Axis & Allies

Rating:
Summary: I really want my money back!
Review: After eagerly shelling out 50 bucks to buy this game, I have to say that it is horrible. I love A&A but you know what...this game is NOT A&A. I really feel I could get my money back by suing Atari for false advertisement. Save your money.

Rating:
Summary: Worth It!
Review: As long as you aren't expecting to see the full board game rules here, you won't be disappointed. Timegate has used their excellent Kohan engine to make a fine RTS that takes the focus away from resource gathering and places it where it needs to be, on strategy. It has fun and detailed campaigns, including a highly entertaining Axis "what if" type campaign that includes Operation Sea Lion, Burning of Moscow and the invasion of Australia and India. If you are a WWII fan, pick this up!

Rating:
Summary: Huge Fan Dissapointed
Review: First off I am a huge board game fan and a fan of the electronic A&A and Iron Blitz games. I was waiting anxiously for this to come out and my wife went out and got it for me and she paid the full $50...she wasted her money.

First off you cannot buy airplanes and naval units (how could they do this?!?!) Second, the game play is horrid and the graphics are so-so. THis game is not very challenging. I would send some hate mail the the game developers and wait for this game to hit the $10 bin (which will not be a long wait!)

Rating:
Summary: Great idea, but fails its potential
Review: I am 40 years old, and not a hardcore PC gamer. I do love traditional strategy games, and played everything from chess to Risk and the A&A board game growing up.

I only own about three or four PC games. I quite liked the first PC version of A&A, as it was like the board game, but sped up with the computer rolling the dice, etc. When I heard about this release, I couldn't wait, and eagerly shelled out the $49.99 (I see it is already only $45.99 here on Amazon).

I just wanted to let you know where I was coming from before I gave my review. My initial impressions are mixed, but overall, I am somewhat disappointed. This may change as I play more.

I have to say I love the idea. The traditional board game strategy, with the ability to "micromanage" the battles in real time. In fact, in the WWII mode, you can play the whole game from the game board perspective, using the computer to resolve the battles based on relative strengths, or you can choose to do any particular battle, offensive or defensive, in the micro mode, and then on that level, it is like a whole new game, with great graphics and all.

The biggest disappointment as a fan of the traditional board game version and the original PC version, is that on the board game level, it is not much like the original game. You do not start out with choices like ships, subs, and planes to deploy, only infantry or mechanized infantry. The Ocean spaces on the board do not serve as any type of natural barrier, as any type of piece can move to any adjoining space. So, for example, German infantry can attack Great Britain as easily as Russia on the mainland. In fact, as another reviewer mentioned, if you choose to play the board game level, and not use the real-time strategy level to resolve battles, the game is simply a rush to deploy infantry and gobble up territory. If you play the U.S., the game will be over in about 5 or 6 turns as Moscow and London fall before you can really get in the battle.

Also, the technology doesn't have things like heavy bombers and super subs, etc.

I really wish that on the game board, turn by turn level, the PC game was true to the Board game. I agree with others that if you are an A&A fan you are in for a disappointment.

Other complaints I have are that, for example, the tool bar has fancy graphics, that I think are unnecessary, and cut down on the viewable area of the map, which should be a prime focus in designing the interface. Also, the tool bar has separate buttons for moving and attacking, so you have to click the piece you want, then click move button or attack button, then click the territory you want to move to or attack. And if you click the move button, then a hostile territory, it tells you you can't move to a hostile territory, you must attack. This three-step process seems like such a waste, when the two actions are mutually exclusive. Why can't you just drag the piece to the space you want, and then the computer should be able to know if it is friendly you want to move there, and if it is hostile, you want to attack? This is just one example.

Finally, keep your manual handy, as although there are PCtutorials, they only deal with the real time combat level, and you'll be unable to figure out how to play the board game level, because of problems like the one I just described above, without digging through the book.

Now, having said that, I am trying to learn this game better, and enjoy it in its own right. I think that is possible. And I haven't tried many of the campaign options, so they might be fun also. It does have great graphics, and that is why I gave it 3 stars (instead of 1 or 2).

Rating:
Summary: This is a great RTS
Review: In other RTS games, you are forced to micro-manage every single aspect of your army - from building your bases, to targeting each enemy unit to be attacked. You spend more time trying to click at things running around your screen than focusing on the strategy of the game. (Especially if the units are very small).

