Average title with mediocre action...
The evolution of the tank has had a great impact on the way humanity has fought its wars. It was the tank that was responsible for the abolishment of Napoleonic-era tactics which resulted in the mass slaughter of men in WWI. Almost three decades later, tank combat would come to the forefront in the European theatre of WWII. From the battle of El Alamein in the deserts of Egypt to the Soviet plains at Kursk, tanks were involved in some of the most important engagements of the war. It’s with that premise that WW2 Tank Commander attempts to thrust the player into the commanding seat of an Allied Sherman, but the results are repetitious and often underwhelming.
This is achieved by many factors, the first being the campaign itself. Broken up into 10 missions, the game takes place in the final years of the European campaign, starting shortly after the D-day invasions and concluding in the middle of the final drive through Germany. It’s almost a disappointment how the game does end. There’s no epic clash of armor or massive battle that solidifies your dominance of German tank divisions, just an unexpected ending that seems rather cliché given the material.
Not that the rest of the game will have you biting your nails on the edge of your seat either. The battles are, by and large, the same thing from level to level: a slow forward advance, blasting away a few enemies, and lumbering on. Those enemies manifest themselves in the same form throughout, too. There’s no difference between what you’ll face in the beginning compared to the final missions. You’ll still be firing at a tank, a sub-machinegun-toting infantryman, stationary gun, or mortar emplacement.
It’s all quite linear, too. The levels, and slow nature of the tank itself, make the game, at times, seem tedious. There is certainly an effort to re-create some things accurately, like the hedgerows encountered in France. These sequences work well and provide a few surprises, but not much more. Other levels, particularly city ones, rely on random spawn points. It’s possible to pass an empty area at one point and while coming back seeing that same area filled to the brim with enemy armor and troops.
Combat is functional, but seems speckled with a few glaring bugs. You’ll notice almost right away that your shots don’t always hit where your targeting reticle is pointed. It almost seems that the shells are passing right through some tanks as the first round will make contact but a second shot in the exact same spot mysteriously hits the immediate background of the enemy. Also, splash damage seems to be magnified to unrealistic proportions against infantry. An explosion will almost always kill an infantryman halfway across the screen. It’s good that you don’t have to waste an extra shell, since the machine gun is practically useless, but it just looks downright weird when you see it.
Tank Commander does make attempts to split the action up. While repetitious combat sequences are the meat-and-potatoes of the game, you will occasionally have to defend bridges, escort convoys, and take out road blocks. None of these are particularly exciting, but they do help reduce the monotony of it all. When you put it into perspective, the combat isn’t terrible, but it’s not the best. The latter comment owing heavily to the game’s terrible AI.
Unless you get close enough, a lot of the enemies in the game won’t shoot at you. You can be shelling them, clearly in their line of sight, but nothing will come back. It happens at about a 30-70 percent ratio of non-responsive to aggressive AI. The ones that do fire back don’t even move, so worrying about any flanking maneuvers is pointless. You can destroy a good amount of the enemies and never take a hit, but there are times when the sheer number of bad guys will overwhelm you if you don’t have one of your invincible friendly tanks near you.
Any Allied vehicles, unless pre-scripted, will be able to absorb each and every shot volleyed at them. With this simple premise, the game devolves into strategically trailing allied AI and destroying everything from the rear. When you do take damage you can quickly pick up arcade-style health and ammo powerups dropped by fallen enemies. It makes the game easy and you won’t find many challenges in the five-hour campaign. There’s just no reason to stick your own neck out when friendlies can take the brunt of the assault.
You’ll often have to rely on the allied tanks to locate enemies as well. Due to the positioning of certain enemies and atmospheric conditions like fog and darkness, you won’t always be able to locate certain enemies. After several shots your armor will be hurting and unless you retreat and let your invincible ally knock ‘em out you risk having to do a very frustrating restart.
As far as presentation is concerned, Tank Commander won’t be winning any awards, although your Sherman is rendered adequately and the resulting explosion from a destroyed tank is quite satisfying. The nighttime mission is impressive and the barrel-flashes give a hint of polish. But most of the other environments are rather bland with very little texturing done and short draw distances.
The featured soundtrack consists of the budget military march themes that players are probably used to. There are some excellent environmental noises from the screeching of the treads to the loud thuds of each shell impact. This is all countered by lackluster and seemingly uninspired voice work. Sometimes actors go over-the-top, but in Tank Commander you can actually visualize them reading off the script in front of you.
With the absence of a multiplayer, WW2 Tank Commander has very little replay value. There’s just not enough interesting gameplay to warrant the budget £20 price tag. Still, if you enjoy tank games or WWII in general, you may find something here. The game does have its moments and can occasionally be fun.