|
Strategic Assault
.: By:
Corn Bread :: Device
used:
iPAQ
H3650
:: December 12, 2001 ::
Buy this game :.
With the release of games like
Invasion: The Grey Day and
Battlefield, the
real-time strategy (RTS) genre seems to be making quite an impact on the Pocket
PC format. Here’s another game that manages to push the RTS genre forward and
will no doubt bring hours of entertainment for RTS fans; let's take a look at
Strategic Assault.
There is no actual storyline in the game -
your aim is simply to gather resources, build up your base and army, and destroy
your enemy's base and units in each of the fifteen levels that make up this
game. At the beginning of every level, you are shown a full-blown map of the
playing field showing the location of your base, the enemies and the whereabouts
of the resource mines. You start with your main base and a couple of tanks,
jeeps or hovercrafts (the type of starting units you are given depends on the
type of terrain you are on) and a few thousand dollars.
Money is the only form of resource you’ll need
to build bases and units and, in order to raise it, you need to “capture”
strategic buildings. Once you have successfully captured a strategic building
your funds will automatically increase. The more strategic buildings you have
captured, the faster your money will increase. Captured strategic buildings can
be re-captured by the enemy so it is prudent to leave a few units to guard your
resources. A level is complete once you have destroyed all of the enemies’
buildings and bases.
Whenever you complete a level, the game
automatically saves your progress so that you can start immediately at the level
which you exited. You can even pause and minimize the game to do other stuff on
your PPC and then go back to where you left off. Also, you have the option of
going back to any level that you have already finished.
To help you achieve victory in the game, there
are a large number of vehicle types at your disposal: jeeps, tanks, heavy
launchers, helicopters, and ships just to name a few. One of my favorite units
is the Hover Tank, a unit that will set you back only a small amount, but
moves very fast and is capable of travelling over both ground and water.
How does
Strategic Assault play on the
small screen of the Pocket PC? Very well, actually. About three quarters of the
screen is dedicated to the main map of the game where the actual resource
gathering and combat takes place, while the radar and other various function
commands are located in the bottom quarter of the screen. To navigate the map,
you can either use the joypad to move around, or you can use the radar map and
tap a desired location to immediately be transported there. You can even assign
four groups of army units that are instantly accessible at the bottom of the
screen. To do this, you simply tap and drag over any number of units on the
screen and assign it from a number from 1 to 4.
The game plays at a hectic pace and, happily,
the units are very responsive to the stylus’ taps. The weak path finding AI of
the units, however, is a major source of irritation. If the pathway was clear
(no obstacles), my units would reach the intended destination quite fast, but if
there was even a small obstacle that blocked their way, the units would run
around in circles and end up taking the longest route possible to reach the
destination.
Similarly, when I stationed a few units to do
guard duty at my bases, they would immediately follow any enemy units that came
within their view, thereby leaving my base unattended. In addition, when they
engaged enemy units, my units would fire at the enemy even when there was a wall
or base between them. I would have to manually command them to go to the other
side of the wall in order to have a clear shot of the enemy.
The game is challenging enough as it is, but
the weak AI of your units makes it unnecessarily harder. The enemy AI, on the
other hand seems very good. Enemy units will immediately rush your bases, and
they know when to mount an attack or retreat. If you don’t establish a good
defense early in the game, you're as good as dead. I would say that
Strategic Assault falls in
between the action and strategy genres since the game plays at such a fast pace.
The graphics in the game are quite good, with
the various units each having their own unique look, which makes it easy to
differentiate them at a glance. The terrains also are well done, although it
does get a little boring looking at the same desert and sea background
throughout the entire game.
The sound effects are average at best,
however. Although the sound of explosions and firing guns is very appropriate,
the music, on the other hand, can get on your nerves since there is only one
track available. At least you can turn the music off in the menu settings. The
animation is very good - slowdowns and lock ups are non-existent, even when the
screen is filled with army units blasting each other to smithereens. The game
may not have the prettiest graphics around, but its overall performance is very
stable and bug-free.
As far as RTS games on the Pocket PC go,
Strategic Assault is a winner.
Even with my few misgivings, I enjoyed playing it for hours on my
iPAQ. The intuitive controls and solid gameplay kept me coming back for
more, and the game manages to use the small screen efficiently and effectively.
My friends would usually borrow my
iPAQ just to play this game, which feels very much like a miniaturized
Command & Conquer.
Strategic Assault offers fifteen levels in total (with more add-on levels to
come) and is available for purchase now at $19.99. It can run on all major
Pocket PC's and can be installed either to the device's built-in memory or onto
a storage card. It requires 1.46MB of storage memory and 2MB of program memory.
Pros:
Cons:
-
Bad path finding AI.
-
Very limited terrain variety.
-
Only one music track available.
-
No mission variety other than “build &
destroy”.
|
PocketGamer.org score: |
 |
.: Game category:
Strategy Games :: Reviews
Index ::
Buy this game :.
|
