Theatre of War

Out Of Eight (7 out of 8)

Theatre of War is a sound real time strategy game and its smaller focus and solid AI make it stand out against the wealth of competition. The graphics engine derived from IL-2 Sturmovik look very good in the game, especially when it comes to unit animations and the spectacular backgrounds. I really like the more intimate battles present in Theatre of War: this makes the game more accessible to new users while allowing micromanagers to individually control each unit if they choose. Of course, you can also let the AI target their own enemy units since the AI is smart enough to be generally left alone. Theatre of War is a difficult game, and those people who are accustomed to just throwing units at the enemy and hoping for the best will get quickly beaten. Theatre of War emphasizes good positioning and appropriate countering of enemy units: no longer are you able to use infantry units to take out a tank that are not equipped with anti-tank weaponry.

TTGamer (8.5 out of 10)

World War II and RTS gaming - they go together like, well, the most popular war era in the world and (amongst developers at least) the most popular war game genre in the world. PC gaming could be by all intents and purposes dead, and there would still be developers scattered around the globe producing WWII RTS's. One of those developers would probably be 1C Company, and together with Battlefront.com, they have created what could be the finest WWII RTS ever made in Theatre of War, although it is definitely not an RTS for everyone.

Gaming Target (8.5 out of 10)

Anyone who's familiar with 1C and Battlefront's previous games will have high expectations coming into Theatre of War. 1C was of course responsible for the classic flight sim IL-2 Sturmovik, while Battlefront is the team behind the amazing Combat Mission series. Even with a few problems still to be ironed out, this game keeps up the tradition of excellence with its commitment to realism and extremely detailed control of individual units. Thinking gamers will appreciate the fact that Theatre of War presents them with a series of tactical problems rather than simply a chance to rack up the body counts. And anyone who's been jaded by the ease of other mainstream RTS franchises will enjoy the fact that this is a game that doesn't coddle its players: anyone who can say they've completed any of these campaigns on “difficult” has certainly earned their bragging rights.

Gameplay (Benelux) (81 out of 100)

Een mooie hardcore WO2 RTS die zich onderscheidt van de rest maar niet iets té veel minpunten heeft om een echte topper te zijn!

GameSpot (Belgium/Netherlands) (78 out of 100)

Heb je genoeg van de eenheidsworst aan RTS-games, maar niet van de Tweede Wereldoorlog, dan moet je Theatre of War zeker uitproberen.

GameSpot (7.8 out of 10)

Word War II real-time strategy game exhaustion is so well established in gaming these days that the genre seems incapable of surprising anybody. Even the standouts, such as Company of Heroes, follow a template so well worn that it has grooves; thus, Theatre of War comes as a shock. 1C Company's take on the old Axis-versus-Allies thing replaces RTS conventions with realistic battlefields, line of sight, and weapon range. Its tactical focus and total absence of resource gathering or base building make the learning curve a little twisty for tank-rush types. However, the authenticity and atmosphere bring the Second World War to life in impressive fashion.

Entertainmentopia (B)

All in all, this game certainly won’t be for everyone. It takes a lot of effort and thinking to be successful in your battles, something that some players won’t want to put forth and something that some RTS games seem to be lacking these days. However, with stunning visuals and a very well put together engine and game system, this game certainly will be the War RTS of 2007 to look out for.

4Players.de (70 out of 100)

Theatre of War richtet sich an hartgesottene Echtzeit-Strategen, die sich weder vom hohen Schwierigkeitsgrad noch vom Zweiten Weltkrieg als Szenario abschrecken lassen. Geduldige Realismusfreunde werden auf ihre Kosten kommen, da ballistische Berechnungen der Projektilflugbahnen, das dynamische Sichtfeld und ein umfangreiches Schadensmodell sehr viel Tiefe in die Gefechte bringen und gewissermaßen zu einer Trial&Error-Vorgehensweise einladen. So wird man quasi zum Laden eines früheren Speicherstandes verführt, wenn der aufgewertete, lieb gewonnene Panzer bei der zweiten Welle zerlegt wurde und nach dem Ladevorgang seltsamerweise sofort trifft. Gespart hat man dafür an der gänzlich mittelprächtigen Präsentation, dem hässlichen Interface und an der Grafik-Engine, die später an Hardwarehunger leidet.

