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There
have been several fun wars in American history. Who
could forget the spectacular, slam-bang hijinks of the Civil War, or the trench
shenanigans of World War I? By far, however,
World War II has inspired more games, novels and History Channel documentaries than any
other ruckus the good old United States has had the pleasure of participating in. Axis and Allies the board game made
everyone feel the joy of infantry maneuvers in Mother Russia circa 1942, and now
Microprose has made that game available on the PC. The point, as in
all games worth their salt, is world domination. By
taking territories from your opponents, you gain more Industrial Points and thus increase
the potential size of your army. In
slaughter, size does matter. All of your
machines of war have a set attack and defense scores (1-6) that correspond to a dice
value. The computer version takes the work
out and rolls electronic dice for you. Game
play is straightforward and simple except for a few glitches. For example, a game round is divided into a combat
turn, and a non-combat turn (like I said, straightforward).
During your combat turn, all troop movements must end in combat. Makes sense and the reverse is true for the
non-combat turn. For most units, the game
engine wont allow movement that doesnt. Naval
units can, however. If you move an aircraft
carrier with planes attached during a combat turn and that move doesnt result in a
fight, those precious planes drop into the drink. This
is a glitch that can be avoided, but is annoying. In terms of
graphics or sound, some of the usual categories of review, nothing special goes on in Axis
and Allies. This is a board game translated
to the computer, and it retains most of its characteristics in the transfer. There are no animations and few sound effects
beyond a cute boom when something gets destroyed. This
seems a bit static and uninteresting when almost every game that gets put out these days
sets new visual standards. Not that I object
to this simply functionality, or that I want more eye-candy, but Axis and Allies comes off
somehow archaic and quaint. This is not a
complaint so much as a warning. Axis and
Allies is not meant to compete with products like Quake III or Unreal or Balders
Gate. The
PC version of Axis and Allies does add a few interesting options not contained in the
board game. You can give technology
advantages (things like super submarines and long range bombers) to the Axis or the Allies
prior to play, and, probably the biggest reason to purchase the game, you now have the
ability to go solo. Axis and Allies
the board game is a large and playing with just two people is difficult. The ideal way to play is with five. Getting a game together is difficult and takes a
lot of time. On the PC, you can take over the
world on your own. However,
across-the-net-multiplayer has potential as well. Several
Axis and Allies playing groups exist, and the Axis and Allies website (www.axisandallies.com)
hosts tournaments on an almost daily basis. I think that Axis and Allies fans
will not be disappointed. If you like the
game already, then Microproses release will provide plenty of hours of fun. If youve never heard of the board game, Id
recommend it for kids and for board game fanatics (not too many of those around anymore). It looks a little impoverished beside titles like
Heroes of Might and Magic III, but solid and interesting play make up for any
deficiencies. |