Date: Wed, 14 Sep 1994 22:59:19 +0300 From: Jarmo Markkanen Subject: COMP:REV: Clash of Steel (short :) Well, here is a very short review of Clash of Steel: It is a strategic simulation of the entire European Theater of WW2. You are the supreme commander of either the Axis or Allies. If you choose Allies, you may command Russia, U.S. or the rest of Allies. To be the supreme commander really means that you are the number 1 commander. That is, if you play Axis, you can think being in the same situation as Mr. A. Hitler was. Therefore, you must make not just combat decisions, but also use diplomatic tactics, control the military production and R&D activities. The military action happens on army/corps level. The units include infantry, tanks, paratroopers, engineers and air and naval forces. Turns are divided into multiple impulses, the amount of impulses varies. The naval action is done on a separate naval map, divided into several zones. You may play a complete campaign, that is from the German attack to Poland to the very end. Or, you may start from five different starting points. The game requirements are 386 or faster, 2 MB RAM, MSDOS 5.0 or later (DR DOS 6.0 is fine, too), VGA card and 2 Megs of HD space. I believe that the game is playable on 386sx/16, there is no such processes in the game that might freeze you machine. And yes, the SB and SBPro are also supported. And the game has a mouse interface (Fred, wink wink :). And my opinion? Well, I like it. The feeling to be the very top commander is very fascinating. The playing is quite simple, but it still has depth. Most of the simplistic feeling is caused by the great interface the game has. You can concentrate on planning, you don't have to spend time for wondering how it is done. And in this game, you can really rewrite the history! Even if the game is quite realistic in what comes to the sizes of the armies at a certain time, there is so many possible variations in what could have happened, like Axis invasion to Britain, for example. What comes to the other games in that CDROM-pack, I just bought War in Russia. And no, that game is is not HUGE, it's *HUGE*! Even now, after reading the manual and after playing it just a half an hour, I'm quite sure that this is THE game that I've always been waiting for. But, as I said, I haven't played it much yet. Jarmo Markkanen