Blitzkrieg-Burning Horizons

Blitzkrieg: Burning Horizons (B:BH) is a stand-alone expansion to Blitzkrieg, meaning you don't need the original game to play this one. It is a very well done Real Time Strategy World War II game. The player may play a single map, or chose to advance through an 18+ mission campaign that spans Rommel's career in World War II. A small collection of single missions are included with some set in the Pacific. This game does not come with an editor like the original, so it seems a little short and your interest may have waned by the time you complete it. But CDV fully backs this game up, releasing modifications and more maps on a regular basis.

Supply and Logistics are important. Units must be kept supplied with ammo, and depleted infantry squads must get replacements or they are permanently destroyed. Tank repair is often necessary since they will quickly be destroyed when they are wounded. The game has a rating system to keep track of how well you keep up with supply and replacements, among other factors.

The interface is the easiest I've seen in an RTS game. The 3 rows of 4 actions all correspond with the 3 rows of the first 4 keys of the keyboard. The player just has to look at the symbol and press the corresponding key. "S" is rotate because it is second in the second row. Otherwise the player would be searching for the "R" key or "U" key. This may seem complicated at first but to experienced RTS players or Blitzkrieg players it will come easy to them. All the unit information is put into four status bars at the bottom representing: Health, Primary ammo, Secondary Ammo, and Experience. Health is also represented by a large green bar over the unit. This game would get 5/5 Stars but the four bars seem to be in a very unlikely spot and are small.

The units are ordered around by a simple right click interface and they automatically move to the point or attack the unit that is clicked on. Commands are issued in the same way, either pressing the button on the menu or pressing the appropriate key and then right clicking where desired. The game is in a permanent isometric view and sometimes units (especially infantry) may get “lost" and you will have to find them using the mini-map.

The mini-map is straightforward and simple to use. Just left-click on the are you wish to “jump" to.

The graphics are quite spectacular for a game like this and the terrain graphics seem to have some slight improvement over the original. The sounds of battle ring quite well on the battlefield though the sounds are “type" specific and not “unit" specific. All light tanks make the same pop sound as they fire their light cannon. The ambient sound is quite excellent making the game feel more authentic.

The units are very detailed (especially tanks), and an improvement over the Sudden Strike series is that the infantry are much larger and are controlled in squads instead of individually. The vehicles are quite spectacular looking and even leave very nice little wrecks on the ground that eventually disappear. They do block movement though, until they “disintegrate." Voice acting during briefings is very good for the most part, but the German officer sounds a little strange.

CDV claims that the AI has improved since Blitzkrieg, and it has. The enemy sends out and utilizes recon elements more wisely, and even has better air-ground co-ordination. The computer does still lack in that it sometimes sends units in waves to dissuade you but often it will attempt to work into the flanks, or even the rear of your attack. The computer's counter-battery Forward Observers are quite omnipotent as they seem to always pin down the location your batteries and call forth some devastating artillery barrages that usually hit your artillery and you still have only a faint idea of where its barrages are coming from.

Unit path-finding is done quite well and I still haven't had a unit trip up on me yet. The only issue is they must enter buildings through the front door. They never go through windows or the back. This usually exposes them to fire and you will take casualties as they move to the front door.

This game is great but it has potential to be much better. Mainly, it is a tide-me-over until Blitzkrieg 2 is released, and it meets the demands of users that wanted Japan as a nation. The game still has the feel of the original and the revamped AI is slightly more challenging. A lack of multi-player is a minus, since you can't experience the human element. Even though CDV backs it up quite well, there is no mission editor that takes into account the new units, buildings, and terrain, so you must depend on their website for new single missions or campaigns. Also, don't buy this game if you are looking for total historical accuracy. It isn't meant to be totally accurate, so don't expect to see exact TO&E's or OOB's. This is mainly a game for enjoyment's sake.