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Has potential but has too many bugs

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game has changed hands through several companies now. I received a "Panzer Elite Special Edition" by Wings/JoWood Productions. I was able to play for a while on an ME system not connected to the internet I have set aside for just game playing games. Then I started getting "beeps", meaning the game froze.
I reinstalled and the results were the same. I installed the game on my XP system that is linked to the internet and it caused all kinds of problems on the system. I uninstalled it. I have gone to the website and it appears to me that it is necessary to have knowledge, interest, and ability to download and perform software functions, which I do not care to do.
I just want to load a game and play it. I don't care for cheats or patches, which may contain viruses.
When I could play the scenarios for the German instant play there were too few. With the single scenarios, there were long periods of just driving with no action and targets seldom seen.
Bottom line: I really liked it when I could command some of the German tanks but am very disappointed that I could not continue to do so. If all the bugs were worked out to where a layman such as myself could play with ease then it would be enjoyable.

Crash and freeze-up outstanding game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: November 10, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I've tried about 20 games since getting the game about a week ago and everyone of them have ended in a system freeze or crash. But the graphics and game play are teriffic. Once you master the six or seven key stroke combinations needed to get everything moving where and how you want it to it has a great level of involvment and need to pay attention to everything going on. This is a game that will be great in a couple of months once all the absolutly necessary patches are made available, but it's "not ready for prime time" just yet.

The first true tank simulator

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: November 15, 1999
Author: Amazon User

This game brings out the worst in me, I tend to chase infantry with blazing guns, and laughing as I see them fall. This game is the first tank sim ever giving me the right feeling, and it is a ww2 sim! The tanks are beutifully modeled, but could have been better if this was a action tank cheater game, where they just think of FPS. I must admit that there are a few bug, but the support from producer(Wingssimulations) is awesome, and what games nowadays have no bugs? I wanted to give it 5 stars, but gave it 4 because of the bugs, and that there were no russian units.

The only WW II Tank Sim Worth Owning

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: November 15, 1999
Author: Amazon User

First off. This is a Simulation, not an Arcade Shoot-em-up. If you just jump into this game and expect to survive, forget it. The AI is pretty tough and keeping your platoon alive is something you're going to have to work hard at. If you want to feel what it was like to be a Tanker during World War II, then this is the game for you. Wing Simulations, the publisher, has a customer service website that is unsurpassed by any company marketing games today. The game has 80 missions (40 per side) and can be played as single scenarios or as linked campaigns. A really engrossing game.

Best Tank Sim on the market -- bar none.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: November 14, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I've bought just about every serious tank sim ever made. Panzer Elite is by far the best. The "feel" of riding around in a steel behemoth over uneven ground makes you appreciate the physical stamina and endurance it took to fight in one of these contraptions. The terrain is a very convincing replica o the real thing (I can vouch for Tunisia and Normandy but not Sicily-:)).

This is the first tank sim I've played where infantry is given a somewhat realistic role. Usually, infantry in tank sims is just fodder for you machine guns, but not here. You DARE not barge into a built-up area w/o either artillery preparation or accompanying friendly infantry or you will die.

IMHO, the strongest point of the sim is the brilliant mission design. The misisons are long and complex. If you try to play this thing like a first person shooter, you will die. The briefings and misson objectives seem quite realistic.

There's a patch that fixes problems I had with crashes. Since installing the patch, I haven't crashed..but I still get my clocked cleaned by enemy tanks, art, inf--you name it!

Things I'd like to see? The main thing I pray for is an "Eastern Front" expansion pack. Air support would also be nice. Further, a save function for missions would relieve the tedium of having to restart a mission from scratch.

If you are a military history buff, pc combat simmer, or just a run-of-the-mill anal retentive geek, you owe it to yourself to buy this sim. Nuff said (No! I don't work for the company-:)).

My 2 cents.

Panzer Elite BLOWS away the competition

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: May 03, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Thats right! Panzer Elite has no competition out there as far as Tank Sims go! This is THE most realistic Tank sim I have ever seen since I was in the Army. This has to be the most stable product right out of the box. I had no problems installing this product...it did take a little while to install. After the install finished, I started the game and it prompted me to configure my 3d card which is a 3dfx Vooodoo3...no problems were detected. I must say that certain cards will not work with this program very well, but they are few and far between. Once the 3d card was configured it was time to "brew up some tanks", The game enviroment is very realistic, lots of hull down positions ambush spots galore! The AI is in my opinion very smart for a game..but just keep a eye out for your wingmen they tend to fire and then forget in battle. Speaking of battles...they are a challange. I won't go on about that you just have to see it for yourself, and dont worry about the manual being thin, Panzer Elite has a great web site if you run into any problems, besides it saves trees! Just a word of advice: Get a PII 450mhz 128mb memory and a decent video card and sound card and you wont run into any problems like you have been hearing. Besides games on anything less than a PII are boring!

