Making a wargame palatable to everyone...failed
Patton Strikes Back is such an interesting idea, it is a game that tries to produce wargaming gameplay at a level that will be immediately playable even for those scared of the ideas it presents. Thus, it uses a lot of automation, a lot of direct help and a lot of simplified tropes, but it does so almost killing itself, making itself unbalanced, unable to allow for delicate interventions and almost unpalatable. Thus, if you've given the genre a go before, you can almost see how the developers went about, how they manufactured and closed down some of the roads a normal wargame would allow. It's thus interesting as a way to analyze how game production can be manipulated, but as a game that you want to play it is not where it should be, it is just too restrictive. Else, what can I say, Patton Strikes Back is presented alright, good top down graphics, but it's just not good for wargamers nor is it the game that will turn non wargamers to the genre. Nope, I'd given a non wargamer Panzer General any other day, as I would a veteran wargamer! This one can smooth a nonbeliever in and can satisfy a believer as well.
