by Rick - March 7, 2005

Axis and Allies is a Real Time Strategy game based on World War II and the board game of the same name. Play as either the Axis (Germany and Japan) or the Allies (The U.S., Great Britain and Russia) and attempt to turn the tide of the war in your favor.

Warfare Made Easy

Axis and Allies runs pretty much like your average real time strategy game with a few exceptions.

There are no resource gatherers to speak of. No specific unit is required to build buildings, instead the HQ builds a specialized truck that drives to the desired location and unpacks the building.

Another difference is that there aren't really any solitary units. All combat is done in groups. Anywhere between three and five men along with a leader, run around in loose formations and work the will of the general. This means you can loose a guy or two and still have a functioning unit.

Something that I haven't been able to label as a good or bad difference found in this game is the re-supply system. On the map, there is a green line that represents re-supply zones. If your unit is within that zone, then the appropriate building will not only heal but replace fallen troops, rather rapidly I might add. This makes the game a lot easier, seeing as you just have to fall back into the green line and it fixes up your units, but something deep inside my gut screams that the system is a little unrealistic. But I suppose if you wanted realism, you'd join the army not play a video game...

Something I would have liked to see is the role of the leaders being a little more involved. In fact, besides a moral loss and the lack of one extra gun, I didn't really see any downside to the death of a unit's leader.

All in all, the gameplay provided a pretty smooth and enjoyable gaming environment.

Building in a Bottle

The graphics in Axis and Allies were pretty good. The units were all fairly detailed, albeit somewhat small. The terrain was also well done, it came complete with a semi interactive system that involved things like knocking over trees. Unfortunately, the trees that were knocked over by the hulking tank grew back a little too quickly for my taste. I'm not an advocate for the deforestation of the world or anything, but it felt like the effect of my several-ton machinated behemoth had little real effect on the environment, which kinda made me sad... in a weird sort of way.

While the effects of tearing trees up by their roots wore off a little too quickly, the scorch marks from explosions were spot on. I remember carpet bombing a section of the map that the enemy had his base in, and laughing with glee as the many buildings in the area exploded and left impressive black char marks on the terrain. Granted the explosions themselves were also well done, but explosions are so fleeting...

Among the above mentioned things I liked about the graphics, I also experienced one of my favorite construction animations of all time, and that's saying a lot since I've even seen buildings that were spray painted into existence. The buildings in Axis and Allies sort of inflated out of the ground, or at least their frames did. Then once the frame was complete, if the building had a tin plated roof or crates and what not all around it, the parts would fly from their pile and slide into place as if by magic. I probably could have occupied myself just with watching the buildings being built. Unfortunately it all happens sorta quickly, so you can't really savor the experience.

My biggest gripe with the graphics is that you can't zoom in enough. I would have liked to be able to look at close ups of the units to get a better idea of what they looked like.

But that's a paltry blemish on an otherwise good looking game.

"Heads Up Soldiers!"

The audio for Axis and allies was pretty standard. The music was soft and for the most part played second fiddle to the rest of the game. Sounds like guns being fired and people dying were decent, and there was a small amount of background noise that created a fair level of ambience.

The only real bright and shining aspect of the game's audio is it's voice acting. I was pleasantly surprised by the briefing audio files, they were done quite well. Granted the actors may or may not have been faking some of the accents, but that's besides the point. The American commander actually came off just like a drill sergeant. Good stuff.

Over all, I felt that the game deserved a bit more work in the audio department, though I can't really say there was anything particularly bad about the sound... just not too much that was great about it.

As Much Fun As One Can Have At War

Axis and Allies was fairly enjoyable. Its somewhat simplistic system and smooth gameplay produces a easy going war far experience.

I did panic the first few times a scenario started with a battle that usually looked like you were on the loosing side, actually most battles look like your on the loosing side... But after the first couple of missions, the initial shock wore off and it became expected.

Though the game's design made it fairly easy to play without much intense thought, I would have liked to see a little more strategy involved.

All in all, Axis and Allies was a pretty fun game. I can see myself playing it for the next few weeks.

The Board Game Mode

When I first picked up this game, I was actually expecting the game to be a hyped up version of the board game. I was suprised by the fact that the campaign is actually straight up real time strategy. However, there is a World War II mode in which you play the board game. Only instead of the regular units, you have the units from the RTS game. When a battle begins, you can decide whether to play through the battle in RTS mode or simply let the computer determine the outcome automatically.

I've grown into the habit of letting the computer duke it out, due to the fact that the RTS battle is really slow paced. I suppose if you have the patience, you'd be able to play through all the many battles you can expect to have throughout the game.

Slow battles aside, the WWII mode is pretty sweet.

RETREAT...

... to your local game store and pick up a copy of this game. Especially if you are either a fan of the board game or a fan of RTS games in General, Colonel, Captain or otherwise. At the very least commission the game from a friend and check it out.