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	Sudden Strike II
	Developer: Fireglow Publisher: CDV Software Genre: Real-Time Strategy Players: 1-8 Similar To: Sudden Strike Rating: Everyone Published: 11 :20 : 02 Reviewed By: Nick Stewart Overall: 7.5 = Good

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The complete lack of resource management was a big selling point of the first Sudden Strike, and so it's absolutely no surprise that would-be war heroes won't have to worry about mucking around with building bases; the only thing you'll have to worry about is your men. While there is a certain amount that you're initially given, you're often privy to reinforcements as you complete objectives, which helps to replenish the ranks of those who have fallen in battle. What's even more fortunate is that your troops are now capable of a broader range of abilities, on top of the ones that have been carried over. As a result, you'll find your men able to drop to a crawl when necessary, while tank crews may lean out to gain better visibility in the newly added fog of war, at the risk of exposing themselves completely to enemy fire. With kamikazes, commandos, bazooka units, tank hunters and snipers rounding out the ranks, there's no shortage of unit types to choose from. This expanded level of versatility is a definite improvement over the original, while the added enhancements - such as increased unit types, and the ability to clear airstrips in order to properly land, use or capture planes - will give players a lot more to chew on. That there's absolutely no resource management apart from merely keeping your men alive allows you to focus entirely on tactics and strategy, though it's at this point where the game's rougher edges definitely start to show.

As a strategy game that focuses almost exclusively on combat and combat-related tactics, it seems almost ludicrous that there should be no way to organize men into formations, and yet, such is the case with Sudden Strike II. If you might think it a good idea to have your troops plow into enemy territory in a specific way apart from simply running in, screaming, you're either going to have to painstakingly direct the incredibly tiny individual men one by one, or you'll have to simply group a bunch together and hope for the best. Because of this glaring omission, you can't help but feel as though you're simply massing large groups of guys together and simply tossing them all at the enemy, hoping to overwhelm him, which certainly takes a lot of the strategy out of something that is supposed to be a real-time strategy title. That you're able to have some control over your groups by directing them to move at set speeds or by adding specialty units saves the game from complete disaster; in fact, when it works, it works very well. Sadly, the effort needed to get it all working can sometimes be too much. The fact that there are too few group keys and too many men, not to mention the hideously painful control scheme that will be discussed later, only hurts what is an otherwise entertaining game.

Another major knock against Sudden Strike II is that the AI is almost painfully stupid at times. Not only is the pathfinding rather embarrassing to watch, but the enemy is often downright brainless. You'll sometimes find yourself able to clear innumerable ground troops with a single tank: simply order the crew to lean out, and so long as you've more visibility than your enemy, you'll have no problem picking him off at a distance. This might sound like a strategic move, but when you consider that enemy soldiers will often stand completely still as they're being shelled, thinking absolutely nothing of the explosions or the men dying around them, the AI hardly comes across as capable. Factor in the still-sluggish speed and the various crashes to desktop, and you've got yourself a war-themed RTS that forces you to see past its numerous flaws to find the entertainment value within Sudden Strike II.

Graphics: 8/10
In keeping with the "stick with what you know" theme that seems to run through the game, Sudden Strike II's graphical engine hasn't changed particularly noticeably since the first came out a couple years ago. This is no bad thing, as the 2D approach made for some appreciable environments, with the broken and hollowed-out buildings of a city under siege mixing quite nicely with the lush forests of the war-torn countryside. The Japanese levels in particular are quite distinctive, with the island themes coming across successfully. Also, the new weather effects not only serve interesting tactical purposes, but they look great as well. The new units all seem rather well-done, though only true history buffs - which I'm certainly not - will be able to tell if they're historically accurate or not. Additionally, the vehicles all have their own unique look, so you shouldn't have any trouble telling them apart, though this is certainly the exact opposite of the various soldiers, which are still virtually indistinguishable from one another. This creates a particularly nasty problem, which will be detailed in the following section.

Sound: 7/10
Though the accents have largely improved since the last outing, Sudden Strike II's vocal acting still floats around the mid-range point. It's certainly a plus that the units now respond to your commands in their native language, which is a nice added immersion factor; on the other hand, the mission briefings are often quite bad, as the various nationalities have been injected with a B-movie type of accent. The music is equally middle-of-the-road in terms of quality, though the small number of tracks and the inclusion of what appeared to be strange German pop music will have you lowering the music volume in no time. The fact that the music volume itself is broken is probably not a bad thing, as you likely won't find yourself complaining about the inability to bring the music back after dropping it to nothing. As a result, you should probably just ignore the soundtrack and listen to your soldiers as they respond to your orders amidst the well-done explosions and tank engines.

Control: 3/10
If there's one area that Sudden Strike II suffers the most, it's in its control scheme. The fact that there are often hundreds of units onscreen at any given point probably led to the soldiers' minute, ant-like size, which might not be such a problem if the controls were somewhat polished. As it stands, however, the primary frustration from the first go-round remains the primary frustration in the second: namely, the inability to easily select individual units. Sure, you can sit there and run your cursor over each and every one, taking note of the unit type that temporarily flashes onscreen and then sending off men in the groups of your choice, but this is frustrating at the best of times and downright impossible in the heat of battle. What's worse is that you'll often find yourself needing specialty units like tank-killers to help you win the tougher battles, and so it's often a game of patience to prepare your men beforehand. It's a single gripe, but in a title such as this, it can make all the difference between a fun time and a hair-pulling session.

Overall: 7.5/10
As one of the few - if not the only - World War-themed RTS titles on the market, Sudden Strike II is best suited to players who are not only eager to explore this relatively untouched niche, but who are also willing to cut the game a great deal of slack. The bulk of the problems that turned gamers off the first title are still very much present here, and so sore spots such as the lack of formations and the extreme difficulty involved in finding and selecting particular units isn't likely to win it any new friends. The often questionable AI also comes into play to create an offering that might leave die-hard fans wondering where they might actually find the strategy in this so-called real-time strategy experience. However, if you're willing to stick with it and are able to look past the unnecessarily obtuse and frustrating control scheme, you'll find a surprising amount of fun lying deep within the tarnished heart of Sudden Strike II.

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