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Review

Duration: 15:54

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I'm playing Ogre, a turn-based strategy game by Steve Jackson Games and Auroch Digital. The game features a ten-mission campaign of scenarios pitting a traditional army of infantry and armored units against a powerful enemy Ogre (essentially a super tank). Skirmish matches are also available online and against the AI, but there is only one map (with six different setups of starting units), though there is a scenario editor. There are not difficulty settings that would add (or remove) enemy units in single player mode or apply a unit handicap online. The interface is very basic, with tedious movement and arduous stacked unit selection. The game features both “classic” and “advanced” rules, the latter of which adds in stacking, combined attacks, and overrunning units. Gameplay consists of a movement phase and an attack phase, where targets and attackers are chosen to alter the combat odds. The AI is inconsistent, usually playing well using combined attacks and staying at range, but sometimes stopping for no apparent reason. While a very faithful adaptation of the classic strategy game, Ogre doesn’t offer enough enhancements in its digital form, such as a large selection of maps and a smooth interface, to appeal to many beyond those devoted to the series.