July 20th, 2008

Battle Of Kharkov

If you say that turn-based strategy is a dead genre, you may be right...almost right, in fact. Leaving aside those great games belonging to it and launched in the past, there are still producers that are keeping it alive, for the joy of all hardcore strategy fans, and I don't have to tell you how glad I felt when I found out that, thanks to an upcoming TBS title, I'll be able to try and change the history once again. Obviously, the war chosen is World War 2, and to make it even more accurate, Matrix Games and Strategic Studies Group have decided to focus on battles fought in a single place, Kharkov.

In the Decisive Battles games series, the Battle of Kharkov has a special place, especially if we think about the fact that history provided not one or two, but three battles fought in that area, between 1941 and 1943, so there's a lot of to try and change as a Soviet commander...but, as you can see in the trailer, I guess those that didn't play any similar game so far won't be crazy about this one, either.

According to David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, "The latest masterpiece from the award-winning Strategic Studies Group has been at the top of many gamers' wish lists and for good reason. Kharkov: Disaster on the Donets brings together the riveting and enjoyable mechanics of the Decisive Battles and Battlefront titles and combines it with plenty of innovation and novel gameplay!"

The feature list of the game includes improved and simplified supply, movement and direct combat systems, improved combat tables that better model diminishing returns and new HQ bonuses that can affect Direct and Indirect Fire, battalion and regimental combat, as well as improved strong points and new hedgehog rules, amongst many others.

Since Kharkov: Disaster on the Donets is already available, and the system requirements are very low, I am sure those trying to bring back those good old TBS times of the late 1990s will be happy to give this game a try.