Axis and Allies Iron Blitz Edition

DEVELOPER : Hasbro
PUBLISHER : Hasbro

Ratings

Graphics: 8.0 - Nothing fancy, but perfectly suited to gameplay, new unit graphics are a nice addition.

Audio:  8.0 - Your basic audio.  Varied music but gets repetitive.

Inerface:  8.6  -  Couldn’t be simpler, easy to jump right in.

Gameplay: 8.0 -  Improved over its original form, adequate AI, but veterans will still find single player too easy.

Replayability: 8.7 – Every game can play out differently, multiplayer is great, and new scenarios are great variations on the typical setup.

Multiplay: 8.5 – Here is where Iron Blitz is at its best, against humans.

Learning Curve: 9.0 – Players of all skill levels can jump right in, but tutorial is there for those who need it.

Manual: 8.5 – A bit thin, but covers all aspects of the game.  Simplicity is the key here, so you just don’t need a monster manual.

Pros:  Improved AI, new unit graphics, game editors, two great new units, and cool scenarios.  Definitely a must have for A&A enthusiasts.  Comes with original Axis and Allies plus all the additions.

Cons: Improved AI, but still not as tough as it should be.  Other than that it is definitely worth the price of admission.

Overall: 8.4

Remember when people played board games?  They would sit around a table with the likes of Monopoly, Scrabble, and Risk.  Or perhaps they would play more complex games like Diplomacy or Axis and Allies.  Hmmm…that last one sounds familiar.  Oh, that’s right, this is a review of that new computer game Axis and Allies: Iron Blitz Edition.  So I may be exaggerating the diminishing popularity of board games, but no one can deny that computers have decreased their appeal.  But for the faithful, all of the old favorites are still available in stores.  For those of us that would rather have their fun on a computer screen, or simply cannot find human opponents, Hasbro Interactive has begun a long line of board game conversions to computer format, and I appreciate it.  You see, my friends would rather play a hot-seat game of Heroes of Might and Magic 3 than engage in World War II with little plastic pieces.  So now all I have to do is pop in a Hasbro Interactive CD and play against the AI (more on this later) or find a human opponent online.  We’re so spoiled!

OK, enough small talk.  You see, Axis and Allies is an excellent board game, and has a huge following to this day.  Hasbro decided that they would bring the experience to the computer.  The result was like bread before dinner.  It will hold you, but you know there has to be more.  All of the main components of its paper and plastic counterpart were relatively intact, save for some small bugs, but the main criticism was the AI.  Basically, it was pretty damn stupid.  It would make bonehead moves, and players balked as they were able to defeat it in just a few turns.  A patch was issued, which fixed it a bit, but the best way to play was still online.  So in comes the Iron Blitz edition, a new and improved version.  Before I discuss some of the new features, let me just say that the AI is much better.  Good players will probably be able to beat it every time, but it now plays more aggressively, reinforces weak territories, and with a couple of occasional exceptions, does not make overly stupid moves.  I hate to have to rely on patches, but with one more touch up, I think the series can finally claim ownership to a challenging AI (getting there).

For those new to the game, you can check out our review of the original, so I am not going to go into too much detail.  Basically, you choose to play as the USSR, Japan, United States, Britain, or Germany during the Second World War, or play as all of the Axis or Allies.  Pearl Harbor has been bombed, the Germans and Soviets are fighting it out in the Soviet Union, and industries are pumping out massive weapons of war.  The game gets carried out in a few steps.  First, each country uses its industrial production certificates, increased by gaining new territory, to research more advanced weaponry and buy new units.  Players then move pieces on the map with the intent of attacking.  Battles are determined by the roll of the dice.  Each unit has it own defense and attack values, which can increase or decrease depending on what it is up against.  To score a kill, you just have to get lucky and roll a number equal to or less than the attack value.  A nice option in combat is being able to allocate the hits.  For instance, if the enemy score two hits, you can opt to have two infantry units wiped out rather than two aircraft.  Not entirely realistic, but since when has war been determined with dice? 

After all combat is resolved, players can move units to reinforce weakened territories, and place the units bought at the start of the turn.  The catch is that they have to be placed in a territory with an industrial center, which are mighty expensive to buy, and can only support a limited number of units.  Players have the option of changing quite a few of the game’s rules, the most important being victory conditions.  The choices range from complete world domination, to capturing two capitals, to obtaining a certain number of production certificates. 

Whew!  There is an overview of the gameplay.  The Iron Blitz edition adds quite a few improvements.  Besides the improved AI, unit graphics are no longer the generic tanks, submarines, planes, and infantry.  Now each country has their own unit graphics, so German tanks look like German tanks, and American bombers are different than British bombers.  Nothing new in terms of gameplay, but does wonders for the atmosphere.  Even better is the inclusion of a graphics editor, so now players can create their own unique unit sprites.  I would love to see someone create a set of extraterrestrial units for some all-out War of the Worlds type of game.  Sound effects and music are good, but unchanged.  Even though each country has a unique track, however, music does get repetitive. 

 There are two new units to wage war with, the marines and a new destroyer.  The marines unit gets a bonus attack value of 3 when making amphibious assaults, and the destroyer adds some extra punch to the navy, especially because it is immune to a submarine’s first strike bonus.  Players will get plenty of opportunities to use these because of the addition of scenarios.  Players can create their own with an editor, including the option to edit and rename territories, starting IPC’s, and even country allegiances.  The game comes with quite a few intriguing ones.  These include a Cold War scenario, in which players can conquer the world as the Soviets or Americans.  There are also a number of interesting “what if?” scenarios, in which certain countries stay neutral.  These greatly extend the life of the game.

So where does that leave us?  Well, fans of the original should definitely consider picking this up considering all of the additions.  For those who always considered buying the original, there is no better time to get into the action.

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Reviewed by Anthony Micari