World War II Armored Recon

Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 567: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆☆ (7/10) So, let me set some expectations. This is not a sequel to [i]Tin Star[/i], one of the greatest ChoiceScript games ever published. No, [i]World War II Armored Recon[/i] (WWIIAR) is a pure tank simulator, with all the connotations that it carries. Allen Gies has done an excellent job focusing on mechanics and setting, emphasizing your tank that you will upgrade and care for. There are also quite a few battles where you are guiding your tank on where to go, what weapon to shoot, who to shoot at, etc. You can also name your tank! Mine was called [i]The Peacemaker,[/i] heh. This mechanic was fantastic. However, I do have to criticize the, well, [i]writing[/i] portion of the game, mainly the characters, stat clarity, and prose. There are also some small bugs and no romance options. If I sound extra disappointed, it's only because I know how well Gies can juggle all aspects of choice-based games. Sadly, WWIIAR is a step back from [i]Tin Star.[/i] However, I know there is an audience for historical/military games, so I'm giving this a thumbs up anyway (and to support him)! Thank you to the staff for …

Does not play like a 900,000 word epic. Characters are hardly explored, choices are often opaque, and the game is rife with bugginess/clearly unintended game design. This entire concept feels tailor made to me so I'm really disappointed by its execution.

WWII tank focused Text RPG from one of the writers of Burden of Command with some of that game's character's appearing. Well written and good variety of choices, finishing the game left me with less than half of the narrative achievements but the RPG stat elements either don't make any sense or in many cases don't seem to do anything at all until maybe a possible battle at the end of the game. There were also a few bad bugs I found in the game. You play as a Sergeant in command of your own tank with your driver, gunner, and mechanic under you. Through the course of the game you end up in different tank battles supporting your commander, infantry, or being sent out on missions where you are the only allied tank in the area. You can talk to your men over time and learn more about them, try to find money or salvage supplies to improve your tank or try to kill or steal to improve your tank and supplies, and over the course of the game you can become involved with German spies trying to pay you to complete jobs for them and French agents trying to recover hidden plats to print money. You can be killed in which case you start back at the chapter checkpoint or back at an earlier decisio…

Another great entry from Paul Wang. I especially enjoyed the tie-ins to Burden of Command - felt almost like a sequel.

I appreciate the attention to historical detail. The game portrays war in a gritty, down-to-earth way. There is never enough gasoline or ammo! I don't like a lot of description when I read, but sometimes the writing is a little too spare here. It's hard to understand what some of the choices are asking, and sometimes I don't get what is going on enough to make an informed choice. This is especially true in the battles where success or failure seems really arbitrary. All the stats for your character, tank, and crew are cool.

A great adventure as a tank commander in North Africa. Well-written and interesting. A bit buggy, but with little impact on actual play. I enjoyed my time amidst the sand, heat and wind. Oh, and some people were shooting at us. Pretty unfriendly of them, that.