Officers Review

Officers: World War II is another game trying to take the Real Time Strategy (RTS) genre by storm. However, while it may seem like a new title, it was actually developed by Peter Games and released in Russia approximately 2 years ago, so against today's competition it may find the going tough. The question is, can Officers command its way to victory against difficult odds, or will it suffer a bitter defeat?

The premise behind Officers is relatively simple. The player takes control of Allied forces in six historical missions that took place during World War II, with the first mission being the Omaha Beach landing. It's a bit disappointing that other forces couldn't be controlled in the single player campaign, and it may seem as though the campaign is actually quite short, but it's very deceptive. Missions can take a considerable amount of time, sometimes approaching 5 hours in length, or even longer if a strategy doesn't work out as planned.

While a mission's length highlights the extreme amount of depth and size found in Officers, it also highlights one of its biggest flaws - that it's arguably too big. Some of the maps accurately represent 15 square miles, and because of this, the time it takes units to get to their objectives is also relative. There are various strongholds scattered across maps, and it can sometimes take over 5 minutes for units to get between them. After losing a massive battle, it's slightly annoying having to wait such a long period of time to get another crack at the whip.

On the subject of depth, map size isn't the only area worth highlighting. There is a wealth of units at a player's disposal, with the selection of troops, tanks, planes, artillery and other vehicles totaling at around 70. It can become a bit overbearing at first, especially if a player has a limited knowledge of World War II, but it's easy to get up to speed. Choosing the right combination of units to send into battle is the key to victory, as unless extra strategic points are captured, resources are very finite. On top of this, the player can only call 16 different units at the same time (8 vehicles and 8 troop types) and the cool down is relatively long. If effective use isn't made of the chosen units, it may have dire consequences and it adds an extra layer of pressure on the player to achieve all he can with what he has.

Once more strategic points are captured, resources can be transferred between them. It's not necessarily as simple as it sounds though, as the supply route must be kept safe as the convoy transferring resources can easily be destroyed. There are a vast amount of smaller locations scattered throughout the map which can give smaller rewards, such as a smattering of units, or some resources which have been stashed away, but these also need to be captured to reap the benefits, which leads on to the actual gameplay.