Nostalgia for Sudden Strike
As usual, it was in the evening… I was scrolling through the list of my games on Steam and came across Sudden Strike. It came to me along with the fourth game in the series, which I bought on pre-order. And nostalgia came over me. For the first time this game came into my hands in a “wild” Russian localization called “Confrontation 3” (I still don’t know why this is) in 2004 or 2005. After the complex and overloaded strategies from Paradox, the game was something simpler and more understandable for a preschool child. And as I remember now, I was drawn in then, and the first Crusader Kings waited for its moment for quite a long time. And now, in 2019, I decided to play the game from 2000.
==What’s wrong with it??==
Yes, that’s all! Sudden Strike and Fireglow did not gain worldwide fame either in strategy circles, or, especially, throughout the world, as happened with Creative Assembly and Paradox Interactive. However, in my opinion, the game turned out to be very good for its time.
When talking about strategies in the world https://metaspinscasino.co.uk/withdrawal/ of computer games, everyone immediately thinks of Sid Meier’s Civilization, Total War from Creative Assembly, EU4 or HOI4 from Paradox. All of them belong to a fairly large genre of global strategies. Politics, trade, economics, development, war are an integral part of such games. In Sudden Strike there is only war. World War II. And the developers replaced everything else with other mechanics, which makes it unique and sets it apart from the huge list of games in the genre.
Sudden Strike features three campaigns: for the USSR, for the Allies and for the Reich. There are 10 missions in the Soviet campaign, 12 in the other two. The player controls the operation: having a limited number of troops (you can’t count on reinforcements), you must complete all mission objectives. Most often this is the capture or defense of important strategic objects. And how you will do this is entirely your concern: you can go through with a minimum of losses, carefully look for enemies as an infantryman and destroy them from afar with fire from all weapons, or you can throw everyone into the attack and lose half of the fighters, if not more.
The decision is up to the player – you will not be convicted, you will not be sent to court, but you will not be given the Order of the Red Banner (Iron Cross or Order of the Bath) either. It is the mechanics added instead of trade, politics and other things that give the player the opportunity to choose. The task is to occupy the opposite bank? We will break through the only bridge, if it is not blown up, and occupy the other side of the river. What if they blow it up?? Well, if you have soldiers from the construction battalion, they will restore the crossing. What if they are destroyed?? We will use large weapons – tanks and cannons, if we have them – and fire at the enemy preemptively. You can also build a pontoon bridge using the same construction battalion and go to the enemy’s flank.
Eventually you will reach your goal. But remember, the more enemy soldiers are destroyed and the fewer people you lose, the more points you will be awarded for the mission. Yes, there is still a system for evaluating your actions, but it is more aesthetic and motivating than something more worthwhile.
==Well, what if there is something more serious than a bridge on my way, and I only have infantry?==
Well, that means somewhere around the corner, in the bushes, someone miraculously left a piano. Sorry, no joke. If you only have infantry, you can be sure that in the “fog of war” there is a cannon, then suddenly you will find a lonely supply vehicle with a crew or a truck with a driver. In perfect condition. And then you can fire at the tank from a cannon. And if you shoot carefully, you can knock it out, shoot the crew who got out to repair the car, repair it with the help of a supply vehicle, put your infantrymen in it (yes, even officers here know how to drive a tank and shoot from it) and continue moving towards the goal.
Much to the disappointment of many, the game is indeed scripted inside and out. The appearance of your unit in a certain place on the map makes the AI want to maneuver in a given direction. And nothing will stop him. And of course, the very presence of “grand pianos” in the form of guns, trucks, and tanks arranged in turn raises many questions. But for the sake of pleasant memories, you can forgive the graphics of the last century, and the scripts, and the absurdity of the placement of units.
