Operation Europe: Path to Victory

"KOEI should just stick to ancient warfare"

Being the Western History major that I am, when I saw this game, I just had to try it out. After all, it was a strategy game by KOEI, the company responsible for Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so it must be pretty good, right? Wrong.

STORY
It's World War II. I hope you have some idea of what's going on in this game. But the little blurbs by the leaders at the beginning of each campaign oversimplify things a bit. Anyway, this only concentrates on the Western front, so you won't be having any naval battles. Just six of the major battles in Europe and North Africa.

GAMEPLAY
All the game's other technical flaws would be forgivable IF the gameplay were good. Unfortunately, it isn't. It's supposed to be a strategy game, but there really isn't much strategy involved. There's no diplomacy to be had, which would have been nice. The various commanders' statistics don't seem to have any bearing on how capable they are. You can move your units, engage an enemy unit, sabotage bridges, lay land mines, order bombing raids, and all that other good war stuff. But it's pulled off horribly here. For starters, mines and bombing runs are never worth the effort. They rarely damage enemy units, and even if they do, very little damage is done. Special forces missions are seldom successful and often ineffective, even mundane ones like cutting enemy communications. Need more supplies? Too bad, your superiors won't give you any. That leaves you with only four things that you can really do: Move, fight, rest, and resupply. And don't get me started on combat. True, the war in Europe relied heavily on tanks, but not this heavily! There are four types of units in the game: Tanks, Artillery, Mechanized Infantry, and Infantry. With only four basic types to choose form, you would think that a little balance would be called for. There isn't. Tanks rule the day, the night, and everything in between. The only thing that can hurt a tank unit is another tank unit. Unless it's a Tiger I or Tiger II tank unit(an Axis unit), in which case nothing will hurt it. Everything else is cannon fodder, even the cannons. Artillery can't hit hard enough to make up for its pitiful defense, Mechanized Infantry suffers the same problems, and regular Infantry just can't do anything right except die. In most wars, the topography is supposed to play a role in your strategy; not in this one apparently. Above all else, if your units should get into combat, you had better let your subordinate generals call the shots; if you direct the troops yourself, you're in for a whipping, guaranteed. They might be in for a whipping anyway, the way the units are balanced. And finally, the time that passes while the computer takes its turn is just excruciating. An average turn will take anywhere from five to fifteen minutes. You might see a unit move a square or two occasionally, but other than that, it's just your CO's portrait in the corner with the text message ''The enemy is plotting strategy'' for a while. If it's time for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you might as well go get it, because the computer won't be done ''plotting strategy'' for a while.

GRAPHICS AND SOUND
Seeing as this is a strategy game, I'm pretty forgiving of the generally poor graphics. The character and unit portraits are pretty good, and I was glad that there was some historical accuracy here; including some of the more obscure commanders on both sides was a nice touch. But besides that, the graphics weren't all that great. Sounds are passable; as most of it is pointing and clicking with the controller, there isn't a whole lot of sound to be expected. As for the music, well, it's not too bad at first, but it gets on your nerves quickly, especially during one of the long expanses of time when you're sitting there doing absolutely nothing while the computer takes its turn.

CONTROL
Control is decent, if a bit sluggish. But it's turn-based, so that's not too bad. Again, all you're doing is pointing and clicking.

I haven't had the pleasure of playing any of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms games, so I can't criticize KOEI for those games, but I sure can do so for this one. The total lack of effective strategy, the drudgery of the computer's long turns, and the general sloppiness with which this game was put together just doesn't do justice to the definitive event of the 20th century. If you want to play a good strategy game, go play Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zeta Gundam, or Final Fantasy Tactics. Stay away from this one.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 01/31/02, Updated 01/31/02