Best WWII tactical RTS of it's times
If you're familiar with the first installment of the series, Phase One, you'll enjoy Phase Two - it's pretty much the same idea polished here and there. If you haven't played the series before - you might as well start with this one.
Codename Panzers is a tactical game - you're managing given (or built by yourself) army and you don't have to bother with building your base. There are reinforcements and supplies, but most of the time you focus on dealing with your soldiers - micro and macro management with a help of artillery/air support.
This time you'll guide your troops in North Africa, Italy and Yugoslavia (guerrillas!). The missions are varied and interesting, but don't expect anything extraordinary - conquer this village, defend the area, escort the convoy, destroy hostile factory. Difficulty is appropriate and the gameplay gives a lot of fun. I also enjoyed themed briefiengs and campaings make lot of sense storywise.
The troops are functioning like rock-paper-scissors, which isn't a surprise. MG unit is good against rifle squads, artillery vs tanks and so on, but the balance feels natural. Soldiers can get cover, tanks have thicker plates in the front so they're more vulnerable at their back, artillery is slow, but well positioned can win you a fight. The possibilities of playing certain missions are broad and it's up to your tactical sense how you play them.
If everything's fine - then why only 4/5 stars? Back in 2005 I believe it was the best tactical WWII on the market (better than Soldiers: Heroes of WWII). But a year later Company of Heroes showed up and in my opinion that's the reason why we didn't have Phase Three. CoH had better graphics, more dynamic missions, more variety of units and more tactical options for you as a commander. CoH showed, that Phase Two (and One) could aspire even higher.
So CoH series became a success and Codename Panzers derived into Cold War, which was rather poorly received.
Nevertheless Codename Panzers is a worthy tactical game - the best one at the time of it's release. I have a warm spot for the series - if you like RTS games about WWII - you won't be disappointed.
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