User Reviews (1 - 11 of 54)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

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"..

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 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.

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.

Not the board game, but a good game nonetheless.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 14
Date: January 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is a fine game, but it doesn't follow the original board game, although it purports to. It should be obvious by now to the designers if they want to avoid alot of bad reviews that they need to revise the portion of the game that is derived from the board game to follow the board game, exactly. I am at a loss to understand why they deviated from the board game in the first place, as it has been a proven winner of a game. I can't believe that it was to save computing power; it was likely a way to license the name of the board game to get to the real time strategy part of the game. But it appears that this was a bad design and marketing strategy as it is just angering the board gamers who are looking for a computerized version of the board game.

The RTS portion of the game is the guts of the game, and an excellent job is done with the RTS, given the nature of games like these.

Hasbro should either yank the name license or Atari needs to revise this game to closely track the board game, because this version does the board game a serious injustice. In particular, I direct my comments to Messrs. Chaveleh, who are listed as being in charge of the game concept and as executive producers. However, I can recommend the game for the RTS portion.

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 is a great RTS

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 12
Date: December 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

In other RTS games, you are forced to micro-manage every single aspect of your army - from building your bases, to targeting each enemy unit to be attacked. You spend more time trying to click at things running around your screen than focusing on the strategy of the game. (Especially if the units are very small).

Axis and Allies removes a lot of the micromanagement needed, and allows you to spend more time planning your strategy. You rely less on your clicking reflexes, and more on your brain.

Once your armies engage in battle, you lose control over your units except for a few simple commands. You can tell your armies to move around, but your units will pick their own targets to attack rather that forcing you to target each enemy unit. This allows you more time to focus on your economy, or to send more reinforcements. Meanwhile, your units heal simply by being in your supply zone instead of requiring you to tell a specific unit to heal.

Definitely try this game out if you are looking for a Real-Time Strategy game that is more focused on strategy than clicking.

great game, wrong title

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

First of all, this game has the wrong title. If you love the board game, you will be sadly disappointed. If you want the board game on PC, you can still find it offered by other vendors but the AI is horrible. Aside from that, the RTS in this game is great and very addicting. There are flaws of course, such as the fact that you have to constantly pause the game to issue commands because your units are too stupid to show any logic for themselves, such as being able to get out of the battle before being wiped out or to fix a burning building they are standing right next to, etc. But overall, it if very fun to play the campaigns and the RTS and AI is very good.

Great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: May 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game was the first "build an army" type game I ever played. I thought it was really good. I loved how you could build special units for every general and there were mutiple generals and 5 country choices (Germans, Americans, Great Britain, Russia, and Japan). The graphics are good and the sound effects are too. Overall, I definetely recommend this game to almost anyone above 7. I don't really understand why it's rated "T" though. Because in the game there is no blood. And when your squad kills someone the person just falls down or goes flying. And it's not even zoomed in. The only problem is MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL MEMORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Otherwise the game will be slow)

WWII STRATEGY GAME

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: July 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I can see where the negative reviews for this game are coming from. I've played quite a few strategy games myself and at first was becoming a little frustrated with this one because strategies that I used in similar games didn't work here and it wasn't readily apparent what strategy would work. Don't try to use other games' strategies in this one. This is a simulation of WWII so why should you be surprised that you can't build unlimited armies? What at first appear as limitations actually makes a lot of sense modeling-the-WWII-conditions-wise. The game's fun lies in coming up with new strategies and defeating your enemies by using them. A few pointers:
- when available, air support is vital both strategically and tactically;
- if air support is unavailable extend your supply lines towards the enemy so you can bring your staging area closer and minimize the re-supply time thus keeping constant pressure on the enemy
- your base is mobile so move it when you need it;
- when using air support, target the corps headquarters first, then depots, then other structures
Good luck and enjoy the game!

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next 

Actions