Best Wargame
Winner: Sid Meier's Gettysburg!
"Look for its style of play to be emulated in other strategy games - Firaxis has really cracked the code on this one, bridging the gap between historical light infantry tactics and truly engaging real-time action." - Clint Wheelock, GameSpot Player Review
Sid Meier's Gettysburg! is a vivid and superb portrayal of the brief but pivotal Civil War conflict at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and a testament to the skill and imagination of one of the industry's most prized designers. Far from being your typical real-time strategy game, Gettysburg! instead emphasizes tactics and planning as you command either Northern or Southern regiments. Objectives in Gettysburg! are not easily reached - they must be captured then held to succeed. Morale, formation, terrain advantage, and even a little luck are all factored in. And better yet, Gettysburg! looks and sounds as polished as it plays. You can progress through the entire campaign and relive history or rewrite it entirely.
The odds weren't in favor of Gettysburg! taking top honors this year, not only because it's the first game under Meier's new Firaxis label, but also because it would be Meier's first attempt at a real-time game. But war game fans were relieved to find that the finished product offered the same sort of depth they'd come to expect from Meier's other strategy games.
Runner-up: Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far
"One thing that must be emphasized is that ABTF is not a real-time game with historical elements (like Age of Empires) but a historical war game with real-time gameplay." - Scott R. Krol, GameSpot Review
Atomic Games put the "real" in real-time strategy this year with Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far, the sequel to last year's runaway hit Close Combat. Like the first installment, A Bridge Too Far emphasizes the harsh reality of war through small-scale tactical combat. Soldiers carry limited ammunition and will panic and turn tail if a battle fares poorly. Likewise, ordering a troop to fulfill an unreasonable objective (like attacking a tank alone) may have unexpectedly chaotic results.
Superbly detailed graphics and truly immersive sound add up to a presentation, which further heightens the experience and far exceeds the look and feel of the impressive original Close Combat. Though the real-time combat demands quick thinking in the face of danger, A Bridge Too Far packs much more depth and challenge than your typical real-time strategy game and has quickly become the definitive standard in military simulation.
Next: Best Action/Simulation
