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Great Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 42
Date: September 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have the original Axis and Allies board game, and the Axis and Allies Europe and Pacific editions. This is the best war strategy game. It blows everything else away. I am sure it will be a great PC game.

Aixs & Allies- an explosive RTS

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 31 / 47
Date: September 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

From what I've seen of the game, this is easily one of my most anticipated releases this fall. As an A&A board gamer for the past 10 years or so now, I was a little skeptical, but I'm now on the beta tests for the game and can say that this game has not disappointed me in the least. The game lets you control one of the five superpowers of WWII in a variety of game formats. They have also incorporated a mode called "World War" where you move pieces on an Axis & Allies board and then jump into and RTS battle to conquer the territory. Not only is the RTS graphics and gameplay amazing, but they have stayed true to the boardgame that I have played for so many years now. I guess the tag line really does say it all, "World War II is in your hands"..

Axis & Allies ( Atari New Release)

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 13 / 21
Date: November 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I love playing the old board game, and playing Hasbro's CD-ROM game is exciting on the internet. Regrettably, I just received the new release of the Atari version of A&A for 49.99. I BELIEVE THE NEW GAME IS A COMPLETE WASTE OF MONEY, AND ON A MORE PERSONAL LEVEL, A TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT. THE DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO PLAY THE GAME IS IMPOSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND. THE NEW GAME IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT GAME, AND A POINTLESS WASTE OF TIME. I'M PLANNING TO RETURN THE GAME TO GAMESTOP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

What is this???!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 14
Date: November 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is supposed to be Axis and Allies? Where are the ships? Where are the planes? I just tried it for the first time, playing the USA. Britain and Russia fell in a couple of turns. There's no naval protection for the UK. There's no way to support them with aircraft. My few forces landed in North Africa and the war was over! Absolutely terrible!

WWII- my style

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: November 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Okay, I just read some of the reviews listed on here and I feel like I have been playing a completely different game because I've been glued to my PC all weekend! It's so addictive! The animated cinema sequences are so awesome. There are plenty of land, sea, and air units to control so I'm not sure what the other player listed below is playing. For true RTS gamers, it just doesn't get any better than this!!

This Game Sucks

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 15 / 20
Date: November 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I loved the A&A board game and I was really looking forward to the computer version. This was a total disapointment. I felt like I was being forced to play a hybrid between Risk and Warcraft-- at least all the BAD parts of those games. This bears ABSOLUTELY NO RESEMBLANCE to the old board game. Do not buy this if you liked the old A&A.

If you like RTS games this might be alright....

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 98 / 109
Date: November 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

but if you wanted to buy a game like Axis and Allies then avoid this game like the plague. Like all RTS games there is little real strategy to the game. It is simply who can build the fastest and move around the board the fastest. The lack of naval and air power is amazing. Oh, those units are there, kind of. They are strictly a tack on to the RTS portions of the game. You do not actually build them like you did in A&A. There is literally nothing to stop the Germans from invading Britain in the openning rounds.

As the Americans, I defeated 6 Japanese units, 2 armored and 4 infantry in China, with only one defensive unit as they call them. Eventually through constantly beating their attacks each turn, I was able to destroy the majority of the Japanese army in Asia. There was no strategy to it. It was basic RTS. Build as fast as you can and rush them out there in mobs. This game exemplifies why I hate RTS games in general and I really wish they had added this feature in some better fashion. RTS games have no strategy in the real military sense. I guess there is some, but in my experience they are simply building as fast as possible and rushing your men out in massive mobs. This is not why I buy military games.

Again, if you like the standard RTS games out there, this might add an extra dimension, which you might like. But, and this is a huge but, if you wanted a game like the old A&A with a little bit of RTS added on, then this is not for you. The RTS is clearly a distraction from the old game and not an addition. I consider this game to be the biggest waste of my money in several years.

Serious Gamer Review

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 22
Date: November 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Axis & Allies has been known for the past 20 years the WWII board game. Now it has been developed into a kick ass RTS as far as I'm concerned. This game isn't your board game anymore, it has become a real concrete game Atari and TimeGate can hang their hat on

There are several modes of play from which gamers can choose from. The first is campaign mode, 24 complete missions on both sides of the war, 12 missions as the Allies, 12 missions as the Axis. This gives the player two campaign options; the opportunity to play out the war as it historically took place, or to play an alternate history version of WWII. It's a compelling aspect of the game that not many other RTS can boast about. The World War II mode is a meta map version of the Axis & Allies board that lets players move pieces on a turn based map of the world. When a player meets an enemy he has the option to fight out the battle in a quick resolve (dice roll based on relative unit strengths) or in a Real Time Strategy format. Multiplayer can be played on LAN or internet with up to 8 players on varied terrains. Something hardcore guys will really like is that the original map editor used by TimeGate is included in the game.

