Panzer Tactics DS [DS]

With a change of publisher, we'd become a bit concerned about DS hopeful Panzer Tactics DS. But after a bit of hands-on time when the game came by our office, we're feeling the faith once again. The game's focus is definitely hardcore and not the typical DS offering, but it's shaping up to be very promising indeed.

We Will Fight Them Some More!

The majority of the campaign takes you through the second world war itself, beginning as the Axis is moving into (well, through) Poland. You'll eventually sidestep to play as the Russians, then the Western Allied forces. Each campaign fits the overall timeline of the actual war, so you won't ever be leading Hitler to victory. All three campaigns get 11 missions, one of which is a bonus, for 33 total campaign missions.

150 units will be split between the playable and non-playable factions (that's right, in the game you'll see units from Norway, Poland, France and other involved nations). The split is about even, although the Axis get the highest unit count with 40 to its name.

Each class of unit will only have three types of units "live" at any given time. When you gain a heavier tank -- that is, as the timeline of the war moves forward, as you advance through missions -- your light tanks are simply phased out. Your medium becomes your new light, your heavy your new medium, and the new tank the heavy. It's a compromise, no question, but it's a clever way to keep the game from getting excessively complicated.

And it is complicated, no question. Air, ground and sea units struggle in ways beyond the typical rock-paper-scissors strategy game conflicts. Motorized units have fuel and ammo you have to track, weather affects unit effectiveness, and you'll have a lot of units to command at any given time. Certain units will still be ideal against other units, of course, and other units less so. But there's a lot more to it than putting a Panzer rock against a Sherman scissors.

The controls smoothly integrate the touch screen, and the upper screen gives a solid chunk of information to keep budding DS generals in the know. Multiplayer will include up to four players via Nintendo Wi-Fi and wireless, and hot seat will allow two players to compete on the same DS. All in all, we're excited to see how Panzer Tactics DS turns out. Wireless multiplayer, smooth controls and realistic units? Time to go back to WWII.

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