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A lot like WW2, but with a pause button...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 33 / 37
Date: July 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Ingredients:

1 cup Blitzkrieg
2 tsp A Bridge Too Far
Mixed statistics and HE shells
Big dollop of history

For anyone who ever wanted to click their way through World War 2, this latest real-time-strategy game from CDV may be just the thing. Players take on the role of German, British, American and Russian commanders, boldy leading platoons of little polygonal troops to death or glory. And it's really rather cool, n'all.

Viewed from above the battlefield, players can rotate, pan and tilt the camera to get the best view of the action, zooming out for a wider look at the field, or zooming in to watch individual soldiers take aim. 'Panzers boast an impressive variety of units, all highly detailed and distinctive, so you'll have no trouble telling them apart once things get frantic. Its quite a thrill to see infantry squads taking cover behind meticulously modeled walls and hedgerows, machine gun crews going prone and setting up their weapon bipods and the grit and decals clearly visible on armored units.

Like CDV's other RTS, Blitzkrieg, players must carefully manage and defend their units, since every squad that survives the mission will be carried forward to the next battle. In addition, battle-hardened troops gain experience that boosts their accuracy and mobility, so it's worth playing smart. To bolster your ranks you can purchase additional troops or vehicles before each mission. The game currency is 'prestige', earned principally by completing missions. It's possible to recieve a prestige bonus by completing a mission with few casualties, inflicting lots of damage on your foes or by finishing in record time, and there is immense replay value in trying to gain maximum points. Naturally, the practical payoff of careful planning will be more units to command next time around. Each completed mission concludes with a report from the battle, grading your performance, and this can be a real help in taking on the next challenge, seeing what you can do better etc.

There are lots of options to play around with on the battlefield; all units can be commanded to alter their behaviour, responding aggressively to threats or remaining passive (great for ambushes). In addition, infantry can be instructed to move crouched, or to crawl, which adds another dimension to your strategy. Infantry units can also occupy buildings and take control of captured vehicles - like Blitzkrieg, it's possible to take out a gun crew, for example, and then make off with the weapon, swelling your combat effectiveness mid-game. It's even possible to gently persuade tank crews to bail out by super-heating their ride with flamethrowers or molotov cocktails! Many units have alternate weapons, including grenades, landmines and rubber boats, so there's almost always more than one way to complete your objective. Battlefield support is often available in the form of bombers, recon planes or artillery. Like in Blitzkrieg, planes can't be directly controlled, rather, given a starting objective, so you need to use them wisely.

Everything in the game is rendered in loving detail, and the maps are no exception. There's an astonishing amount of attention paid to buildings (which can be reduced to shattered shells with sustained fire), and plenty of wonderful ambient details - grass and trees that sway in the wind, birds that flap lazily about, and the water effects are among the best I've ever seen in a strategy title. It's a pleasure to lead your troops through such varied locations, from the hedgerows of France to the frozen streets of Stalingrad. There's even a working weather - (in pouring rain your heavy armor may find itself bogged down) and a functioning day/night cycle that throws up new gameplay possibilities - why not wait until darkness falls to sneak your platoon right down the enemy's throat?

Mid-game cut sequences, using the game engine, occur periodically to highlight objectives or spotlight a particular event. Its a simple but effective way of introducing story elements into the game, and makes the whole sha-bang feel all the more personal. Another nice touch is the inclusion of a game speed button - it's possible to compress time for those long trips, or pause the action. The real boon of the pause function is that you can still rotate the view and issue orders in this mode. Large battles become a lot more manageable as a result, since you can pause the game, rattle off intructions, and then unpause and see how it all plays out. The fog of war, a common RTS element is present and correct, but 'Panzers throws the factor of sound into the mix...visual icons represent when your troops can hear, but not see, enemy troops or vehicles. There's a great sense of tension as you and your men hear the rumble of approaching armor, waiting to see what emerges from the fog...a platoon of tiger tanks anyone?

