Panzer General'esque turn based strategy blended with modern units, what's not to love?
If flashy first person shooters, and lots of blinking lights is your thing, then you might want to pass this game by. This is old school, steady paced, turn based strategy in just about every sense.
Exceed uses a 6 level hex based game board. Each level denotes a different altitude to give you more of a 3D feel to the game. Submarines can submerge, and planes can fly higher then all but the largest SAM's can hit them. But, for the most part, the game is played at ground level.
Exceed does well in its unit inventory, giving each nation several different units to choose from, even going into up to 3 variations for some units (called Packs). Even units that appear to be very simular will have differences in cost, to hit %, damage, evasion, spotting, etc... that set them apart from other nations counter parts. Units include everything from infantry (including paratroops and special forces), to helicopters, to fighters and bombers, to destroyers, cruisers, submarines and aircraft carriers. The mix of units gives each of the 8 nations its own strengths and weaknesses. It can take some time and some studying of a nation to fully understand their inventory, not to mention playing around just to see what different weapons on different units do. So, look for a little bit of a learning curve in that regard.
The only complaint I have about the units would be obvious missing units like the B-52, which has been in service for 40 or so years, and is projected to be in service for another at least 20. The USA does have 2 other "newer" bombers to choose from, including the B-2 stealth bomber, so its easy to look past. Also, Unmanned Arieal Vehicles are missing as well. Showing the engine of the game itself was not updated since before the XBox port of Dai Senryaku: Modern Military Tactics to the US.
The AI can be difficult and challenging, but it can do some things a little backwards. It is weak when fighting a naval war, not really concentrating on building war ships, but troop ships instead, which often leads to a lot of AI troops getting sunk in their transports. Also, the AI will only build "Pack 1" of any unit they do build, regardless of their need, or another pack of that unit actually being stronger. But, all in all, the AI will press its advantage when it can, it will concentrate fire and try to break your lines, it is better at setting up shots then you are, and can in general kick you butt if you don't use good tactics or strategy to defeat it.
Players are challenged with 4 short campaigns, as well as 25+ missions to complete in order to unlock more (and mostly better) units. The missions can be very challenging, but all of them are also winable. The real replayability of this game comes from its free mode, where you set your starting nations and money, and then try to build your army and conquer your enemy.
Exceed also has a map editor which will let you build free play maps (no campaign / missions, you cannot pre-place units). I personally enjoy creating maps and new challenges to beat. Custom maps can be shared by memory card.
Multiplayer is limited to hot seat only, so no online play is supported or available. It's a little difficult to play in this fasion, because what's to stop your opponent from watching your move, and spotting where your units are? It is better in this version, because they've added the feature of blacking out the screen inbetween turns, which at least doesn't show your opponent that your capital is uncovered, or possibly what reinforcements are coming soon. Again, this would be better online, but games would be long for online play.
Graphics and sound are a little antiquated, but speed and performance on the PS2 is fantastic, so I'll take that any day. It can be a little difficult sometimes to tell the difference with a glance between some nations unit types, but for the most part, its not that bad. Sounds are mainly squelches that you've captured a city (I think its supposed to be some sort of dramatic synthesized music). Speaking of synthesized music, the entire music background for the game was probably recorded using a Casio. Again, I'm not huge into the sound track, nor do I need an Apache Attack Helicopter to look like an exact life like replica, so I'm not displeased.
In all, if you are a fan of Dai Senryaku, or stategic TBS's, then Exceed is a great game to pick up and play. Add in the bargin price, and its a must buy!