textfiles/games/REVIEWS/storme.rev

 STORM ACROSS EUROPE

 STORM ACROSS EUROPE is an intermediate, strategic-level World War II simulation
from Dan Cermak (COLONIAL CONQUEST), Strategic Simulations, and Electronic Arts.
The setting is Europe, the time frame is 1939-45, and the protagonists are
Germany, Russia, and the Allies. The program offers good graphics and game play,
six historical scenarios, scenario alteration, three-player mode, joystick
control, save option, and no copy protection. This review is based on the
Commodore 64/128 version; Amiga and IBM-PC version notes follow.

 STORM ACROSS EUROPE is not a tactical exercise. You'll be in control of the
armies, the production/research and development, and the overall strategy of
entire countries and their war efforts. The detail of STORM is different than
the usual SSI game; here, you don't deal with individual weapons, but rather
with all-out assaults and territorial invasions. This opens up a whole new area,
one that requires a different way of thinking and attentiveness.

 The six scenarios of STORM -- Autumn 1939, Spring 1940, and the Summers of
1941-44 -- are actually starting points; selecting any one will update the map
setup to historical conditions. The startup sequence involves setting the Allies
and Russia for computer or human control (Germany is always under human
control). Startup values range from 0 to 9 (0 is historical, 9 is most
difficult), which adjust the Strength of countries' units, beginning Industrial
Capacities, and how politics affect the armies. This last is called
Non-Interference (for Germany), Allied Cooperation Level (for the Allies), and,
for Russia, the Stalin Sanity Level (makes sense, eh?).

 Each game turn covers three months. The player controlling Germany goes first,
followed by those controlling the Allies and the Soviet Union. Each player's
turn is divided into phases: Reinforcement/Replacement, Strategic Options,
Combat, and Casualty Reports. The Strategic Options phase is further divided
into Land, Naval, and Air Options, and it is through these options that you give
orders to your armies, navies, and air units. All orders can be countermanded
and redone (if necessary) before being put into operation.

 The Combat Option ends the Strategic phase and carries out your orders. On
completion of combat, the Casualty Report screens list your exact losses and
estimates of enemy losses, after which the turn ends. In the Spring of each
year, another phase is available: Production/Research and Development, during
which the computer figures out your current economic point level, based on all
areas that are under your control. These points can be used to buy units
(Production) or increase the technical level of your weapons (Research and
Development).

 The Disk Option is available during the Strategic Options phase, and from it
you can format a disk, get a directory, and save or reload a game in progress.
You can also reload a saved game from the opening screen.

 The C64 graphics display consists of a scrolling map of 37 countries which have
been divided into 224 strategic areas: from Sweden at the north to Africa at the
south, and from Spain on the west to Russia's Ural Mountains on the east. (A
glossy cardboard duplicate of the screen map comes with the package.) During a
game, the colors of a screen area will change to reflect the current conditions.
Below the map is the text area, where messages, information, and game menus
appear.

 STORM is controlled completely by the joystick. Moving the stick highlights a
menu selection, and the button activates it; in some cases verification is
required.

 The Scenario Builder is divided into two parts. Part 1 lets you modify the
terrain and units contained in the scenario you've selected; or, you can develop
a scenario from scratch by changing the terrain and its controlling power,
erasing all units, and creating new armies, navies, and air units. Part 2 of the
Builder lets you alter the Research, Reinforcement, Effectiveness, and
Submarine-strength starting levels of the three powers.

 The STORM ACROSS EUROPE package comes with one disk that is not copy-protected;
all games begin with a documentation check. The manual is clear and concise,
like all SSI manuals, and contains an "Invasion of Poland" tutorial to get you
started.

 STORM ACROSS EUROPE is different from what you're used to in the usual SSI
simulation. The tactics of individual units do not enter the game at all, and
the yearly Production/Research and Development phase brings up the technical
possibility of German atomic bombs and guided missiles, a wonderful (if bleak)
"what if?" scenario enhancement.

 Also of interest is the once-per-turn, computer-controlled "freedom fighter"
activity, in which Spain, Norway, Eastern Poland, Yugoslavia, Turkey, and Russia
are participants. Thirty partisan points are generated, and are then used to
attack any enemy garrisons in the area. This can sometimes result in a change of
control.

 The graphics are good on the Commodore; the sound is cheesy, but effective. The
joystick-controlled menu system worked fine. While STORM ACROSS EUROPE is
neither earth-shaking nor remarkable, it is a typically solid SSI effort. With
its ten difficulty settings, multitude of variations inherent in the Builder,
and general strategic depth, STORM ACROSS EUROPE offers wargamers plenty to
think about.

 AMIGA VERSION NOTES

 STORM ACROSS EUROPE has been improved nicely in the graphics department on the
Amiga: Maps use crisp colors and symbols, and menu characters are easy to read
and elegant-looking. Additionally, control has been transferred from the
joystick to the mouse.

 You input all commands via the mouse, which makes for a very smooth and simple
command interface. The left button selects a command that's highlighted by a
surrounding black box when the mouse pointer is moved over it. The right button
backs up one level in the menu hierarchy.

