While the smell of artillery fills the air and the sound of tanks fills your eardrums, you realize, "Haven’t I played this exact same game a hundred times already?" That’s right, welcome back to World War II. Taking the form of an RTS, this WW II reincarnation is passed the torch right where the others left off, right past annoying. With unoriginal gameplay, maddening mission objectives and the worst control problems this side of an adolescent preteen, Red Siege makes a permanent dusty home on the stores of your local PC retailer.

Who knew WWII was a point and click battle?

First let’s look at the positive; there are some pretty sweet vehicles and units that are available to control in this series of skirmishes. Everything from the massive melee powerhouse flamethrower units to the long range wolf snipers, there is no shortage of ways to go about how you choose to take on your foe. Since this game is mainly tank based, it is natural that there is a wide assortment of vehicles at your disposal. Unlike other real time strategy games, each vehicle requires at least one person to operate said vehicle. With each unit included in riding and operating the tanks or transport vans, the game includes bonuses the player receives either to the speed, visibility or other such attributes awarded to the automobile. For instance, where there to be a commanding officer riding in the tank, an estimated 5 points to speed are awarded, making the heavy armored vehicle more difficult for the enemy to target and hit.

Everyone knew there had to be some negatives, so let’s get started. The game operates in three chapters with little to no replay value. The only solace offered by Red Siege: Moscow to Berlin is a weak multiplayer mode in which you can rarely find an opponent. Oddities like this plague the game as mission objective bugs and unit control problems add up to a poor overall feel for the game. You bounce around controlling opposite sides of the war starting as das Germans and ending with the Soviets, developing no attachment and no strong story pull to one side or the other. Aside from the historical context and the whole "Nazism is wrong" fact, a player would just as soon side with Hitler as they would oppose him.

At least you get to shoot a shiny nazi... or be shot as one

At first glance, the troops, vehicles and settings look pretty good, however, upon closer inspection you realize that you don’t have a supercomputer and the reason you’re not experiencing a bunch of lag is because everything is crudely pixilated and comes out blocky. Albeit this is easily fixed by staying at an eagle’s eye view, but a more polished look upon closer inspection would have been nice.

The best part of this game comes from the environment, where virtually everything is destructible. If your platoon is attacked by an unknown force when the only thing around you is dilapidated buildings, chances are you should unload some heavy artillery into those houses. All structures show signs of war and the more you pelt them with your rounds, the more they lose their structural integrity before they come crashing down.

John Williams would have been proud...

The sound in Red Siege comes straight out of old propaganda videos. The pleasing sounds of gunfire from a foxhole coupled with an explosion from a nearby heavy armor vehicle certainly sets the mood for the game. Along with the sound effects comes the musical score. Like a few other games in the genre, the orchestra typically hits when the action gets hot. The adds to the drama of the game and will certainly raise your blood press a few notches.

It's not quite as good as playing G. I. Joe with the little green army men

In this day and age, an RTS should be so much more then what Red Siege is. With poor controls and limited play, there is virtually no replay value. There is no way to play the game in single player besides repeating the missions you have already completed. The multiplayer is not easily accessible and the mission goals are poorly laid out. All and all, Cinemaware Marquee could have put a little more time into development and come out with a not just a playable RTS, but a WWII great.

...I'm bored... with the game, not the article

On this edition of "Plasmafactor", we shall be looking at the curse of utter lack of replay value. As stated before, the only way to get more out of the game after completing the single player campaign is replaying them over and over and over again. So, after the rush of excitement you get whenever you play through any new game, all you’re left with is a feeling of emptiness. It’s almost like a thanksgiving dinner without any pumpkin pie, only with worse handling while you operate those drumsticks… if that made any sense at all.

Even a conclusion couldn't wrap up all the loose ends in this game...

Summed up, this game is not worth the price it takes to lift off the shelf at your local retailer. You would be much happier going with an alternative WWII title like any of the Medal of Honor series, or if you really want an RTS, go for the WarCraft Battle Chest or StarCraft and its expansion.