Any downsides? Well, you'll need a decent computer to get the most from all the graphical effects, although my P.4 handles it smoothly enough at 1280x960. CDV is a German publisher, and its pretty clear that all the English language, spoken and written, was translated from the original - non-sequiters and strange phrasings pop up in the mission briefings, and some of the soldier chatter is rather iffy. Still, there's so much charm on display here that it matters nought. Also, much like the WW2 action game Call Of Duty, it's a rather scripted experience - that is, you'll be facing the same enemy components each time you play a given mission. Still, battles seldom play out the same, and there's lots of room to make your own variety through tactics and troop selection. It's also difficult to recommend this title to anyone who was on the fence about Blitzkrieg. It doesn't offer anything radically different enough to truly seperate it from that title. Indeed, I think it's pretty fair to say that 'Panzers plays much like the plucky younger brother of Blitzkrieg, expanding on many ideas and refining others. Basically, if you liked that game you're gonna love this.

Armchair generals take note...this title represents a new wave of WW2 strategy, and would be a worthy medal to add to your collection.

Another Step Forward

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: July 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Codename: Panzers falls into the genre I call 3D animated real-time strategy. As a reviewer of games for over ten years, I'ne watched the genre grow from laughable to almost "there". Earlier games were not historical in terms of unit capabilities and the graphics outpaced game play. Huge numbers of enemy units compensated for bad computer play and game mechanics were so complicated as to drive a player insane. Later versions improved on all this; yet, the scale of play left me uncertain as what level of command I played and the AI was never good. Units needed more mmicromanagement than real soldiers required.

I've played the demos for Panzer and find many of my objections handled. I know that I'm a company commander with a specific mission. I cam constitute my units to match my task. The interface has been streamlined, my troops react to obvious threats without me hovering over them and the AI seems crafty.

From the demos, Panzers seems to be the system that, to date, best links fun with history. I hope the final product bears me out.

Rock solid Singeplayer, weak Multiplayer

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Overview - what it's all about

Codename Panzers is a real time strategy game that features the early phase of WW2. The campaigns deal about the invasion of eastern Europe by the Third Reich.

There are 3 different campaigns in the game: Germany, Russia and Allies. All of these reflect the actions from the individual points of view. This means if you play Germany and have to Blitzkrieg into Warszawa you may also play the opposition and have to prevent the Germans from achieving their goal.

Technical - Graphics, Sound & Music

The graphics and artworks of this game are outstanding. I've never seen such a beatiful animated infantry before.
The weapon sounds are quite cool, either. I play the game with a surround headset (Medusa 5.1), and am quite impressed how well the sounds are distinguishable coming from the different directions - depending on the angle you turned the free 3D moveable game area.
The music supports the athmosphere very well, too. All units give voice-feedback when you issue new orders and the voices are very well done.

Into the action - Singleplayer

The singleplayer game is clearly the main feature of this game. Also CDV, the publisher, promotes the multiplayer part very heavy, the singleplayer experience is the reason for me to give it 4 "Fun-Stars". It would have been 5 Stars if wayfinding routines of the troops were better. Sometimes troops just don't move the way you want, the way that was shortest. This can lead to situations where you have a large group of enemies spotted, want to roll them over with the tanks you got, and the tanks are arriving at the scene one by one and are slaughtered by enemy gunfire like lambs on a shambles. This accounts to MP, too, of course.

There are three different difficulty levels you can chose from. The difference is whether or not you get reinforcements after missions and whether or not they are already trained units or fresh meat.

At the beginning of (almost) each mission you can buy troops for prestige points you earned in previously mastered missions. Troops that earned experience in fights are brought into the next mission, too. These are quite vital, because they do more damage and stand enemy fire longer then untrained ones. The missions develop as you progress - new goals and situations are scripted in and intermittent cutscenes bring the story forward. Most of the missions are well-balanced, with one or two exemptions where it sometimes seems a bit unfair regarding what the enemy has and what you got against them.
All in all this makes up for a new class winner in WW2 RTS games. It makes fun to replay the missions, because there are eastereggs to find, surivive with more veteran units at each level end and additional and secret goals to master.

