What if...?
Conflict: Europe is a pretty simple retro strategy wargame but it provides a fascinating insight into old-school design so if you enjoy your games crude but enjoyable, this worth a closer inspection. It's basically a remake of Theatre Europe and updates the concept a little without changing the essential focus of the gameplay. The idea here is that you get to play through various once frighteningly plausible World War III scenarios as NATO faces off against the Warsaw Pact in a series of engagements that could result in nuclear war and the end of life as we know it. Much of the game plays out over a map screen showing Europe, where you deploy your troops, move them around and launch attacks on the enemy. The real goal is to wipe out the opposing forces and in addition to the standard units, you also have special ones to make use of, as well as the option to attack with chemical or even nuclear weapons. There are some nice elements in the presentation to add mood to proceedings, including newspaper reports and suchlike and when combined with the crude visuals, help to make the game surprisingly atmospheric. Conflict: Europe isn't exactly a classic but for a bit of retro strategy, it's actually pretty decent. It's easy to get into, with simple to navigate menus, but offers plenty of challenging gameplay in the various scenarios, so this is a good choice for newcomers and veterans alike. There's a fair bit of looking at stats and other such screens but the gameplay is tense and quite thrilling, making it a good one to dig out.
