E3 06: Panzer Tactics Impressions

LOS ANGELES--Panzer Tactics is a forthcoming game from CDV that attempts to combine the kind of turn-based strategy involved in the Avalon table-top board games with a level of accessibility that should make it easy for anybody to jump in and play from the off. The Nintendo DS game is set in a generic World War II environment, and the missions are based on a simple last-man-standing mechanic. The battleground is viewed from above and is hex-based, meaning that your units can move in one of six directions.

Included in the game are various types of infantry, artillery, tanks, and planes, and each unit type has its own set of statistics that will govern how they're used in battle. For instance, infantry are numerous and cheap to buy and can wear even tough units down, but thay are fairly weak on their own. Artillery, on the other hand, can do lots of damage from a distance but are slow to move and won't stand up to much of a beating.

The game's traditional rock-paper-scissors balancing of gameplay means you have to make the right choices about which units you send up against the enemy. Some units also have special secondary powers that can be used either once per mission or once every few turns, and these two elements form basically the entire selection of tactics in the game.

It's a move designed to make the action fast-paced rather than drawn out, with each mission designed to last under half an hour. Although veterans of the genre might breeze through the campaigns pretty quickly, there are a number of multiplayer modes that should extend the fun for a while. In addition to playing two-player hotseat and four-player wireless modes, you can play with up to three others across Nintendo's global Wi-Fi connection. For the latter, you'll be able to take advantage of the optimatch facility, which should pit you against opponents at roughly your own skill level, and you'll also be able to generate a profile for this.

As you progress through the game, your units will gain experience points, which will see them level up over the course of the campaign, so there's clear motivation to keep as many of them alive as possible. You'll also receive prestige points at the end of missions, allowing you to refuel and repair, as well as buy new units to bolster your force.

The game can be controlled exclusively using the stylus and touch screen, although you can use the other buttons should you so desire, and the various options for each unit will be displayed around the unit's hex when you hold the stylus over it. Although the graphics are a little on the basic side, the gameplay looks fairly addictive, and the addition of terrain effects and scout units (which can give information on enemy units and lift the fog-of-war effect) add an extra dimension. Panzer Tactics is due for release in North America and Europe later this year.