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90%
PROS
Great graphics, awesome AI, tons of unit options, great storyline.
LOWS
Can get to be very hard, single player mode a bit short, no skirmish mode.
OVERALL
A top of the line tactical RTS. If you are looking for an incredible single or multiplayer game, you have come to the right place!
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Fortunately the saving interface is easy, where you can save any time you'd like. Even on the easiest mode, DR vs AK can become very difficult and seem impossible. If you keep trying and vary your army structure, you will be able to beat missions. You will probably die of difficulty before you ever die of boredom in this game.
Depending on the mission objectives, you will need different types of troops. The standard troop is the rifleman, with average shooting capabilities. You can get more sophisticated infantry units, like machine gunners, grenadiers, flamethrowers, or snipers; however, they cost more MP points. Sappers are also important… these guys can detect mines and defuse them. Another important one is the medic, which heals your wounded soldiers. Don't even consider the fact that you are only allowed to use infantry units in DR vs AK. There are over 70 different unit types available! Each unit has its own set of statistics, allowing each to play a different role in your tactical force. Not all units are used for firing weapons. For instance, the Sd.Kfz.250 is a truck that can repair machinery, as in your tanks. Even though these trucks don't attack and are vulnerable to enemy fire, they can bring back all of your tanks' hit points. Another unique military unit seen in the game are the mounted MG nests. They can use sandbags to protect themselves from incoming soldiers, but can also plow down troops running at them. Just as the game get more difficult, you will find yourself with a larger amount of MP points to spend and units that cost more MP. I think that this system was very easy to use and that it was an excellent idea to be able to choose exactly what you would like your squad to be. Customization is so much fun!
Now that you understand how you will be outfitting your squad, you need to know about how you will play the game. Controlling units is done through the usual left and right click buttons… left click to select, right click on the ground to move. You can easily create squad groups (i.e. a group of riflemen and a group of machine gunners) by pressing control plus any number from 0-9. But controlling units goes to be much more in depth than that. Each unit has its own abilities and can be set to different behaviors. You can tell units to hold their fire, fire at will, or return fire, and of course, you can manually control anything they fire at. You can also control their movement.
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The three options available are to hold position, move in the vicinity, or to move freely. You may ask why would you ever let a unit move by itself? Well, this option is amazing for medics and trucks that heal tanks. Think about it… you don't have to worry about manually telling your medics to heal; they just find injured guys and do it for you. Of course there is a greater chance of them being killed, but it does make life easier. Some units have special abilities. For instance, tanks can “dig in” and have sandbags form around their front. This power can be used an infinite number of times and has no recharge time. Sappers have the ability to defuse mines; however I normally set them on move freely so they do it automatically. All infantry units have the ability to crawl on the ground. Simply switch them between running and crawling, and you will be able to go from a fast run to a protected prone position. Since each unit can be set to different firing and moving properties, you really do have total control over your entire army. It's great to be king.
You will be engaging in tons of different missions, all of which are relatively unique and varied. Even though each of them take place somewhere in North Africa, it's cool how they still are able to look somewhat different. Some of my favorite missions have you getting a set of convoy trucks to survive through a highly armed Ally base or maybe even a huge tank strike. Everything in the game can be destroyed. By forcing units to attack (control + right click), they can destroy any buildings or other objects you find in the area. Sometimes you will need to destroy buildings, as there are units stored inside attacking you.
