1C and Battlefront's new game mixes wargame concepts with RTS presentation but misses in a few key areas.
When 1C and Battlefront first announced they'd be working on a game together, we were a bit surprised, primarily because the two franchises they're each best known for seem to have so little potential for crossover. After all, what could the makers of a flight sim and a wargame have to offer each other? Then when we considered how much each studio manages to embrace both detailed authenticity and the breadth of their subject matter, our surprise gave way to excitement.
Their joint effort, Theatre of War, owes a fair bit to Battlefront's own Combat Mission series but tempers the hardcore warmongering with an attractive graphics engine and a more familiar real-time format. The result is an interesting and generally satisfying middle ground between the RTS and wargame genres. While the realism and visual appeal of the new game are definitely the two biggest draws, they also at times become the game's biggest weaknesses, the former because it leads to some monotonous mission design and the latter because it takes such a toll on most PCs.
Rather than taking the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach of Combat Mission, Theatre of War uses a smaller number of units to render a smaller number of battles. That's not necessarily a criticism; players will still have the chance to fight from the invasion of Poland to the final stand at Berlin and will still have a wide range of units to choose from but the designers have intentionally kept your options a bit more limited this time around.
Taken individually, the battles are quite compelling. You'll order your off-map artillery to soften up enemy defenses while your infantry approach under cover and your tanks move around the flanks. True line of sight, realistic damage and ballistic models, moral effects, commander influence and individual soldier skills make each encounter wonderfully unpredictable but undeniably convincing.
On the plus side, the maps themselves are generally quite large. Most maps are a few kilometers on a side, giving you a wide area to play in. Defenses are usually positioned to keep you from completely outflanking your enemy, particularly on the narrow, rectangular maps, but you can still maneuver your troops towards an objective in a number of ways.
One of the most appealing aspects of Theatre of War is the realistic handling of line of sight and weapon ranges. Provided they're not impeded by any obstacles, units can see clear across the map. This makes the use of trees and hills to screen your movements absolutely essential. It's even more important when you consider that tanks and AT guns can fling shells at virtually any target they can see. Too many World War 2 games purport to be realistic and yet ignore this very basic reality.
That's not where the realism ends, however. Shell penetration is handled dynamically according to shell type, firing angle, and armor slope. While we haven't yet completed our own independent IGN ballistics reference tests to confirm whether or not Theatre of War gets it right, it seems realistic, and that's probably good enough for most of us. The damage models allow for different areas of vehicles to become inoperable as well. Additionally, the game models individual soldiers, each with his own morale and ammunition levels, further adding to the sense of realism.
Each soldier and crew member is rated in a number of skills that determine how well they perform on the battlefield. In between battles you'll be given the opportunity to award skill points to your soldiers based on how well you performed overall. While it would be more realistic to have the game assign skill improvements based on how each soldier and crew performed in the battle, being able to fine-tune your forces to your liking is a nice benefit.
We have mixed feelings about the graphics in Theatre of War. On the one hand, the engine allows for some very realistic visuals that are generations beyond games like Combat Mission. On the other hand, it runs very poorly, especially on Vista. Even with the details turned down somewhat, we still saw framerates that dip down to just a few per second when there was lots of action or effects on screen. Beyond just being annoying, the poor framerate can make it difficult to issue orders in real time.
On the plus side, the environments, repetitive though they are, are simply stunning. The realistic horizon provides a strong sense of place while you're playing. Though the playing area is limited, having terrain that extends all the way into the distance makes such a huge difference in terms of immersing you in the experience. The great sky, atmospheric weather effects and striking lighting model also help to provide a thoroughly impressive stage for Theatre of War.
The sound isn't terribly impressive. Combat sounds are far too thin to add much excitement to the battles and the music is a bit too over the top, standing out in front when it ought to be supporting the action on screen.
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