Great fast-playing light wargame that can be fun for a ...
598285
Great fast-playing light wargame that can be fun for a wide age range. The many expansions increase the options, rules, terrain, and types of units you can play.  There is also an "Overlord" version where you put two sets together and looks just awesome all set up on the table!

The components are nice sturdy plastic with German and U.S. soldiers, tanks, artillery, sandbags, barbed wire, and hedgehogs. It also has 8 dice and two short stacks of terrain which incur movement penalties or advantages for your units. Little trays to display your cards are a nice addition.

The command deck is the heart and soul of the "Commands and Colors" system.  Each turn you play a movement or tactics card which limits what you can do.  You might find yourself building up a great attack, then run out of cards to support this attack! This is to simulate the "fog of war" in battle where communication and conditions are not always perfect.  For some people, the variance caused by both the cards and the dice provides too much luck, but I think this can be fun as well.  What happens when an attack does not go according to plan? Then do your cards become defensive in nature? Is it time to swing the battle to another front? Sometimes a game will come down to a crazy final turn! For me, that's okay. Play again form the other side, and count up the total medals acquired from playing both sides, and determine an "overall" winner if you like.
2462119
This is the first multi-player strategic game on the First World War that can be played by a broad range of people (eg the entire family, not just a few war game grognards) that I have seen, overall, it is excellent.

I number of other reviewers have noted the limited numbers of counters, which we noted as well the first time that we played the game. This was easily rectified by purchasing a few spares on-line, now we can play without shortages.

Overall, the game mechanics function well - it is a very playable game. However, the game balance is really tilted toward the Central Powers, and the Allies have little ability to win. I suspect that this game will be updated in about a year with some rules tweaks. For example, the Germans can initiate unrestricted submarine warfare to take away production points from the UK and the US, but the Allied naval blockade is completely ignored. The German economy is simply too strong and in real life, the German army was nearly starving and running out of ammunition by 1918.

Austria-Hungary is also too strong in the game and overruns Serbia in one turn - in real life it took nearly a year and required help from Germany. I think the Serbs need a replacement rate of 1 infantry per turn to make them more of a player.

Given that this is a WW1 game, I think it odd that there are no trench markers or forts, like Verdun. This is essentially to increase the power of the defense in certain key areas, because in WW1 more infantry did not always equal victory. A fort marker could absorb two losses and a trench marker one, or something like that.

There should probably be zeppelins, AA and bombers, to make the air war a little more interesting, too.

However, I think the biggest thing that the game needs is better political rules. The Russian Revolution is simply too easy and certain to induce, whereas I think it should be a die-roll if certain conditions are met. Also, the fall of the Tsar did not mean the end of Russia in the war, since the Kerensky government continued to fight for another six months. Turkey also needs some political limits, since the idea that they would invade India and overrun all of Africa - which is quite possible in this game - are ridiculous.

The game also needs a strategic movement to reflect railroads. In real life, the Germans could transfer forces from the East Front to the West Front in a matter of weeks or months, but here it would take 4-5 turns. That's a lot.

I suspect that a number of these points will get worked into a revised issue of the game, just like the basic WW2 Axis & Allies game has been updated many times. Nevertheless, a very enjoyable game.
3963477
This is a good game similar to Company of Heroes and one of the few you'll find that has Japanese ground units in an RTS, period. The differences with other similar RTS type games are in the "direct control mode" (I don't use it much) and the inventory system which makes things interesting. Supply trucks get a little bit micro-managey, but still fun. Repairing and re-crewing different vehicles is also enjoyable. Voice acting for units is good but the Skirmish / Campaign mode voice acting is not so hot and brings the polish of the game down a bit.
1271543
I really wanted to give this game a 3.5, because it has several compatibility issues for a game that is supposed to be run only on Windows 95/98.  Keen note:  if you buy this game, be prepared to save the game most often, otherwise the game will stop working and give you a 'not responding' window and then shut down.

