Desert Rats vs Afrika Korps

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Encore has not failed us yet with their one of a kind games. Silent Storm was top notch, SpellForce was amazing, and now Desert Rats vs Afrika Korps… wow, what a lineup. This new title from Encore is a tactical RTS game that involves a lot of strategy and planning. Picking the right troops for the jobs is imperative, and placing them in the correct spots for battle is just as important. At first, DR vs AK can seem very overwhelming with its many unit types and specific troop abilities. Once you get used to the interface, DR vs AK is a top-notch game full of detail, variety, action, and most importantly; graphics.

A Successfully Incorporated Storyline

One of the coolest parts about DR vs AK is that it is successfully able to incorporate an interesting story line and plot into its varied mission structure. You will play on both the Allied and the Axis teams if you choose to play the single player game in story mode. The story revolves around two men, George Sinclair and Erich Hartman, who had known each other previous to World War II. They had befriended as competitors during the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The game will progress the story, as each is now a commander for the British (Sinclair) and the Germans (Hartman) and are now fighting a war. Surprisingly, this story will escalate and become very interesting as the game moves on… something not often seen in a WW2 tactical strategy game. If you choose not to play in story mode, you have two other options: campaign and scenario mode. My preferred method of playing the game is story mode, because it literally does follow a story. Campaign mode allows you to choose from either the Allied or Axis campaigns and Scenario mode is just a way to play a single mission that you have already beaten.

Missions Become More Intense

Just as the story becomes more involved, so does the gameplay. Missions will build up in difficulty level, but will also become more exciting and varied as the game goes on. You will start off with missions like escorting your heroes to an airfield or protecting a base, then move on to launching a full fledged tank battle or leading a convoy through an Allied camp ridden with enemies. As the missions get harder, you will have more variety over the troops that you can choose. Prior to each mission, you partake in a very informed and detailed mission briefing, topped with historic information, a map, your objectives, the location, and even the type of weather you will be experiencing.

Troop Customization with MP Points

When you move on to the next screen, you have the option of customizing all of the troops you take into battle. This system is based on your level of ‘MP' points. Recruiting a unit takes up a certain amount of MP points.

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For instance, your basic rifleman takes up 1 MP, while a machine gunner is 2 MP, and some tanks are 13. Obviously, more deadly units will cost more MP. There is a great deal of strategy involved here as you struggle to create the perfect squad, yet still have enough MP points to do so. You can recruit all types of tanks, infantry, and even special attack forces like air strikes. If you do special things in missions to gain experience points, you will be awarded with special units. These are very powerful, but have a high MP cost. If you feel like customizing your own team is too hard, you can always just go with the computer default. The default will use all available MP points and give you a pretty decent lineup and variety of troops.

I Need Some Help!

When you first start out, the game can be overwhelming. There are tons of units, options, and things to do. If you follow the easy tutorial, you will catch on. There is also an intuitive help interface. It can get annoying after awhile, so I just disabled it. As the game progresses, it can be very challenging. You may find yourself faced against multiple enemies at a time and not know what to do.