Another awesome feature of the game is the supply lines (the perimeter around your base where units can automatically re-supply and regenerate). All of the buildings at your base are completely mobile, you have the ability to pack up and roll your entire base towards an opponent (with the exception of Air Fields, they must be sold off and repurchased to move). This gives your men the tactical advantage of rolling your supply lines towards the enemy for quicker re-supply. In my opinion, it's a unique feature that makes the game way more strategic.

One of my favorite features in the game is the company control aspect, where by units operate in companies or regiments much like they did historically in WWII. This allows for a LOT less micromanagement of units, which me focus on the larger grand scale battle at hand, which is the idea right? The units of each super power are unique and authentic to their given nation, for example Germany can call for King Tiger Tanks, where as Great Britain can produce Churchill Flamethrower tanks. Another note on authenticity is that each super power lets you control the actual Generals from each power, like Nimitz or Eisenhower from the US. They all have their own special operations as well, such as unloading an A-Bomb with Nimitz on an unsuspecting enemy.

The game does however lack a certain visual appeal found in several other fall releases. I found the zoom options and camera angles to be limiting; however the overall quality is not without merit and the games core gameplay more than makes up for its visual weaknesses. Another issue with the game is the AI and game mechanics found in World War II mode. The meta-map AI is more of a "punish your mistakes" rather than a strategic opponent, kind of pesky if you ask me. The meta map also only allows the play to invade into one occupied territory in a given turn, which makes conquering the map entire more tedious moving into one area at a time.

As both a PC strategy gamer and a fan of the original Axis & Allies, I was excited about Atari and TimeGate studios combining the two into a dynamic real time strategy game and have been impressed with the results to say the least. The game is obviously more RTS then conventional A&A gameplay, but for anyone who expected different, there are certain aspects you will still enjoy. It's a true old fashioned beer and pretzel game. Here is my breakdown:

Graphics: 7.5
Visually appealing, yet not as polished as some of the other RTS titles out this fall.

Difficulty: 8.0
AI in the game adapts to situation based on players movement, however lacks strength in several areas, primarily WWII mode.

Single Player: 8.5
Single player campaign mode faithful to some of the historical battles of WWII. However, WWII mode lacks the true A&A feel and gameplay mechanics.

Multiplayer: 9.0
Great experience, play against friends as one of 20 generals in a number of maps. The game fully utilizes the GameSpy Arcade arena and ranking system.

Sex Appeal: 8.0
I really enjoy WWII mode and have had lots of fun with the campaigns. I could see this game staying on my hard dive for an extended amount of time.

OVERALL: 8.5
I enjoy this game and haven't seen other reviewers do it justice. It is a surprising star of this RTS fall line up and highly recommended.

Great RTS Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 16
Date: November 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is REALLY nice. If you like WW2 and RTS games, this is the one for you. Unlike Rise of Nations, Empire Earth, or other RTS games this one focuses on WW2 and the military. There are no civilian buildings here, and you even have a military economy, so you don't need villagers or workers.

The units are REALLY good. First off, they're organized in regiments, rather than individuals. Each regiment has 3-8 units depending on its function. For instance, an infantry regiment has 8 units, an infantry officer, 2 machine gun infantry units, and 5 infantry units. Each country has different-looking units, for the most part(Russia, Britian, and the US all use the American M3 halftrack, however they each use the countries respective machinegun.) There are also unique units and "unique classes". Unique units are units that are COMPLETELY unique. For instance, Britain has Flame Tank regiments, which are modified Shermans (not Churchills, if you read the other reviews!) that shoot fire(I haven't gotten a chance to use them yet, though). Another example is Germany's King Tiger regiments, regiments of King Tiger tanks. Don't forget that no matter what type of specialty regiment it is, it needs a commander unit. Commander units are units like Infantry Officers and Command Cars and Tanks.

"Unique Classes" are classes, like America's Armored Infantry regiments, that aren't considered to be unique units in the handbook. "Unique Classes" are things like Germany's Mechanized Tank regiments(tanks and halftracks together), Britains Anti-Aircraft Infantry regiments(infantry and anti-aircraft together). They're probably not considered unique units because they are just mixtures of units that are not normally together.

Buildings in this game are not stationary, they can be packed up and driven in trucks to new locations. This is good because your Corps HQ generates a supply line that supplies your regiments with ammo and oil, the games 2 recourses that affect your money income. Your supply line also regenerates regiments that have lost units, if they are attached to Division HQs. Cities, nuetral civilian buildings that can be captured, also have supply lines.