Units can be combined (move infantry into transports, link an artillery to a truck), you can capture enemy tanks by burning the crew out with flamethrowers and a lot of other nice things like ordering a group of units to follow a spearhead unit.

As call-in support you can order Stuka attacks, bombardements, artillery, recon planes and paratroopers.

Skirmish Mode

In this mode you can play against the computer artificial intelligence (AI). Well, there simply is none. The computer rushes with all of its troops to your starting point and lets the match end in about 5 minutes. No further comment on this here. I took this into account with the 3 Star Rating i give in the overall rating.

Well, theres Multiplayer, too...

I played the actual patched version (1.60) and was crestfallen in consideration of the great qualitative difference between SP and MP. A one-on-one match can be fun, but as soon as you want to play in teams you are out of luck. A 3-3 or 4-4 match simply crashes back to desktop all the time. What a pity for this great game.

In fact, the only multiplayer experience I really enjoy with this product is the coop mode, where you can play SP missions together with your pal. In that mode we divide the troops so one plays the tank squad and the other one artillery and infantry - most of the time such a match can be played to the end without a back to desktop or data mismatch. The ESL League banned the game for its open cheater holes (the .pak resource file can be altered client-side and has impact on MP sessions) until the game has a worked over multiplayer part.

Conclusion

If CDV works over the Multiplayer part, the AI and the wayfinding routines it would get my 97% rating as one of the best games I've ever played. Until then, I can only recommend it for its good SP experience and tell anyone to forget about MP as far as he wants to play it seriously.

To less for todays standard in RTS

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: July 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Hello,

i played at least the AO'Games, WC3 and Comand & Conquer Generals + ZH and must really say that the SinglePlayer Modus is "ok" in relation to this other RTS games but also a fact is, when you like to play Multiplayer (i think most of us would do that) with this game i couldn't suggest this game. Until there wouldn't be several patches for the multiplayer modus (so sty tunend). The main problem is that everybody could change the prices for his vehicles and soldiers =/. With this problem I only could warn you to buy it and i will rever to other games (ground control 2 for e.g.).

yours
cb

A lot of bugs

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 11
Date: July 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I bought the German version and I'm really pissed off. Unfortunatelly this game contains a lot of bugs. I have already invested more than 10 hours into making the game run on my PC (reinstalling drivers, changeing IRQ settings, etc). To no avail - it still crashes or freezes within 5 seconds.
Lots of other users of the German version seem to have the same problem (see forums). The newly released patch does not change the situation. Take care! Tom

All Day All Night

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: August 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Great 3D-engine. Point of view easily switchable in any direction, any time. Surprising again and again. Great realism!
Instant action!

World War 2 RTS fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: August 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Codename: Panzers is a fun, realistic rts based in World War II. Units are beautifully rendered, capabilities are fairly accurate, gameplay is high paced yet not out-of-control and the overall graphics are great. Like most rts games, units have to be hit numerous times in order to score a kill. This factor may be a turn off to 'purists' who look for one shot, one kill kind of games. Codename: Panzers is not such a game. However, it provides a fairly realistic treatment of World War II combat despite being an rts. In particular, using combined arms effectively is a must. Given these factors, I think Codename: Panzers is a winner.

Reminds me of an all-time favorite

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: August 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

As a long time wargamer (I've been involved in the hobby more than 30 years), I've come to appreciate a wide range of games. In the end, "is it fun?" should be the most important question asked, and Codename Panzers responds with a resounding "yes!"

While there is something to be said for hardcore simulations and games that stick to the historical record on every details, such games can be a chore to play and beyond the opening setup, one really isn't replicating history anyway. Of all the computer wargames I've played (and I've played almost all of them over the years), my favorite was probably the highly-abstracted, "lite" wargame, Panzer General by SSI.

