Disappointing military strategy sim
Now this is an unusual entry in the historical strategy sim genre, a game which is inspired by a board game which is itself inspired by a battle between the Russians and the Germans which transpired in 1942. Unfortunately for White Death, the background to the game is more interesting than the game itself and this is really only suited for die-hard military buffs. The true life battle is one of punishing assaults executed under the harshest conditions, and White Death tries to bring this to the small screen, by translating the event into combat simulator, viewed via an overhead perspective with a hex-based map, where players issue commands to their various units. Several scenarios are on display here, each representing a different phase of the real life conflict, but which allow players to choose their starting positions. Both sides, German and Russian, are available to play as, but unfortunately there is little incentive to do as the game is virtually unplayable today. While the game is ambitious enough, several flaws mean that it is extremely frustrating to experience. Combat for example, is slow to the point of tedium, which is a major problem as it forms a substantial part of the game, while simply scrolling around the map and moving is also less than easy. The enemy AI is solid enough and provides a pretty stiff challenge, but the game is weighted heavily in favour of whoever sets up their troops last, which takes some of the interest out of things. Controls are generally unintuitive, so when you combine all these irritations, you are left with a game that is far more of a chore than it should and which is best avoided. Try Panzer Battles instead.
