Subject: Panzer Elite Impressions From: "Trey Marshall" Since no one has posted anything on the actual gameplay on Panzer Elite, I decided to post my opinions on the game so far. So far I have played six single missions (no campaign yet) to get the feel for the game and learn the controls. Graphics: Vehicle graphics are nice but not spectactular. Terrain graphics and rendition are very nice with lots of places to hide and, in my opinion, realistic terrain for the appropriate theatre. One Italian scenario I played, had my panzer platoon defending very hilly terrain in which I placed my platoon on a hill overlooking a villa with great visibility. The terrain is a real bonus and leads to either long range duels (1000+ meters) or knife fights (300 meters) depending on the theatre. Very nice. One problem is that the nice map doesn't have elevations so you're on you have to use your trusty Mk II Eyeballs to find a good position. I've seen some infantry and they remind me of M1TP2's infantry. The position crew member positions are also nicely rendered. Controls: With my Sidewinder Pro, the controls are very intuitive. Throttle controls speed, turret is controlled by the rudder, hull pivots and turret elevations with the joystick. Lots of nice options to make the game easier or harder. Gameplay: The tank battles seem to be very realistic. In modern battles with M1s, etc. you expect one shot, one kills. In these battles, there is a lot of adjusting like artillery as you try to judge the range and get the shots dead on. At long range duels, it is common for a duel to last 5-10 minutes between two enemy platoons. Formation commands work and there are several available. I don't think that you can set waypoints, so you end up driving your platoon yourself (I use the external view) to the battle location. You have to look behind you often to ensure that you haven't lost any of your platoon. It isn't that they get stuck but they just don't seem to keep up the same speed that you do so going full speed is sometimes risky. AI tanks seem smart enough to engage and position themselves against enemy targets. Overall, the platoon level game feels about what I would expect. My beef comes with some design decisions that were made. Yes, the game is solid but it just doesn't grab me to keep playing over and over. The main problem for me is the Immserveness factor. There are friendly platoons that are out there that are performing certain tasks as per the briefing but don't expect to ever see them. They are usually far away and you can't give them commands at all or watch them with an external view. Plus, the units never bother to send any kind of information about enemy sightings, losses, etc. As a result, as a platoon leader, I feel very alone because I can't see, hear, or talk to any of the other elements. Bottom line is if you can't interact with those units, why bother to even include them? They bring nothing to the game. What I would have loved to see, ala M1TP2, is active control over the friendly platoons as well as an option to watch them fight. Why not? One of the reasons I liked M1TP2 so much was that I could sit back and watch my other elements fight it out. Example, one battle had a pair of AT guns defending a ridge. I drove over to the guns to help with the defense and found them already smoking. Never heard them engage, get destroyed, nothing. It made me feel like there was a bigger battle going on and that my platoon wasn't fighting in a vacuum. A typical battle has you leading your platoon to a hotspot somewhere several kilometers away where you drive around for 15-20 minutes while some friendly units are engaged somewhere. When you arrive, your buddies are dead and you end up hunting for whoever did it. Also, when your Platoon leader tank gets knocked out, game over. Your tank gets immobilized? Game over. You can't do anything. Why? I understand that this is a platoon level sim but it is still a game. Sound: Overall, the sound affects are nice. Glancing shots are cool as well as engine sounds, etc. The basic sounds are there but there isn't any "sound candy" to make one feel he is embroiled in a struggle for his life. You won't hear cracks of tank cannons in the distance or MGs and artillery in the distance, just your platoon's. Also, explosion sounds are weak and quiet if at all. I watched a wingman tank brew up 100 meters to my front, turret flying the air, and I never heard it. My tank would often get destroyed without a sound. Scenarios/Campaigns: Campaigns are nothing more than linking the single mission battles together with platoon management in between. The missions themselves are nice and varied and I can't comment yet on the replayibility factor but a game with fixed scenarios and campaign with no mission generator or editor, you be the judge. Overall: It seems that the holy grail of WW2 tank simulators is out there somewhere. It began with Across the Rhine (my biggest dissapointment in computer gaming) and went through the equally crappy iPanzer (which I thankfully never bought) and Panzer Commander (Just didn't like that one either for many of the same reasons.) Panzer Elite IS the best WW2 tank sim ever based on those games. My overall opinion is that PE has the POTENTIAL to be excellent. As it is no, I would give it a C average. I want very much to like it but I find myself wanting to play the Combat Mission Beta Demo over PE. PE has an excellent foundation with good graphics, great terrain, excellent unit mix but falls way short on the Immersiveness factor that M1TP2 held for me. Part of the problem which Panzer Commander also had, was a focus on Platoon operations. The fact is that Platoons don't act in a vacuum. They are part of maneuver companies and task forces with which there is no interaction in either PC or PE. Platoons level battles are quick an deadly - which is why I get the feeling that the games are over way too quickly. Personally, I think tank sims should concentrate on company level battles which allows for much more maneuver and tactical options. IF, the designers would broaden the game out a little so that I could control all the assets/platoons in the game and place them where I wanted before the battle begun, that would be a major step. I want to watch those other platoons fight with external views. I don't want to drive my vehicles manually from Point A to Point B - I could be watching other battles while these platoons move around on their own. Finally, a plea to designers - make engrossing and realistic battle sounds. This is PE's greatest weakness. There is no feeling that I'm part of a larger battlefield. I want to hear people under pressure on the radio. Panicking Platoon leaders screaming in over the speakers. Deafening explosions and artillery barrages rocking the speakers. Hell, where I live on post, we hear and feel artillery impacts over 15 kilometers away! I think this one is going back but I'll be keeping my eye on Wings Simulations and see what they do the game. I would be very shocked if they bucked the trend to issue a minor patch. A major patch to address the above items is what it would take for me. I wish them luck as I want to lead Panther Platoons on hills overlooking small Italian villas at long ranges. Being a Platoon Leader never felt so lonely. Trey