Codename: Panzers has a number of elements that bring back fond memories of this old classic. As one moves through the campaigns, "prestige" earned by winning battles can be spent to purchase more troops for one's force. Units that acquit themselves well in battle earn experience, making them more effective in combat. While it is most definitely a strategy game, these elements help develop an attachment to particular troops not unlike characters in an RPG. Finally, the player's alter-ego can earn medals by accomplishing his missions well.

Graphically, the game looks terrific. Codename: Panzers is among the games defining the new standard in graphical excellence when it comes to realtime strategy games. Virtually everything in the environment is destructable, adding greatly to the immersion factor that provides a compelling cinematic experience.

The missions, not unlike Panzer General, start easy and progressively become more difficult. Early on, one can get by using armor alone, but as the missions become more complex, combined arms operations are needed.

Codename: Panzers is a fair degree closer to historically accurate modeling than Panzer General, but those harboring high requirements in this regard should look to another CDV-published series, Combat Mission, for a better account. Some targets respond predicably when hit with certain weapons, others, however, require "attrition" to finally eliminate them. It wasn't tens of hits that destroyed powerful tanks - it was often one properly-placed shell immobilizing the unit or destroying it outright. Lines of sight are too short, as are engagement distances, particularly with armor. On the flip side, however, A Tiger tank takes very little damage to a head-on shot by a Sherman. The comparitive features and abilities of the units feels authentic, even if the implementation of the game system leans toward the abstract. The net effect is a fun game to play, and I approve of the results.

so sad...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 10
Date: August 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

i wrote this email to the us Associate Producer, Codename: Panzers & English Language Community Manager on July the 29th, as i reccognized that he asked the english speaking community to make "good" reviews @amazon, (there is still no new fix):

"If everyone were to write their comments about this game @ amazon.com, I am convinced, that you will loose EVERY multiplayer related customer for this game. The multiplayer is really not good, still not fixed (you can still cheat, any more than six players the game crashes, no real artificial intelligence visible of the computer steered opponent etc...).

There doesn't seem any movement here at all, maybe you can help out and push your colleagues in Germany to remove all those annoying bugs during multi play.

The worst thing is: CDV stopped talking to the community, they don't answer questions and just say "we are fixing the problems", without saying which problems they recognized...to the community this just seems to be a case of `tell them we are working on it and then at least they will shut up'

If you buy a game, with that many errors and missing features and a then get a publisher who stopped talking to the community, you'd probably also feel cheated, like me and many other people in the German Multiplayer scene."

i wrote this mail, after the german support did not answer.
the answer from those producer was some "la la la", saying nothing with many words... but hey, it was an answer *g*

the game is now 2 month on the market in germany and the multiplayer bugs are still not fixed. also there is still no sign of an "AI", every reaction is just scripted ...

and CDV pretends in some german software magacines "that everything is fixed and working properly" ... LOL is the only thing you can say about that. read the german cdv-board.de for further informations...

very sad, the game looks really great, but it plays bad.

nothing more to say, sit, beta test for cdv and wait for the patch... if there will ever be one...

Panzers: Fun, Immersion, and Just Enough World War II

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: August 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Codename: Panzers

CDV, as publisher, is synonymous with real-time military PC titles that represent a mixed range of game play experiences. Well known CDV published games include the ultra-realistic Combat Mission series, the fast-paced, authentic-feeling Blitzkrieg, the very successful click-fest Sudden Strike, and the mega-unit supporting titles American Conquest and Cossacks. Now, CDV prepares for another assault on American shores with its newest franchise, Codename: Panzers.

Codename: Panzers is developed by lesser known Hungarian developer Stormregion (S.W.I.N.E. fame) with producers and finishing touches largely added in CDV's German headquarters. While branded as a real-time strategy (RTS) game, Panzers is really a fast-paced, very accessible real-time tactical title that limits true strategic choices. Let me underscore that point: Panzers emphasizes enjoyable game play and fast-paced action and truly is a nearly perfect blend of action-oriented fun, combined with a rich, truly immersive World War II historical backdrop.

