WWII Online: Battleground Europe

Over the last half week I’ve spent some time playing Playnet’s & Cornered Rat Software’s WWII Online: Battleground Europe. What a trip it has been…

Intro:

I didn’t know much about the game, aside from what a few of my fellow gamer friends told me. I should have heeded their warnings because everything they said was true. WWII is not a game that anyone just jumps into. A more, delicate and tactical approach is needed for a game like this. You will spend a majority of your time in this game learning, and maybe raging. I will warn you AHEAD of time, this game has a VERY steep learning curve.

The game allows you to utilized a vast gameplay area and making you feel actually taking part in the war. A lot of other games now a days give you means and super human speed to navigate on their terrain. Now, when I say ‘vast,’ I sure as hell mean it. The game boasts a 1/2 scale map of its real European brother. It uses the largest MMOFPS game world map to date [Over 350,000 km]. WWII keeps the realistic feel to a strict dial and leaves it there. But, that’s just something that fans and players want. I can’t tell you how many games you can unload an entire magazine on a enemy player and still take the losing end of the firefight.

Gameplay:

The gameplay for the game is that of a natural army style FPS. Heavily objective based, sprinkled with the elimination of the opposing forces. Team based, picking an Allied or Axis force and carrying out missions that could win you terrain, and key territories. Not to mention the vehicle base the game holds as well. Aside from your natural infantry men, you have the option to pilot tanks and aircraft to destroy and maul your enemies to your liking. These are real game changers and it goes without saying that you should have some of these on your side!

Most of the game is spent “capturing” points. The game updates almost every 5 mins to let you know where you and your platoon/army stand on the map. The M key is used frequently to see capture points and standings of your team. Keep all of this in mind while you play, it’s very important to know where you need to move next.

The game also offers an extensive training regiment for those of you who need it (almost everyone). Choosing your class, and heading out into the fields to try out different styles and weapons. Everyone should start here when they first boot up the game. If gives you a lot of good information for the real stuff.

Conclusion:

I really can’t stress the learning curve enough here. I already see this game not getting a lot of players and converge for the simple fact of it’s tremendous learning gap to the gamer population. Be aware, this seems like a game for dedicated players only.

My Recommendation