Moving right along, this game is set in a fantasy world that is alike to many other games, but has a great resemblance to Heroes of Might and Magic.  It is, however, more simple and there are not as much in depth gameplay as HOMM, but has a quality that got me hooked.  The Turn Based Strategy was something I was skeptical about before, but it turned out I absolutely loved it, because there is actual strategy to the game.

I gave this game 5/5 for fun because it really, in my opinion, is awesome.  thing is, there is no real time battles, so don't expect anything to be animated and 'alive'.  The graphics are from okay to poor, but its in game drawings well compensate for this, as well as the time it was released.

For the game itself, it is rather unfairly set up.  if you are the legions of the damned in the game, for example, if you get two of the most powerful spells they offer, then you can take out an entire squad of fighters in one turn, and then play with the enemies mind by putting fake copies of monsters out.  I had to replay an entire level because of this, and it was painfully hard because the game doesn't teach tactics the easy way.

Great game, buy it if you want an old classic, don't buy it if you like listening to a narrator and playing TBS games
2128410
We all played with toys when we were younger. Well thanks to the Dreamcast, we can all play with toys again and not feel guilty! Only this time it is war! You control planes, helicopters, tanks and other vehicles through missions around the house. Your objective; defeat the Toy Commander! The game begins with training missions to sharpen your skills. You will need it. Then it is off to the missions. The controls take a few tries to get use to them, but are easy to master. The graphics are surpurb! It really looks like you are in a toy world house! The game play is good. I would say excellent, but some of the tasks are pointless or seemingly impossible. But this does not ruin the game. It is still hours of fun! It can also become addicting! All in all, 5 stars is deserved. I recommend this game if you enjoy war like games that don't require you to have a keyboard for help with the controls or want to see blood and guts!
2003556
Great game for war game fans!

I've been playing this game for one years with 7k games under the belt. This game is addicting.  However the learning curve is steep, and players often complain about MatchMaking, stock tank been suck.

A tier 8 premium tank plus premium account earns tons of credits..
3793123
I've never played any of Tom Clancy's games so loaded and installed EndWar without any expectations whatsoever and have to admit it's surprisingly fun.

No doubt the troops control capabilities are more limited than a PC-based game due to the controller/headset limitations but when using a combination of both along with the DualShock sensors the command capabilities are very decent.

The different types of campaigns (single player vs AI, single vs single instant death, single campaign, multi campaign...) definitely add to the replay value.  The graphics are very good but given the size of the map along with all the pertinent HQ information such as units count, battle engagements, troops health meter... my 47inch TV is nowhere near big enough and I find myself moving closer and closer until I sit close enough to almost use it as a computer monitor.

If you're old school like I am and have enjoyed the Command & Conquer series as well as Dune and would like to try a console-based RTS game you may want to give this a try.  If on the other hand you have not played C&C or Dune, have no patience whatsoever, are trigger-happy and prefer brute full-frontal force over strategic finesse, and your game repertoire is composed only of the Call of Duty series then EndWar is definitely not for you.  You'll only find yourself reselling this game at GameStop at a loss and post 1-star reviews on Amazon while calling it a "Roll Playing Game" whatever that means.  Could it be "Role" instead?  Soldiers, let's role!! LOL

Tom Clancy's EndWar
665734
To start this off, I had my doubts about this game, BUT I trusted a friend enough to give it a shot.  This is a fun game for ages 13 and up.  The gameplay is "turned based" kinda like a RPG (Role Playing game) HEY don't go away yet if you don't likr RPG's you still might like this game.  It reminded me of Chess in a way because you had to move each character on a "board map" and you battle the enemy.  Instead of knights and Kings you have AFW's and Anti-AFW's (Mechs, or big robots) and they have troops to help you fight in the battle.  You basically wait for you cannon to load then aim and fire.(I know sounds simple) but inbetween then you have to keep your soldiers alive from enemy fire make sure your AFW gets repaired and you need to watch your ammo.  You have a good assortment of AFW's each with a different driver and "special moves" i.e.  Emergency Load (you load your shells and fire instantly.  all and all this is a great game it would be a 5 star game but to me the graphics could of been better (come on Konami you can do better) the soldiers were a little stiff and the mechs weren't an eye catcher but it's clean and sharp.
want a game to keep you busy for a while?  then get the SLEEPER HIT OF 2001 for PS2-RoR(Ring of Red)
202054
Rise of Nations provides a good game experience in the style of Age of Empires. You can choose to play a smaller-scale quick game of 60-90 minutes or a larger scale game. Either way you can enjoy developing your realm and moving up thru the ages from ancient to modern. The buildings and people and of course the military units keep changing thru all the ages. I enjoyed reaching the first level of gunpowder units and attacking the opposition before he advanced. Some aspects of a turn-based strategy game are available also, as you can pause the action, examine everything and issue orders if the action is too fast. The Gold version has interesting campaign scenarios also. I've played thru the Alexander and Napoleon campaigns so far. I'm only reviewing it for the single-player action, I'm not much for going online gaming. I think it's a very good game that deserves being better known.

