 2 did have some well-written briefings but the game majorly hurts for not having debriefings. First, it removes one of the fun incentives for beating the different scenarios and exploring different routes, but it also removes some of the replay value where you might have had a different outcome to a certain battle and you could look forward to seeing how the debriefing differed. This is the one change that Panzer Corps 2 made that is pretty much universally hated by EVERY fan. If Panzer Corps 2 wants to live up to the grand campaign's potential, it can't limit itself by removing one of the two major areas of narrative, the debriefings have to come back.
Well, I thank the devs for reading my wordy essay. I have been greatly enjoying my time with Panzer Corps 2 but I want to see it truly push wargaming forward in ways that were only hinted at in the first installment. Panzer Corps 2 has achieved the rare level of mass market success so rarely seen by a war game, but if it wants to continue to make inroads into the gaming community on Steam and other larger communities, it needs to be willing to embrace innovation and become the kind of game that modern gamers finds compelling.