IGN (7 out of 10)

Theatre of War does a reasonably good job of taking the core concepts of wargames and marrying them to the more familiar RTS presentation. The highly detailed unit and combat modeling and the large impressive maps are definitely points in the game's favor. The only real downsides to the game are that the missions don't really stand apart from one another and that the framerate dips to truly aggravating levels. The extent to which those weaknesses will affect you depends on your interest in the tactical side of the game but, even with a playable framerate, there's just not enough variety here to hold most gamers' interest past the first dozen missions or so.

GameStar (Germany) (70 out of 100)

Ich weiß, was Sie denken: "Bäh, nicht wieder ein Weltkriegsspiel!" Ich antworte: "Doch, und sogar ein gutes." Klar, Theatre of War ist kein klassisches "Wargame". Schon alleine, weil das Taktikspiel ansprechender aussieht als typische Genrevertreter à la Combat Mission - zumindest in der Nahansicht. Mangels Deckung und Häuserkämpfen simuliert das 1C-Werk die Schlachten aber auch nicht so realistisch wie Combat Mission. Der Anspruch geht für mich dennoch in Ordnung: Ohne Verstand komme ich nicht weit. Wer Combat Mission schon kennt, kann Theatre of War eine Chance geben.

Absolute Games (AG.ru) (70 out of 100)

Парадокс, но, несмотря на все свои недостатки, "ВМ" — хорошая, сильная игра. Бой в ней — не зрелищные взрывы и переворачивающиеся бронетранспортеры. Он аскетичен, суров, в меру реалистичен и до конца держит в напряжении.

PC Action (Germany) (70 out of 100)

„Schatz, es sind doch die inneren Werte, die zählen“, tönt mir mein Freund immer entgegen, wenn ich ihm die Frage stelle, ob er mich attraktiv, schick und sexy findet. Etwa so verhält es sich mit der Beziehung zu Theatre of War. Wer auf schnelle, seichte, dafür bombastisch verpackte Unterhaltung steht, lässt lieber die Finger von diesem Werk. Wer sich an äußerlichen Dingen nicht stört, dafür Mikromanagement über alles liebt und gern geduldig in pausierbaren Schlachten über die nächsten zehn Meter Fortschritt auf einem drei Quadratkilometer großen Spielfeld nachdenkt, der greift zu.

Playfuls (6.3 out of 10)

The closure enables me saying "too bad!". It's a shame for all of the good ideas and the courage of marching on a "realism" induced by increased difficulty. Envisaging the warnings provided, you can test out a few missions, just to experience another representation of World War II. In any event, the multiplayer skirmishes have more chances to win out the bet.

YouGamers (60 out of 100)

Theatre of War really wants to be an above-average title, but lacks the attention to detail to push it into that realm. It's a focused RTS with a heavy dose of strategy, but the enjoyable gameplay is hampered by bugs and compatibility issues.

Giery.eu (21 out of 40)

Gdy pierwszy raz odpaliłem grę, miałem wrażenie, ze gdzieś już to widziałem w lepszej bądź gorszej odsłonie. W sumie Theatre of War: Pola Zagłady nie wnosi nic zbyt ciekawego do świata realistycznych RTSów z drugiej wojny (no, może poza polskim akcentem) i ma się wrażenie, że twórcy po prostu chcieli zarobić na fanach tego gatunku gier. A szkoda, bo gdyby poprawić sztuczną inteligencję gra na pewno byłaby lepsza i przyciągnęłaby dużo większą rzeszę graczy. Pola Zagłady to po prostu średni tytuł.

1UP (4 out of 10)

When a war-game skunkworks like Battlefront.com launches a new game, it's like an arm reaches through the clouds (cue the ringing hosannas). Figure in the guys behind IL-2 Sturmovik, and you half expect something to drop through columns of diapered cherubim. How two quality ops managed to screw up Theatre of War is anyone's guess, but they did -- and with the genre on life support as it is, that's a serious bummer.