Axis and Allies removes a lot of the micromanagement needed, and allows you to spend more time planning your strategy. You rely less on your clicking reflexes, and more on your brain.

Once your armies engage in battle, you lose control over your units except for a few simple commands. You can tell your armies to move around, but your units will pick their own targets to attack rather that forcing you to target each enemy unit. This allows you more time to focus on your economy, or to send more reinforcements. Meanwhile, your units heal simply by being in your supply zone instead of requiring you to tell a specific unit to heal.

Definitely try this game out if you are looking for a Real-Time Strategy game that is more focused on strategy than clicking.

Rating:
Summary: allies ain't so allied
Review: so, you're in charge of the ENTIRE theatre of europe right? No, wait, you're in charge of a corps, no you command the theatre again. Oh, yeah, by the way, you can only attack in ONCE every turn. The OBVIOUS bugs in this game clearly stem from the messy marriage of real-time and turn based strategy gaming. Ya know, I wish AH would, program a goddamned game that plays like one of their board games, and just settle for selling it for $10 or $5. unless, of course we're talkin about Squad Leader, now THAT game would sell. But I digress, in short save your nickels and buy some other turkey.

Rating:
Summary: If you are looking for a computerized Axis & Allies game....
Review: Then this is NOT it. Don't waste your money.

I finally upgraded to XP SP2 and my A & A (Hasbro Version) stopped working. So I thought it was time to upgrade my version of A & A. As I read about the new version, I was really psyched at the potential of mixing the board game and RTS. However after spending time playing it today, I can honestly say it is a WW II RTS game bearing the title A & A with a computerized board game. While the computerized board game portion of the game may show a board that resembles the A & A map, the game doesn't resemble A & A very much beyond that. No ships or aircraft to control in the WW II portion. Imagine taking a territory and you get to keep all your armies and the enemy loses only one and gets to retreat. Huh? Germany can invade Great Britian with troops straight from Europe. What happened to control of the air or sea? This has both Moscow and London falling quickly if you are the US. Another sticking point, you can only have one battle per turn. ??? You can only cross one boarder at a time. Huh??? No tanks crossing two territories. I am not sure how the "quick resolution" of a battle is accomplished in the backend. On several occasions I attacked my opponent whom I totally out numbered and I lost. I think someone posted something similar happening to them also. I ended up losing one guy and all forces retreated. Huh??? What if I don't wnat to retreat? One battle I was attacking Japan, however if Japan leaves no armies in Japan you can't attack. What??? Is this a feature? I'll just leave my homeland empty and I'll never lose. Several turns later Japan has a country full of armies.

To be fair to the programmers on the RTS side, it has some cool stuff. Little things like snow falling off the trees in the background. Tanks running over trees, tank tracks in the snow...

It seems to me that those who gave it a great review are looking at it from an RTS perspective. Those that gave it a bad review were looking at it from a "computerized version of the titled board game". Two reviewers must have been out late smoking something or work for Atari. TimeGate or somehow associated with selling the product. Sam you are the only one that says "It stays true to the board game". Tim another reviewer even says "not your board game anymore" and Diego "I am sure it will be a great PC game" obviously puts you in the "haven't played it so you shouldn't review it". Play it then tell us your thoughts.

In the end it is a good "Age of Empires" World War II version, however it is far from the name Axis & Allies board game I have known and what I thought I was purchasing.

I wanted a computerized version of the board game. Instead I was really disappointed because it is just a wolf is sheep's clothes. Atari came out with a good game and unfortunately attached the name of another game to it. I was so pumped up to play it, however the delta between my expectation and the delivery is just too great.

Have I expressed my disappointment....

If Atari or TimeGate happen to read this, all you need to do is take the WW II portion of the game and make that part more like the actual board game or Hasbro version (tuning it up a bit) and both sides will give it a thumbs up. It seems to get thumbs up from the RTS gamers. However those who buy it thinking it is like the board game are going to continue to be very disappointed. From the 50/50 reviews I would say it might be half of the customer base, although I think is is more 60/40, some of the reviews are obviously peppered.