Panzer Elite- Massive potential but poor delivery.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: January 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Another game released for the holidays still in Beta form. Massive potential but incredibly buggy, it didn't even work for me out of the box. Stupidly, I waited for the first patch, I wish I had just returned it. The good; definately the best treatment of WWII tank combat yet done and potentially the best tank sim period. Right now, IMO, M1TPII has it beat just because it is finished. Good graphics, original but very efficient interface, and great detail in terms of the weapons. The bad; Numerous graphics glitches including floating objects, seams in terrain tiles, and things like smoke and flame from burning tanks appearing in front of you, when they should be behind you. Massive terrain 'pop-up', turning apparent smooth terrain into nasty hills and cliffs. Coding errors in the armor files and AI shooting which frequently, for no apparant reason, starts shooting wildly. AI tanks which drive THROUGH each other and a tactical map which gets so small at higher resolutions as to become almost useless. Some of the radio messages do not play audibly, but only display on the screen and frequently, they don't tell you who they are from.

Poor design choices; Very poor graphical representation of your round impacts, making it very difficult to determine where you are hitting. A terrible manual that doesn't even include all the keyboard commands. As I mentioned above, the gunnery portion is very involved and detailed, yet there is not a single mention of the gun sights in the manual! You basically have to experiment as even the documented commands don't work the way you would assume. Especially bad is that there is no way to back up your AI wingmen tanks. Order them to a new location and they frequently drive in circles, exposing their vulnerable flanks and rear to the enemy. Inability to switch between tanks meaning if your tank flips over, is destroyed (and your persona survives, even unscathed), or bogs down in a river, game over, even with 4 other tanks in perfect condition.

The ugly; The patches themselves have caused problems. The first patch caused unforseen problems, and it was then modified. The updated patch also caused problems resulting in a new, subpatch. Then, due to the problems caused by prior patches, a program was offered to check your install and this also caused many problems, the third version is now available. Many users still cannot get it to work, and many joysticks and other controllers cause problems such as the tank turrets spinning uncontrollably. Luckily the mouse interface works well (I know it sounds strange to use a mouse in a tank game, but the interface is done very well.).

This game has massive potential and Wings will provide continuing support until it shines. Without the bugs and glitches I would have given it 4 stars. Take out some of the poor design choices (Several of which Wings has said they will change in future patches), and I would have given it 5. It's just a matter of whether you want to be a Beta tester and wait the several months until this thing is really done. I know many of you will say that M1TPII had problems out of the box also. Believe me, the problems that title had were nowhere near as bad as even the current patched version of PE has. With continued support, this game will eventually be one of the defining sims in this genre. Many hardcore users are jumping into the fray and publishing documents and files to improve, explain, and modify this sim. For now, my advise is, stay away from it.

Great simulation (not buggy , you must have current drivers)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 15, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I've been playing this Sim for nearly four hours a day for nearly two weeks now w/o any lockups. This is a great game, no question. It does take some time to learn but what good meaty sim doesn't these days. Very immersive, very tactical, very fun. This game is what Panzer Commander wanted to be but couldn't pull off. If your a WWII buff this is THE tank sim for you. Enough talk, now its time for me to get back to brewing up some krauts. Panthers and Tigers and Hetzers OH MY!

OUTSTANDING Armor sim

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 12, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Highly recommended for all Panzer-geeks and Treadheads. Speaking as a DesertStorm "Hell On Wheels" M1A1 tanker, PanzerElite is a realistic yet playable armor sim. The tanks and terrain graphics live up to the hype. The Artificial Intelligence is fantastic, making the game very challenging and thus very fun. I've experienced one crash in 30+ games. Tech support by the lead designer couldn't be better. AWESOME!

Panzer Elite suceeds on many levels

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: March 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Panzer Elite has dominated my gameplay habits for quite a while because it has so much to offer. One aspect neglected in most reviews is the availability of an Object Editor, downloaded from the Home page. As a military modeler hobbiest, I can appreciate a bran new world of vehicle contruction made available to the novice, or the software experts amongst us. The user can access all the items in the game, and detail or re-camoflage each tank or vehicle using the supplied textures. When through tinkering, the new creation can instantly be added to the game. The real fun is to watch your new customized Tiger prowl through an absorbing 3d environment, or check out your buildings made of brick instead of stone. In essence, a bran new hobby is created through the new world of computer software. And like most great pastimes, the pool of fellow enthusiasts that correspond over the net enliven the experience further. This great tank sim is for the computer gamer who is tired of the 'checkers' type simplicity of first person shooters, and would rather become involved in something with more substance and longetivity ,like chess.

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