Similiar to Age of Mythology, you have a General who "helps" you. He gives you special operations and techs. Special Operations are like Age of Mythology's god powers. You select one, say the A-Bomb(yeah baby!), and target its effect over the map. Special Ops can effect your units, enemy units, or all units, by causing damage, raising/lowering morale, combat efficientcy, attack value, etc. The general's special techs are usually shared by all the generals of a country. For instance, America's special techs are Special Forces, Machine Guns, a few others, and I know Patton (and possibly Eisenhower,too) has M1 Garand Rifles, which affects infantry attack(every American infantry unit has a M1 Garand, you can check by clicking the unit in the regiment screen, and putting your cursor over the rifle icon with a numbered attack value on it, this works with all units, giving you the ability to see what the unit, like a tank, is called, and what type of gun it has).

I'm probably have lossed you, or are boring you, SO GO GET THE DAMN GAME. HOAAAH!

P.S. (should have expected it, right :) ) there is a demo. It lets you play 2 tutorial missions, the Battle of Stalingrad, and a random map generator (REALLY HARD and you can ONLY BE THE RUSSIANS AND THE GERMANS!)

Go to www.3dgamers.com, search for Axis and Allies, find the Demo in Dowloads, and get yourself a demo. By the way, if you need a game's demo, go to 3dGamers, it will get you it.

Also at 3dgamers, the free multiplayer game, America's Army. You can only download it (FREE) or get it from a recruiter (its made by the Army). Its a great multiplayer first-person shooter, not hard to register either.

Everything in 3dgamers is FREE, so go and get a demo.

Great idea, but fails its potential

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 164 / 172
Date: November 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I am 40 years old, and not a hardcore PC gamer. I do love traditional strategy games, and played everything from chess to Risk and the A&A board game growing up.

I only own about three or four PC games. I quite liked the first PC version of A&A, as it was like the board game, but sped up with the computer rolling the dice, etc. When I heard about this release, I couldn't wait, and eagerly shelled out the $49.99 (I see it is already only $45.99 here on Amazon).

I just wanted to let you know where I was coming from before I gave my review. My initial impressions are mixed, but overall, I am somewhat disappointed. This may change as I play more.

I have to say I love the idea. The traditional board game strategy, with the ability to "micromanage" the battles in real time. In fact, in the WWII mode, you can play the whole game from the game board perspective, using the computer to resolve the battles based on relative strengths, or you can choose to do any particular battle, offensive or defensive, in the micro mode, and then on that level, it is like a whole new game, with great graphics and all.

The biggest disappointment as a fan of the traditional board game version and the original PC version, is that on the board game level, it is not much like the original game. You do not start out with choices like ships, subs, and planes to deploy, only infantry or mechanized infantry. The Ocean spaces on the board do not serve as any type of natural barrier, as any type of piece can move to any adjoining space. So, for example, German infantry can attack Great Britain as easily as Russia on the mainland. In fact, as another reviewer mentioned, if you choose to play the board game level, and not use the real-time strategy level to resolve battles, the game is simply a rush to deploy infantry and gobble up territory. If you play the U.S., the game will be over in about 5 or 6 turns as Moscow and London fall before you can really get in the battle.

Also, the technology doesn't have things like heavy bombers and super subs, etc.

I really wish that on the game board, turn by turn level, the PC game was true to the Board game. I agree with others that if you are an A&A fan you are in for a disappointment.

Other complaints I have are that, for example, the tool bar has fancy graphics, that I think are unnecessary, and cut down on the viewable area of the map, which should be a prime focus in designing the interface. Also, the tool bar has separate buttons for moving and attacking, so you have to click the piece you want, then click move button or attack button, then click the territory you want to move to or attack. And if you click the move button, then a hostile territory, it tells you you can't move to a hostile territory, you must attack. This three-step process seems like such a waste, when the two actions are mutually exclusive. Why can't you just drag the piece to the space you want, and then the computer should be able to know if it is friendly you want to move there, and if it is hostile, you want to attack? This is just one example.

Finally, keep your manual handy, as although there are PCtutorials, they only deal with the real time combat level, and you'll be unable to figure out how to play the board game level, because of problems like the one I just described above, without digging through the book.

Now, having said that, I am trying to learn this game better, and enjoy it in its own right. I think that is possible. And I haven't tried many of the campaign options, so they might be fun also. It does have great graphics, and that is why I gave it 3 stars (instead of 1 or 2).

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