People's General (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars Excellent
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 8.8 (4.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Alan Dunkin
• Reviewed on: 09/22/1998
• Updated on: 05/02/2000
• Released on: 08/31/1998
• Originally published on GameSpot: People's General (PC) Review

It was bound to happen. SSI's tremendously successful General series of games, first with the Five-Star series and then with the Living Battlefield series, has made the transition from World War II to the modern era (ignoring for the moment Star General and Fantasy General, neither of which warrant any more mention) with People's General. The game is set in the early 21st century, and the United Nations is at war with an aggressive China for control of most of Eastern Asia. People's General represents the natural evolution of Panzer General II and the Living Battlefield series, including many new refinements, ideas, weapon systems, and a game engine that has made a fairly successful transference to the modern era of warfare.

People's General and the previous games are typically labeled as "beer and pretzels" wargames; they do not require a thorough knowledge base of military history and hardware, they are relatively easy to play, and are typically pleasing to the eye. People's General is no different. Requiring only a rudimentary knowledge of modern weapon systems (tanks, infantry, missile batteries, helicopters, air strikes, and the like), it can be played by basically anyone willing to give it a try. While the maps are hex-based, they are hand-painted beautifully in 16-bit color. 3D models of various vehicles and infantry depict individual units. Moving and attacking is a simple job of selecting a unit, pointing to a hex within range, and clicking to move. When attacking, estimated battle casualties, based the situation, are given, so you can somewhat accurately gauge if an attack will yield decent results or not.

Players have a number of different options when running People's General: There are nine campaigns, 34 scenarios, two- to four-player LAN/Internet scenarios, and play-by-e-mail (PBEM) scenarios. While four of the campaigns are actually different-length versions (with varying difficulty) of the Eastern and Western theater campaigns, there are three other independent campaigns. You are treated to a short video as the campaign starts and various status reports as the campaign continues. As a plus, a scenario-creation editor is also included, though you'll have to use one of the pre-drawn hand-painted maps to work with it.

Continue reading