Gaming options include a fairly standard offering of single-player mode against an aggressive AI that makes up for what it lacks in finesse with brute force and fairly sophisticated combined arms attacks. Alternatively, players can compete against others in multi-player engagements (or others, supplemented by computer-operated opponents).

Unit depiction is attractive, based on a realistic "who's who" of World War II equipment from the German, Soviet, and Western Allied arsenal during that time. While units resolve combat largely in a rock-paper-scissor fashion, difference in armor, firepower, speed, and mobility are clearly considered, even if somewhat abstracted for ease of game play. In its design decisions, where fun and historical accuracy collided, CDV chose fun; where they mutually supported each other, both were incorporated.

Codename: Panzers sports superb graphics with a nearly 360 degree 3D engine that allows enough zoom to enjoy the beautiful level of detail found on units and landscapes, while also zooming out far enough to offer a fairly reasonable tactical overview on the game map. (A minor criticism would be that the game really could benefit from a true 360 degree view, with greater zoom and, most definitely, a greater ability to zoom out for improved situational awareness.)

While both multi-player and single-player skirmish modes are present and quite fun for a quick, instant action battle, Panzers really shines in its single-player campaign mode, of which three are offered. Unlike other World War II titles, however, the campaigns are partial representations of the war from each of the three major sides that partook in the action on the Western and Eastern Front.

Germany, for example, begins with the invasion of Poland, while the Soviets start theirs later, around the first German attacks against Russia; the United States and British campaign doesn't start until initial paradrops behind German lines to capture key bridges and then to help the D-Day invasion and Utah Beach assault succeed. In each of the campaigns, the player controls one or two significant "hero" characters that have better abilities than other units, and can actually inspire and improve the effectiveness of nearby friendlies. The inclusion of heroes help suspend disbelief, help the player invest more emotions in the game, and make the storyline much more engrossing (even if some are quite funny, largely due to inadvertent translation issues in the storyline) than a more traditional ho-hum military briefing found in so many other World War II titles.

Together the three campaigns span close to thirty individual, but linear missions (the exact number for the U.S. version remains to be seen). The game is somewhat reminiscent of one of my fist computer-based wargame loves, Panzer General; Codename: Panzers uses an experience system to allow units to grow to more elite status (thus, predictably, more difficult to kill and more effective at dishing out damage to enemy units), and a prestige model that dictates what kind and how many units the player can requisition (i.e. purchase) as the campaign evolves. This makes for a highly variable play experience. Whether one builds a combined arms, mechanized, or infantry heavy force, for example, largely alters the tactics that one can effectively employ.

While enemy units can be captured (and this is actually an effective and entertaining tactic), unfortunately captured enemy equipment cannot be retained between missions in this first installment of Panzers (two more are planned at present). "Captured" friendly equipment, however, may be retained and remains available in subsequent missions. (I, for example, temporarily gained a heavy KV-2 tank assigned to my command and swapped my hero character and tank crew's T-34 for it, thus adding the KV-2 to my core units until it was destroyed in a later mission.) Formations also are lacking in the current version, as is a unit editor, but all of these, the publisher has indicated, are under consideration for a sequel.

In summary, let's talk about what Codename: Panzers is and what it is not. It is clearly not the cat's meow of authentic, historical accurate wargames. There's always HPS, Matrix Games, and Shrapnel Games for that. That, Panzers was never intended to be, acknowledges CDV unapologetically. Instead, Panzers is a highly enjoyable, very accessible, beautiful to behold, immersive real time strategy title that is a tank-load of tactical fun, and just happens to be set in World War II. Personally, I highly recommend it to fans of the genre as well as more casual game players, and take the game's accessibility and fast-paced, "get in and get out quickly" game play over a tedious, encyclopedic manual and steep learning curve any day.

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