I like many of us here at G.O.G. am a fan of world war II games and so may inherently have bias to the genre, but soldiers is one of the best games i have played in a long time. It is a game that has stood the test of time and remained a part of my collection. It is a strategic game of small team management and i liken it to the difference between chess and battle chess. Chess by itself is a classic game of strategy bound in board form, the addition of animation, the addition of a satisfying climax to a decisive movement and the ability to be engaged in owning your own side as if a military adviser without losing sight that the designers protected the original game mechanics creates a game that stands as a gold standard in gaming history. There are World War II boardgames, there are World War II squad management games (Cannon Fodder), you may even want to consider wether it is worth the experience over a World War II shooter like battlefield 1942 or Return to Castle Wolfenstien; it however combines an experience of a board game management strategy with real time strategy elements paying the appropriate respect to the setting to create a flawless experience. There are a number of sides to play as, each having a unique campaign. Being a small team the game allows you to manage strategic placement and rushes with ease. There are a number of different weapons and vehicles that all have different effects on how you will go about conquering your missions. The game is satisfyingly hard yet not being overly so, so that just about any gamer should be able to comfortably chip away at the missions to a satisfying victory. The game is intuitive enough that you can repair a squad of enemy vehicles put a single soldier in each and be able to have the tank combat effective (albeit functioning slower than if it had a full crew compliment). With that note Soldiers is also very free form in relation to your strategic options allowing you to make sweeping advances, set up sniping positions, hide in long grass or make surprise attacks through building walls using you're acquired armor column >:D. The graphics are nicely polished and will not detract from it's place in you're games list even with more graphics heavy offerings available such as the newly released wolfenstien. I purchased the game not long after it's initial release when it had starforce DRM and it managed to win me over enough to complete it; without DRM and at $10 you simply won't regret it.
