Company of Commandos in a Silent Storm

User Rating: 8.5 | Soldiers: Heroes of World War II PC
By eclarkdog | Review Date:
SHOWWII came well after the Commandos series and a bit before the Company of Heroes series. Basically, it's the best of both worlds in real-time squad-based tactical gameplay. I'd say it doesn't have quite the scope of COH nor the personality of Commandos, but what it has is pure unadulterated squad-based WWII gameplay. This is definitely my favorite style of gaming. I'm also a huge fan of Desperados and Silent Storm. Silent Storm is turned-based but still very comparable as a squad-based WWII strategy. Unlike these games, your units are not as specialized or unique among themselves in SHOWWII nor do they have their unique personalities - you don't get as invested in them. But as a squad, whether allies or axis, you play a small team of soldiers in more micro-situations than a full on battle you find in more clickfest type RTS games like your AOEs and the like. Generally, except in certain timed situations, this offers you a bit more casual experience in which you can enjoy setting up your strategies to destroy the enemy and meet your objectives. With that said though, this game is certainly a challenge.

A unique aspect on this game compared to others of this ilk, is more focus on the use of vehicles like tanks. While not dominant, use of vehicles by your squad is an important part of the game and extremely enjoyable and challenging. One of my favorite things was finding some half damaged enemy tank that happened to have a repair kit nearby - you could fix the tank, hop your men in it, and wreak some havoc. Did I mention that vehicles explode?!

Each soldier can basically do the same thing and use the same weapons. However, due to limited inventory and weight, you can have soldiers focus on using certain types of weapons like heavier machine guns, rifles or even grenades. This allows you to load up on certain ammo for the weapon type. Some of the battles are pretty intense and challenging. You can set up men to fire automatically like ambushes that can be very effective. Another nice feature though is the auto aim. Auto aim allows you to select a certain unit and while hold a button like CTL, you can directly fire at an enemy or vehicle. This feature is especially effective for sniping or firing tank missiles from a distance.

SHOWWII is really a rich tactical strategy game that offers hours upon hours of fun and exciting gameplay as well as a rather decent modding community for additional scenarios. The graphics and sound are top notch for the time. I don't quite put this in the some class as Commandos or Desperados, which are true classics. I think one of the main reason is that those games had a bit more charm to them. Otherwise, SHOWWII is really one of the bests of this very neglected genre and will certainly provide a shot in the arm to those gamers that enjoyed the other classics but haven't tried this one out. Honestly, at this point, it's probably unlikely that these folks haven't already enjoyed this game but then there's always new initiates around the corner.

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