Strategy Gaming Online - Reviews : People's General

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REVIEWS

box.jpg (9822 bytes) People's General

DEVELOPER : Strategic Simulations Inc.
PUBLISHER : Strategic Simulations Inc.

Requirements:
Pen. 120MHz, 16 MB of RAM
Recommend:
Pen. 200MHz, 32 MB of RAM

This is the first game in the General series that deviates from historical combat into the realm of ‘What if?’. Peoples General pits an aggressive and re-militarized China armed with state of the art weaponry against a somewhat weakened American-Russian alliance. You also can purchase almost anything that is available in NATO and Asian alliance armories. It may be a popular theme in fiction but surely it is no stretch that land hungry China could make a grab for the late Soviet Union’s eastern provinces. Besides the campaigns there are some really ingenious scenarios. My favorite was the imperialist new-Vietnam scenario modeling a bid for Southeast Asia. A stretch you say? Well you only have to consult this century’s history books to find examples of unlikely aggressors and allies.

Peoples General employs the same game engine that drives Panzer General II, something called in the business as the ‘Living Battlefield’ engine. If you were impressed with the graphics in Panzer General II be prepared to be blown away-- they are terrific! The 16 bit hand rendered maps deserve special mention in that they are very impressive. The graphics in Peoples General are powered by the new Direct 6X video drivers, which caused some worry in this reviewer. My fears were unfounded, my resident Steel Panthers and East Front now play faster and smoother—a nice bonus! The interface is intuitive and purportedly an improved version of what was being offered in Panzer General II. Not that I ever found anything to complain about with PGII’s game system—the interface itself does have a new look. Audio is a pleasure. You get a nice assortment of rocket, missile, chopper and artillery sounds. Special mention must go to the professionally mixed cinematic pieces and enhanced video briefings, which set the mood for a real clash of the titans. The designers also wisely included a performance dossier and an upgraded PGII-like medal display.

Peoples General features two campaigns and kindly allows you to play either side. Either command the Russo-American alliance and throw your M1A2s, T-90s at the Chinese horde, or lead China’s Asian alliance equipped with Type-99s and ballistic missiles across the steppes. Whichever side you choose both campaigns are seriously challenging and offer a host of tactical problems to solve. Also 200 taskforces representing 19 other nations in almost 40 other scenarios are included for the time strapped wargamer.

The biggest fun in Peoples General has to be the speculative armories of the remaining and late super powers. If you are successful in the battlefield High Command puts you on the prototype track. My favorites were the Intermediate Range Ballistic Artillery (Surface to Surface Missiles) and gunships. In the campaigns you are offered a vast array of the world’s armories: Leclercs, Leopards, Type-90s etc. Still one standard unit had me puzzled—the Supply Unit. Anyone who has played the PG series of games knows the frustration involved in trying to find placement spots for newly purchased units. The supply unit allows forward deployment—it’s extremely handy in long campaigns over sparsely populated territory. Air power is also interesting. I thought the Recon and Wild Weasel sorties were especially useful for spotting and wearing down your opponents Air Defenses. As if all this isn’t enough Peoples General comes complete with four-player multiplayer mode via TCP/IP (Internet or LAN), and IPX or modem. So if you are a long time General series player who has been dreaming of trying this great gaming system on modern weaponry, Peoples General is a must.

Reviewed by Robert Micallef

Summary
Pros: Fun fast eye candy. Cons: The purist will not care for the unlikely combat situations.
Interface : 9	Gameplay : 9	Graphics : 9
Audio : 8	Multiplayer : 7	Overall : 9.3