Rating:
Summary: Not the board game, but a good game nonetheless.
Review: This is a fine game, but it doesn't follow the original board game, although it purports to. It should be obvious by now to the designers if they want to avoid alot of bad reviews that they need to revise the portion of the game that is derived from the board game to follow the board game, exactly. I am at a loss to understand why they deviated from the board game in the first place, as it has been a proven winner of a game. I can't believe that it was to save computing power; it was likely a way to license the name of the board game to get to the real time strategy part of the game. But it appears that this was a bad design and marketing strategy as it is just angering the board gamers who are looking for a computerized version of the board game.

The RTS portion of the game is the guts of the game, and an excellent job is done with the RTS, given the nature of games like these.

Hasbro should either yank the name license or Atari needs to revise this game to closely track the board game, because this version does the board game a serious injustice. In particular, I direct my comments to Messrs. Chaveleh, who are listed as being in charge of the game concept and as executive producers. However, I can recommend the game for the RTS portion.

Rating:
Summary: Trust me...
Review: When I saw this game like all the other reviewers before me, I just had to have it! Well I got it and like the old saying goes "don't wish for something, you just might get it", definitely applies to this. Oh be prepared here, you are in for a lecture!

I saw two different sets of reviews on this, one set was really positive (just MAY have been written by people who are affiliated with the computer company in some way). Why so harsh a comment??? Because that is the only reason anyone in their right mind could possibly even like this game. Ok back to the subject, the second set of reviews are by people who say this game is bad. I have to DEFINATELY and totally agree with them.

Trust me out there, this game is a total and complete waste of money! The fact that it now sells for Twenty dollars is an excellent indicator of this. I didn't even know it was out and the price dropped by half before I even knew it was available. If you buy computer games, use that as a "suck indicator".

Ok, so now you want to know why it totally sucks??? Here's why; I ask you, have you ever played Axis and Allies??? It's a great board game. In fact, it is one of the best board games ever made. This computer version of this great game has nothing to do with this fantastic board game. They made it into a mutant of the original game by throwing in a real time strategy game. The bottom line is this, "they totally changed the game". They changed a game that won numerous awards over many years.

Well I know the game company has people who get paid to read reviews like mine. To YOU I say congratulations. You just killed a great game from the computer world. There was another great game called Squad Leader. It was one of the best board war games ever made. The computer world effectively killed it by changing the entire game except in title only. Do you guys do this on purpose??? Now due to copyright laws and a very big ball of red tape, people who only play computer games will never know about Axis and Allies. Who out there reading this knew about Squad Leader???

This brings up a syndrome that the information age is creating. Hollywood makes movies from books from time to time. You hear this over and over again, when you talk to someone who read the book (how was the movie?); they will usually tell you they didn't like the movie. Why is that??? The reason is always the same, because the movie "changed the book".

Now it seems Computer gaming is doing the same to classic board games. Soon (and remember this well), you will run into people who say they know how to play chess. It will be a shock to see when this same person looks at the game in progress on a chess board and doesn't know what they are looking at. That day is fast approaching.

Because people allow this to go on in the name of profit, history and culture is being forgotten because it is being changed. To you people who think is little computer game is good, to you I say "get off your computer and play a board game". While you're at it, go read a book, one made from paper. You don't know what is good except what the Computer industry wants you to think is good.

To those who skipped my entire review except for the bottom line, "trust me, this game totally and completely sucks". Buy the board game.

Michael W. McFall
[e-mail]


Rating:
Summary: Why is this called axis and allies?
Review: With the title Axis & Allies this game is a major disapointment. They could have named it any number of world war 2 themed names without tarnishing the classic board game.

As others have said the ui is bloated could use some stream lining. Compared to other strategy offerings released the graphics seem to be a generation behind.

The utter disregard for the rules of the board game and lack of depth that entails will leave axis and allies players looking for shrink wrap and blow dryer to return this to the local software store for a refund.

I really wish the Activision team that made Rome Total War had gotten this license. then we would only be able to complain about minor bugs and ai issues which could be saved in patches.

As it stands no amount of patching can save this game unless of course you never played or heard of the board game and dont link the title to the excellent board game.

They should do us a favor and name it WWII battlegrounds or something like that. Then it may stand a chance...