On my PC - a mid-range desktop with an Athlon 64 3500 and an $80 video card - it performs just fine.
4574676
This package contains both the "Game of the Year" edition of Dawn of War plus the Winter Assault expansion pack.

This "Game of the Year" edition of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (DoW) contains new battle maps, online features and an observer mode to enhance what was already a terrific RTS computer game. Each of the four races in the game look and behave as one would expect from Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 (aka 40K) universe. The Eldar are graceful and cultured in their speech and appearance (think High Elves in space), performing marvelous acrobatic moves in combat. Orks are brutal, awkward and ramshackle in their appearance and gait, Chaos Marines and their demonic minions are dark, cruel and monstrous while regular Space Marines (enhanced humans) are very industrial and all business. The animations in combat are so good you'll want to play some skirmishes on easy difficulty so that you can take your time looking close up at the individual fighting using the fully moveable 3D camera. There are even special "sync-kill" animations when certain creatures destroy each other. For example, when the Space Marine Commander kills a gigantic Bloodthirster (huge winged demon), the animation sequence is one of the most spectacular in the game!

The skirmish option offers both single and multiplayer modes with many different battle maps from which to choose. This offers near limitless permutations, providing tons of replayability. The campaign is a wee bit linear and not overly challenging, but is loads of fun, has an entertaining story and can be completed by all players regardless of skill level. Difficulty level settings can be used in both campaign and skirmish play to make the game more or less challenging as desired.

The voice acting and music are quite good in DoW and enhance play enormously. The game is highly evocative of the dark, gothic feel of the 40K miniatures game produced by Games Workshop (GW).

Resource gathering is used as is expected in an RTS game, but it is very simple and does not occupy an enormous amount of game time. The emphasis of DoW is all on the action and combat! Resources are gathered by capturing strategic points and critical locations on the battle map. Capture more territory and more resources will be available to you to complete your research and build your army.

Note that the expansion pack for this game, Winter Assault, provides players with even more maps and options, as well as a new fully playable army, The Imperial Guard. The Winter Assault campaign can be played from either of two points of view, "order" or "chaos," and involves a war against CPU controlled Necrons! Skirmish mode, as in the original Dawn of War, adds a lot of replayability value to the game, with many different battle maps and play combinations. Play any of five armies, play with allies or play free-for-all, and that's not counting multiplayer mode!

