From: eric olsen Subject: Third Reich review First off, let me say that I like the game, and recommend it to fans of the old board game and fans of strategy/wargames. However, this game clearly shows a lack of effort by AH to make it a 'great' game. I believe that AH's problems developing the AI may have resulted in them shipping a solid, but uninspired effort. The graphics are only VGA(not SVGA). The game still looks alright, but there is a definite lack of eye-candy. For example, they could have included some cut-scenes when your side takes over other countries(ala panzer general). Also, there is no variable zoom feature which would allow players to gather a better perspective on the over-all situation. There is only a zoom-out(not useful since you can't see the pieces), or a single zoom-in(which is too zoomed in). The introduction(not that I really care) shows the eye's of Hitler, and that's about it. The look, and feel of the game can only be described as 'spartan'. AH clearly did as little as necessary to make the game playable. The interface is decent, but there are some very irritating problems with it. My main gripe is that you are unable to correct mistakes that you make when you are moving pieces or assigning air, etc. As soon as you move to the next phase, you are unable to go back and change things. For example, if you forget to move a piece, and move to the next phase, you are SOL. This happens a fair amount since there are alot of pieces on the board. Also, once you choose a front option for a country(pass, offensive, attrition), you can not change it once its entered. This seems slight, but if your ally doesn't have the necessary BRP's to support that option, you are hosed. Another problem is that when the computer asks you if you'd like to intercept enemy air/naval forces, it doesn't point out which ones have moved. You need to search the board on your own. None of these problems are game stoppers, and if you are patient, you may not forget to move pieces or assign air, etc. However, it is clearly not very user friendly. The manuals are well done. There is a reference manual which details the game rules, and an operations manual which gives you a 'how-to' on the game. This also includes an article on Third Reich strategy which is interesting to read. There are some errata which you need to fix(see readme file), but overall they are well done. The AI. Well, let me just say that the AI is absolutely pathetic. A monkey might be able to beat it, and my four year old niece most assuredly can. Frankly, I am a little stunned by these other posts where people say that the AI gives them a tough time or even plays 'respectably'. I have not played a game to its conclusion, buts that's because I'm invariably so far ahead by 1942 that I'm too bored to finish it.(Campaign game) The AI as the allies: The AI play the british the worst, probably because it is the most difficult of the allies to play. The British need to help France survive as long as possible, while at the same time insuring that the axis do not expand in Africa. However, the British invariable send only 1 infantry unit to France, along with about 15 air units. The problem is that the British air units can't defend the French ground units(until 42), and since the allies never seem attack in France, the British air does nothing to prevent the fall of France. While France is being attacked, Britian seems to send alot of pieces to Africa, but they typically wait for Italy to declare war before attacking Libya. Solution, let Italy remain neutral until France falls. Then most of the British strength stands guard along the Liyian-Egyptian border, while France falls by the summer of '40. It is extremely easy to cut off the supply to many of the allied unit in northern France by taking Calais, and blitzkrieging to the hex adjacent to Paris in spring '40. France falls the next turn. The last game I played I airdropped into a British port in spring '40, and strategically redeployed 2 German armor units to that port at the end of my turn. What does Britian do? Moves one armor unit to oppose me in their own country, and send some more stuff to Africa to wait the Italian onslaught. Suffice to say France/Britain/Africa are under axis control by Fall '41. The game is over, but if you are bored you can beat up on Russia. The AI plays the axis even more poorly. Other posts have already commented on the horrible play of the Italians by the AI. Well, the AI doesn't play the Germans much better. It is not overly difficult to maintain control of France until Russia enters the war in fall '41, at which point things go very bad for the axis. As long as Britian actively helps defend France(by moving the 2 armor units and 2 infantry units it can build after set-up into France), it is easy to use a combination of British/French air and ground effectively to stale-mate the axis until Russia declares war in '41. The horrible AI would not be a problem(IMHO) if they had included multi-player support. Yep, I know some people say that it would take an hour to make a turn, but so what. I think there are enough people who like this game enough to do that. What I really would loved to have seen would have been a pc game entitled 'Total Third Reich'. This would be in SVGA graphics, would support multi-player, and would include both the Third Reich AND Advanced Third Reich translations. This review might sound like I'm flaming the game, and the truth is I am. It could have been a really great game that appealed to alot of people who do not normally 'get into' wargames of this complexity. However, instead of making a very user friendly game, with great graphics and multi-player support, AH made a very basic, uninspired translation of the board game. As such, I recommend it to people who liked the board game, or like wargames of some complexity. If you know someone you can play a hotseat game with, you'll have a great time. -------------------------------------------------------------- "How can I lose to such an idiot?" Aaron Nimzovich(1886-1935) eric olsen eolsen@leland.stanford.edu --------------------------------------------------------------