Hands-onPanzer Front

Panzer Front is Agetec's historical tank combat simulator that places you behind the big guns of an Allied or Axis tank, across 28 different maps spanning all of WWII Europe. Missions take place in a variety of locales, from open battlefields to villages, and range from providing cover fire for grenadiers attacking enemy lines to simple frontal assaults. Depending on the country of origin, your tanks have different capabilities and even unique crosshairs. American tanks, for example, have a standard crosshair, while Germans align their shots by aiming across the top of a triangle. The six tanks available are a mixture of actual historical models and fictional creations. Ammunition ranges from standard armor-piercing rounds to heat rounds, smoke launchers, and antipersonnel weapons. Advanced players can access greater difficulty scales and turn off options like auto-aiming, manual transmission, and no-tank damage.

Graphically, Panzer Front could be improved in a number of areas. The draw distance is extremely limited, and we found ourselves shooting into gray space fairly often. The tank models, infantry, and tread marks all show a fair bit of chop, especially when several vehicles are firing onscreen at once. The environments are fairly interactive, as trees can be run over, and buildings can be blackened by stray fire. During combat, getting a well-aligned shot on an enemy tank pans to a brief, in-game cutscene where the unlucky tank blows up, and the kill is confirmed--this definitely puts the breaks on the action.

Besides the training missions, you can learn from the tank commander, gunner, and loader who communicate with you during the action via the text box at the bottom of your heads-up display. They may advise you to close with the enemy, back off the front lines, open fire, and generally provide useful advice. The gameplay is fairly basic, with controls for acceleration, gear shifting, turret rotation, and firing. For certain situations, you can view the battlefield using binoculars or switch to the battlefield map, where you can command allied tanks or ask for artillery support.

Panzer Front is set for release on the PlayStation by the end of August.