Between trying to hear all the fun voice acting, see all the great animations, and actually playing the game, Dawn of War Gold Edition will keep you busy and enthralled for many hours. "Let the galaxy burn!"
2697668
This is a fun little board game that is quick to learn and quick to play. If you're not in the mood for playing all three expeditions (the recommended number in the directions), you can just as easily play only one or two, and have an equally enjoyable game. I really enjoy the theme, which is implemented nicely throughout the components and cards. It successfully puts you in the Indiana Jones mindest of an intrepid adventurer. The strategy elements are fairly light, yet they have an enormous impact on the outcome of the game. Therefore, your brain gets a good workout when planning your moves, even if this falls within the "strategy light" genre. It's a great game to play when you're looking for something that will be fun and not terribly time consuming, in the same vein as Survive (which is downright excellent, by the way!).
3649762
I usually am a game snob, I only get into the "big blockbuster" games that are the best of the best, things like Splinter Cell, Halo, etc...but at Freedom Fighters new sub-20 dollar price, I decided to give it a try while waiting for Shellshock to release - and I am glad I did!
Another reviewer was right, this game could be called Red Dawn. The premise is that the Russians have invaded New York, and you decide to start kicking butt and taking names. I won't go into the story, but in between game play is a highly entertaining story going on, that adds a lot to the gameplay.
The variety of weapons, and the quest to gain "charisma" so you can have more troops with you, is very cool. The controls take some getting used to, but once you have played for a few hours they became a real pleasure (i play with the "big" xbox controller). Great fighting, non-stop (really!) action, and since you don't get a ton of troops helping you until later in the game it just keeps getting better.
One thing that most surprised me was the great music and really good graphics. The music is perfect for this game, just the right amount of Russian music and it really blends into the game well. The graphics are nice, too. Even when fighting DOZENS of Russians with 12 troops of my own the frame rate never stuttered.
Overall, I give it 5 stars because of the price now and the FUN factor! If it was 50 bucks I would probably give it a 3.75 stars, but at 20 bucks or less pick it up if you enjoy shooters/military games/or love the movie Red Dawn and watched it relentlessly as a kid like I did! A nice surprise for the Xbox!
2968974
Fun game, difficulty level is up to you.  Nice change of pace to the prominent War Movie genre that has taken over the industry in past 3 years...

It's also a change from HALO/AdventRising, which makes it refreshing...

A great RENT... not a purchase (too short and no replay value if you do it right the first time since there is no time limit to storyline)
717238
Turn based strategy games are not for everyone, but I can definitely say that XCOM has broken out of that stereotype and offers a little something for everyone. As a fan of the original game, I was excited when I got the opportunity to play the demo. After that, I was hooked and needed to have the game.

XCOM is a fun yet challenging turn based strategy game. The management of your research, engineering, special forces and technology are well laid out and intuitive. The combat phases are exciting and quickly ramp up in difficulty as your forces improve. I especially like the cinematic sequences when finishing off opposing forces.

I would have given the game a rating of 5 starts but I found the campaign mode to be a little repetitive at times, sort of like one would experience playing the original Halo. I also didn't not explore the online experience much but the fees games I did okay were fun.
973250
Great game, it's quick and fun, but it definitely has some depth in the strategies you can take. For a 30-45 minute game, I'm really happy with it.
3765951
Fantastic game! I'm not even a fan of first-person shooters, but this game is quick to learn and a blast to play in short bursts. The characters and scenery really appeal to me as well.
4891875
This is a complex strategy board game that will keep players playing for several hours.  The game is for two to five players.  The game is best played with two or five players.  In a two player game one player controls the nations of the Allies and the other the Axis.  In a five player game each player controls one of either of these nations: United States, Germany, Russia, Japan, and Great Britain.  The objective is to conquer victory point cities and the number of victory points needed to win a game varies depending on how long the players choose to play.
The rules are rather complex, with units having special rules such as the submarines and destroyers, but to sum things up, each nation has their own turn order and during a turn players can purchase new units, move units already on the board, and attack or engage in combat.  Combat is resolved by using dice and there is a battle board for use in combat situations to make things easier for the players, detailing how much damage a unit can do and receive, etc.  There are several types of units which adds to the complexity of the game, from factories, soldiers, tanks, fighter jets, bombers, submarines, battleships, and aircraft carriers.  Purchasing new units is done through the use of fake money, much like that in Monopoly.  Upgrades can also be purchased and require the roll of dice to determine what kind of upgrade and if the upgrade was successful.
There are a couple of downsides to the game though.  One of them is that memorizing the many rules of the game can take a while so players will most likely forget special rules their first time playing.  And another downside is that the plastic figures are very simple and some of them can easily break if they are mishandled.  And the ships look very similar that it was rather hard for me to identify which was a battleship versus which was a destroyer.  Other than these complaints, the game is very enjoyable and can last several hours, so prepare a lengthy afternoon with friends to play this game.