West Front (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars Excellent
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 8.0 (4.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Patrick Miller
• Reviewed on: 01/13/1999
• Updated on: 05/02/2000
• Released on: 10/31/1998

Most gamers don't expect every game they play to be perfect, but they do expect game publishers to learn from their mistakes. In West Front, it's obvious that TalonSoft learned from its mistakes following the release of the disappointing East Front in 1997.

With a well-deserved reputation for incorporating wargamers' suggestions, fixing problems, and adding improvements, TalonSoft has done a great deal to improve this gaming system since it was unveiled in East Front. Unfortunately for that game, its problems included bugs, a skimpy manual, and a broken campaign system. In contrast, West Front is very stable, provides two types of campaigns, and comes with a thick, well-written manual crammed full of detailed information.

Based on the game's title, you might expect West Front to concentrate primarily on battles in Western Europe. However, TalonSoft has gone beyond the call of duty by including terrain, units, and scenarios from North Africa, the Middle East, Italy, Sicily, the Balkans, and Norway, as well as Western Europe. The extensive orders of battle cover not only the major powers of Germany, Italy, France (Free and Vichy French), Great Britain, and the United States, but also minor nations such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Yugoslavia, and Greece.

Between the game's 50-plus historical scenarios and its powerful scenario editor, you can play and create battles from the fall of France in 1940 to El Alamein, Anzio, Normandy, Bastogne, and the Huertgen Forest in 1945, not to mention almost any hypothetical battle you can dream up. Of course, World War II combat on the Western Front wouldn't be complete without paratroop drops, gliderborne troops, landing craft, air strikes, and naval gun support. They're all in the game.

Combine these features with a random scenario generator, hypothetical campaigns, linked historical campaigns, an order of battle editor, and numerous multiplayer options (up to eight gamers per side can play over the Internet), and you have a game loaded with replay value.

The graphics are up to TalonSoft's usual high standards, with outstanding maps in 16-bit color and superbly detailed 3D unit icons that provide the look and feel of miniatures. The music and sound effects add to the game's immersion. For wargamers who cherish their board-game hex grid maps and cardboard counters, West Front can be played from a top-down, 2D-perspective as well.

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