 One of the nicest things about the design of STORM is the thinking that went
into the command structure. The balance between vertical depth and horizontal
range of choices is pretty good; you don't have to struggle back up through
fifteen layers of one command hierarchy to get over to another one. It would
have been preferable if SSI had converted completely to an Amiga-style windows
menu system (as Koei has done recently in its conversion of BANDIT KINGS OF
ANCIENT CHINA), but that apparently wasn't in the cards for this one. Maybe with
SECOND FRONT?

 STORM ACROSS EUROPE is a real treat if you've always wanted to play a WWII
strategy game that includes all the areas the Nazis were involved in during the
war. The resource management phases of the game add a new dimension to your
scheming during the course of a turn. Finally, the detailed scenario-edit
capabilities built into the program allow you to test out all sorts of "what if"
hypotheses (such as, what if the Germans, Allies, or Soviets had had missiles
and/or atomic weaponry earlier in the war?). While the game verges on being a
little too complex for the beginning war/strategy gamer, aficionados of the
genre will find much here that fills in what other computer wargames leave out.

 The game comes on one copyable disk, can be started from either Workbench or
the CLI, is hard-disk installable, and runs on A1000s, A500s, and A2000s. STORM
ACROSS EUROPE starts up from, and exits to, a normal Workbench/CLI without
causing any trouble. During play, if you want to stop and do something else,
there is a pause command that both halts the game, and returns all CHIP RAM back
to the system. A small "Storm Game in Progress" icon appears in the upper left
corner of the screen; clicking on it returns to the game. Nice!

 File saves are simple, using a standard requester. Games can be saved to a
separate disk, but can also be saved to the default Scenarios drawer on the game
disk, if you wish (there's plenty of room for save files, which are small).

 STORM ACROSS EUROPE represents SSI's continuing committment to releasing solid
editions of their Commodore 64 and IBM games for the Amiga. However, all of
SSI's conversions make clear the legacy of their original designs: The games'
interfaces are a kind of hodge-podge combination of IBM, C64, and Amiga
facilities. Fortunately, this is becoming less of an issue with each new
release.

 IBM-PC VERSION NOTES

 In the IBM version, STORM is played out on an area map of Europe, Western Asia,
and Northern Africa. Units move across areas, on land and at sea. While this may
seem a bit odd at first, at the scale of this game, area movement is probably
more accurate than hexes or squares.

 STORM allows players to modify existing scenarios using various factors. This
can be used to set difficulty levels or to create random set-ups. Entirely new
scenarios can be constructed using the scenario builder.

 A tutorial is provided in the manual to help players with the rudiments of land
movement and combat. The manual also includes several tables of data. Some of
this information is available in the game, but having it collected in succinct
tables is very handy.

 Play in STORM is menu-driven and can be executed via keyboard or mouse in any
combination. Most players will find that a mouse facilitates play, though the
keyboard is acceptable. The interface goes a long way toward helping to manage
the complexity of the game, though it's a bit rigid at points. For instance,
during production, if any resource is completely expended, you're locked out of
any further production activity. Thus, it's all too easy to make a mistake and
be forced to live with it for the next year.

 Graphically, STORM is pedestrian. The map and units are functional, and no real
animation or sound is used to spice up the presentation. It should be noted,
though, that STORM is a strategy game, and it does not intend to attract the
kind of players who prize style over substance.

 The AI is competent, though it seems to miss opportunities for flanking or
encirclement attacks at times. It is, however, aggressive and will exploit any
obvious gaffes on the part of the human player. And as mentioned before, the
game allows the player to set the difficulty level for various factors.

 STORM ACROSS EUROPE supports VGA/EGA (320x200x16), CGA (320x200x4), and Tandy
graphics modes. It requires 512K RAM and may be installed on a hard disk. Copy
protection is manual-based. The mouse is supported, as well as the keyboard.
There is no sound board support. STORM ACROSS EUROPE comes on 5-1/4" diskettes.

 I confess, I loved STORM ACROSS EUROPE. It's the best new strategy game this
year. There is a wealth of play buried in this gem; yet a single game can be
completed in an evening. Strategic options abound, and those who have wondered
whether a more aggressive U-boat campaign could have won the war can try it in
STORM. Indeed, virtually any what-if scenario you might think of can be tried in
STORM. What if the Allies tried to invade France in '43? What if the Axis forces
attacked Turkey? Or Spain?

 The are a few minor problems with STORM. The aforementioned production phase
gotcha can be annoying. Also, despite what the rules say, replacements cannot be
given to units separated from their capital by a sea area. And airdrops can only
be conducted if the unit is in a _port_! Still, these are small problems that do
not have a dramatic impact on play.

 Fan of World War II games should definitely drop everything and rush out for
this one. Those who enjoy games of economic production or grand strategy may
also want to give this one a look. But fair warning: Other games may well fall
by the wayside as you are consumed by the STORM ACROSS EUROPE.

 STORM ACROSS EUROPE is published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. and distributed
by Electronic Arts.

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