8.6.2009

Hats off to the developers of `Stalingrad', because it's a very intelligent spin-off from the Blitzkrieg series. They have gone a long way to sorting some of the problems with the original game, and it has an air of refinement in the menus and game play that Blitzkrieg lacked rather a little. Most of my opinion here is judged on comparisons with Blitzkrieg, because that is the only other similar game of RTS genre that I have played, and I hope it will encourage fans of Blitzkrieg and similar titles to give this more unknown game `Stalingrad' a go.The setting and period of WW2 is very interesting, so anyone wanting a history lesson combined with some practical strategy should give it a go.It has been cleverly pitched because success in each of the missions is more or less the same as what actually happened, so even your own actions are historically accurate to an extent. The Operation Blau campaign in summer 1942, and the colossal territory of the steppes and the Caucasus Mountains the Germans advanced across have always really fascinated me, so it was definitely helpful in further understanding the campaign and events as they moved along. The area of southern Russia is nicely recreated for your imagination on the maps, with open plains, farmland and villages to fight across. You really get a feel for example of the parched, dusty steppe lands in the summer campaign and the barren frozen wastes during the Soviet winter offensive.I always really struggled with the command system on `Blitzkrieg'; it took me a very long time to even begin to use it properly. Here in contrast my interest and desire to learn the game play was found at once, being more interested at the starting point. The first German mission for example gives you plenty of armour to play with and a chance to experiment on tactics, supply etc. Whilst it sort of assumes you know the ropes if you don't you have time to play around on the steppe or throw troops forward at will.It is the attention to detail and accuracy where this game should be applauded. There are accurately modelled variations of the German and Soviet tank marks. For example there are nearly all the marks of the Panzer III and IV. The vehicles and units are nicely defined and detailed, from the panzer commanders sitting upright in their turrets to the little panzer grenadiers with their sleeves rolled up exactly as you imagine them to have been, sweltering in the Russian heat. In the winter months you have at one stage some brilliant white-clad Soviet tank riding assault troops, all of which are much better human models that some of the ones found in Blitzkrieg. There are some units worth noting here of real interest that were involved in the Stalingrad battle. These include captured German T-34 and KV tanks, German volunteer Cossack troops, Soviet Workers battalion soldiers and Romanian Renault R-35 tanks, which show very nicely the cross-section of fighting men and equipment that were involved in the battle.Sound is much improved as well with some nice touches. Click on a Soviet tank for example and you get a fantastic grainy radio response in Russian. Even the tanks rattle and clunk very nicely. Explosions and the boom of the artillery are much more solid, with a crescendo of rifle and machine gun in areas of heavy fighting. Even if you move to a quiet corner of the map, you can hear gunfire in the distance, which is a great little touch. Vehicles and guns explode spectacularly, for example when some tanks are knocked out the turret keeps turning and boxes of equipment are thrown off the back. They also stay on the battlefield burning and blocking the path for longer than in `Blitzkrieg', making a more realistic battle scarred environment in which you fight. At the end of one battle in the middle of the village the ground was completely littered with tanks, vehicles and guns, showing just how quickly an area becomes ravaged with war in such concentrated battle. These are all a few such interesting details that I always look for in games like this which really improve the overall effect considerably.Aviation is also markedly better than in `Blitzkrieg', planes aren't shot down so easily and there are no annoying fighters to contend with. They fly at a more realistic speed and with better movement. Again there are some interesting variants like the Henschel 129 ground attack plane and the Junkers 88 bomber with highly accurate markings and livery.Some of the famous battlegrounds in the city have been nicely re-created, including the big square Grain Silo (where at one point in the real battle about 50 Soviet Marines were surrounded and held out against outnumbering Germans for several days in appalling conditions), the steeply sloping Mamaev Kurgan hill, to the Red October Tractor factory and central railway building.Some good points:· Armoured troop carriers that are actually armed! This is a whole part of the blitzkrieg idea that was missing in `Blitzkrieg' I reckon. Not that they are much use however! There are several interesting variants as well, ranging from the lend-lease Universal Carrier, Komsomolets tractor to the classic German Sdkfz. 251 with mortar and AT gun variants.· Tanks and gunfire ranges are much more realistic, mortars and artillery should be able to reach most areas of the map from distance also, which just makes the whole thing much better to play.· Brilliantly rendered maps with fantastic little touches- a statue of Lenin, Soviet propaganda posters on walls of buildings and horse-drawn carts left close to infantry and gun positions.· You always can just keep going. Some missions take ages but you can always just finish a map before it becomes frustrating, which was a tendency in `Blitzkrieg'. The reinforcement groups are really relieving when they arrive, and they always seem to if you run out of men and tanks.Some bad Points:· German tanks in particular have a habit of blundering towards the enemy positions and being hit by anti-tank guns before you have a chance to shoot back. You can lose three or four tanks to one AT gun even if only one man is left firing it because the rate of fire remains the same. Annoying!· Infantry are still pretty rubbish! Always too exposed, and annoyingly they aren't protected at all when you put them in the personnel carriers. You can throw them forwards in waves but I hate wasting them like that so I always allow the tanks to clear a path first and use them against inferior numbers. They don't listen to anything you say a lot of the time as well, and can be terribly vulnerable in open ground attacking trench lines.· Some of the translations are appalling in the manual and on the menus. This is kind of understandable because it's a Russian release, and I should just be glad they've released it over here. But, this does slightly reduce the appearance of quality in the product, which is a real shame because considerable effort and refinement has gone into this game.· Some units are fairly useless in battle; I at least have struggled to use them for much good. The little German Sdkz.250 half-tracks for example are nice to look at in your assembly areas but are far too vulnerable to throw forward in attack most of the time. Also the Maxim and MG42 machine guns manned by two men are useless because they are usually hit within the first few seconds of firing, although they can now be put in the trenches which is much more realistic.· There are still some basics things that have never quite worked with this game engine. When you reach your objective it's often felt more with relief and desperation to finish rather than satisfying victory.· Much of the heavy fighting in the city through late September and October is missed out completely! And you don't see enough of the Volga River either!Overall, this is a fantastic game. It remains engaging enough so that I do not get bored by impossibility at any point and give up, something that can happen in such games. I could go on listing the superlatives but I would take up to much room. Some of the missions are not so great as others, the wording in English is atrocious but the majority of this game hits the mark superbly. What is most unfortunate is that I was kept in the dark about it so long! I only found out about the game through a link from information on `Blitzkrieg', but on finding it I found exactly the sort of game to discover more about the Battle of Stalingrad and the WW2 Eastern Front in general. Highly recommended.

Stalingrad (PC) - Reviews

Info

Analysis

Detail