Axis & Allies
System:
PC/Windows
Publisher & Developer: Hasbro Interactive
Released: 1998
Genre: Turned Base Strategy
Capabilities: Keyboard, Mouse, Online Play
The classic board
game Axis & Allies is now on the PC. Hasbro did a great
job with the translation as seen above in the pics.
Picture Credit: Game Spot (gamespot.com)
Review Written: April 20, 2002
The Game
Axis & Allies is based on the hit board game by Milton Bradley. It is a turned based strategy game, which plays out during the World War II time period. If you’ve played Risk, this game is much like it, but is far more complex with more rules and tactics involved. I’ve put in many hours playing the board game, and the computer version will make it far more easier to play with no set up involved at all.
The Story
You are set in the beginning of World War II. Everyone knows how it went. The Axis Powers consist of Germany, Italy, and Japan (Italy isn’t a playable power in this game because they went out of the war early). The Allies consist of USA, United Kingdom, France, and Russia (France isn’t selectable because of the same reasons for Italy). In this game you can play out the war, and possibly change history doing so.
Graphics
Don’t expect anything special for the graphics in this game. This is right down the lines for a straight translation from the board game. Your main field of play is a world map (much like Risk), with different colored borders, and little shadings indicating mountains. It is nothing too spectacular, but it still gives you the same experience for the board game. You have little icons on the map that indicate your divisions of Infantry, Armor, Bombers, and so on. Easy to use menus help eliminate the tedious time setting up the actual game. Whenever you take over a new territory, it changes to the color of your nation. Short, animated, battles are added in the game whenever they occur, they are much like the ones in Advance Wars on Game Boy Advance. Other added bonuses in the game are a newspaper that displays the results of the ongoing war, and movies for the games opening intro and victory scenes. These are all welcomed additions that give the simple graphics a nice touch up.
Sound
This is another area in the game that isn’t all that special, but what’s here gets the job done. Simple sound effects for tanks, and bombers during battles are right on the mark. Each nation in the game has its own background music during there turn of play. All the themes here do a great job at representing the nations own ethnic background.
Game play
Axis & Allies has a lot of rules, and features a deep learning curve. Just think of this as a more complex version of Risk. You can control either the Axis or Allied Powers in the game, and your goal is two eliminate all of the other opposing nations in the game. You start off with a set amount of units, and you progress them around the world, and engage in battles to win new territory. The outcomes of battles are determined by the rolls of dice. At the end of each turn you receive Industrial Production Certificates (I.P.C.), and you use them to purchase new units. The game features all land, sea, and air units with main units being Armor (tanks), Bombers, and Battleships. You can also develop new mechanisms of war like paratroopers, or super subs. This may sound like a simple set up, but the game has so many special settings and rules to make you think twice. Thankfully a good tutorial mode is included in the game to explain all the rules for you.
There’s only three main ways to play this game. There is your standard offline game, which can have anywhere from one to five people playing simultaneously. The next mode is the tutorial mode which takes you through all the rules and settings in the game. The last mode is multi player mode, where you can go against people over the Internet, or a LAN network. Although it is a challenge to find people still playing this game.
Replay Value
The average game can last up to several hours, so look forward to many long rounds. The tutorial is a great extra that helps explain the game, and online mode is a welcomed addition to find more people to play against than the computer. Another nifty little extra is the time machine feature, which allows you to go back a few turns if you want to redo one of your moves. Lots of you may think of this as cheating, and in a way it is, but thankfully you can disable the option if you want.
In Brief
+: Great translation of the board game, extra online and tutorial modes
-: Simple graphics and sound, Time Machine feature allows easy wins
The Final Ratings Rundown
Graphics: 6.2
Sound: 7.0
Game play: 8.9
Replay Value: 8.4
Overall: 7.6
Rounded to fit GameFAQs Score: 8
Comments
If you’re a big fan of the board game, and don’t want to deal with all the hassle of setting it up, then I strongly recommend you get this game. It’s a straight translation and manages to give us a few handy extras to warrant a purchase.