IE 21 PC games review - Allied General (1995)
7This is a nostagic review from IE (Interactive entertainment) episode 21 , a CD-ROM game magazine.
Allied General is the sequel to Panzer General and uses the same turn-based gameplay mechanics. This time the player experiences World War II from the Allied point of view during two British, one U.S. and one Russian campaign. The settings are Europe, Russia and Northern Africa.
The most important thing to have are prestige points. These are earned by solving scenarios (more for a little amount of turns) and used to buy replacement units. But this is not the only reason to be concerned about the detailed mission results: surviving units are transferred to the next mission and receive experience points. The campaign is also not completely linear, and the next mission depends on the result of the last - this means a lost scenario does not necessarily result in a game over, and a scarce victory can have devastating results. Of course a great victory has positive effects on the next missions.
Every turn the player plans the actions of his units and tries to defeat his enemy. The complexity of the game mostly comes from the many different units and weapons - everything has their use and weaknesses. It is vital to use the resources in the correct order and combination. There are also other factors to think about, e.g. fuel. Allied General tries to be player friendly by giving feedback during turns, e.g. by showing the probable combat result before the player issues the attack. He can also undo a turn as long as no new enemy units are scouted. Other extras are historical film material and optional combat animations.