Field Commander

"Another must have for the PSP!"

Field Commander fills one of the major gaps in the PSP collection – strategy. While comparisons and in some cases justified ones will be made with the Nintendo title Advance Wars, Field Commander treats aspects very differently and I will review this game as a game in its own right and I will not compare the games.

Graphics

Field Commander offers a 3d in game map with good detail with all the units easily identifiable and the same can be said for the terrain. A lot of the detail cannot be fully appreciated as the game is largely fought in a bird's eye view perspective. This works both ways however as it does help cover some of the graphical letdowns but even these are not really noticeable and it is largely nitpicking.

Field Commander has sold animation with no jerks or skips. Every attack you order works fluidly and is impressive. When an attack occurs the camera changes to a horizontal view and you see the punishment being dealt and in some cases returned. In order to prevent the map from becoming crowded all your units are represented as one of them, for example one tank or one bomber, this helps the game to run at a good pace and on the PSP's screen keep things clear.

Sound

Field Commander features a variety of sound effects from missiles to gun shots and all sound realistic and they all occur on time with the animation to create a realistic sounding experience. There are some slight faults such as no specific sound when you travel through water but this is, like the graphics, largely nitpicking and does not case a problem with the gaming experience. The voice acting is varied and sounds good with every character sounding varied and it fits well with what you would perceive the character to sound like. There is no particular ingame soundtrack but as you spend little time on the menus this does not matter.

Gameplay

Field Commander has absolutely brilliant gameplay because it works on the best level – Simple to play but difficult to master. The aim is simple, either destroy all of the enemy's units or capture their HQ. During campaign mode there are some variations but this is the main theory.

To do this you must order your units which come in three classes – Land, Sea and Air. You start with a handful of these but you are able to create more at factories, ports or airfields. To pay for this you use credits which you receive for capturing cities scattered throughout the map.

Moving units is simple, you simple select the unit and then create its movement path and then confirm this. If the circumstances allow you are then able to attack or perform other actions. All the units work in different ways with brilliant variety. Panes for example can fly over nearly all terrain, troops are able to capture buildings and artillery are able to fire over large distances.

This difference in your units opens a lot of doors to different strategies. Do you opt for lots of transport to quickly move troops up? Or perhaps you opt for artillery bombardment with tanks being dispatched to finish the enemy off? The choice is yours and creating and implementing strategies is done easily.

Before a battle you select your CO (Commanding Officer) and your division. Each division has its own strengths and weaknesses and some battles can be lost by poor division selection. Choosing the right division to compliment your strategy is vital and there are so many different divisions every strategy has a corresponding division. The CO makes no difference and acts more as your avatar.

Another key element in any strategy game is terrain. Terrain in Field Commander is vital as it offers protection in many ways. Terrain offers you protection from damage so troops on a mountain will last longer then troops on a plain. Terrain can also block units; dense forests stop tanks for example. One of Field Commander's most interesting aspects is that you are able to destroy terrain. Using this forest that would otherwise be impassable can be floored giving you a new option on attack and possible forcing you to rethink your defence. Unfortunately the computer seems unable to do this which is a shame meaning these tactical moves are yours to exploit.

Fog of war and stealth are also important elements in Field Commander. Fog of war restricts your view over the entire map and stealth restricts your view of one unit. This can also affect your opponent and so forces you to be more careful as if you run into an opponent your unit stops dead leaving them very open to counter attack.

Lifespan

Field Commander will keep you occupied for a very long time. While the single player campaign mode will not keep you occupied for too long there is a variety of other modes to keep you busy.

Firstly there is the simple quick battle which allows you to pit your skills against the computer on one of the many maps available. If you tire of the preset maps you can also create your own in the map creator which allows you to create many different maps to use.

Once you have honed your skills its time to go online where a number of options are available to you. One option is to play against an opponent directly online which provided you and your opponent have good internet connections works well. While online you are able to check leaderboards for the best players or download maps people have created for use on your own game. The most interesting online mode is Transmission were you can play multiplayer by email were you play a move and send it to your opponent who des there move and sends it back. If your opponent does not send his move back you are able t cancel the game. This mode gives you more time to think your moves and also helps reduce the problems of internet cutouts during game.

Multiplayer can also be played ad-hoc but handily you do not need two PSP or copies of the game to play multiplayer. You are able to play using one PSP swapping control after each turn.

These expansive multiplayer modes help make up for a lack of bonus for replaying campaign mode which is fairly short. It does not pose a real challenge with only a couple of missions needing a few playthroughs – the rest you will do first time.

Quick Review

Graphics – 9
Sound – 9
Gameplay – 10
Lifespan – 9

Field Commander is a brilliant game and gives the PSP the must have strategy game it needs. It has been well designed to help newcomers to the genre but also gives the more experience gamer the challenge they need. He game will last a long time with its clever and variety of multiplayer modes. Field Commander is a must have game and will be a well played and enjoyed part of any PSP owner's collection. The last thing to say is thank you for reading this review and I hope it was helpful.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/14/06