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Page 3
Various guns can be moved and manned with infantry. Howitzers, anti-tank cannons, anti-aircraft artillery and other big guns can be moved by simply having a couple of infantrymen pull it. While in transit the guns are very vulnerable but once the are unlimbered they are wonderfully effective at destroying their targets. It is wise to learn how to use the artillery effectively because their proper use can drastically increase your chances of winning a battle.
With another nod toward realism your units can run out of ammo. Few if any real-time games have that feature and while turn-based games often have a supply feature it is often a clumsy add-on. In Sudden Strike, however, it is a well thought out feature. One of the units in your command is an ammunition and engineering truck. With this truck you can not only re-load units but it will also repair various units.
CDV has hopes of delivering a strategy game that it hopes can compete with some of the big names in the real-time strategy field. This little German publishing firm certainly has desires to make Sudden Strike as much a household name as a little game we like to call Age of Empires. To do this means appealing to as many gamers as possible. While the action and theme of Sudden Strike will certainly appeal to real-time gamers, the authenticity that abounds in the game should appeal to hardcore grogs. The system requirements and multiplayer components will certainly add to Sudden Strikes' popularity. CDV is aiming at having a minimum specification of a Pentium 200 with a mere 32 Megs of RAM. With the ability to have up to a thousand units on screen at once these are indeed low requirements. Multiplayer will indeed be present. Details are sketchy at the moment but it is known that up to 12 players will be able to compete over a network, we can only hope that "network" includes the Internet.
CDV software is aiming for the game to be released internationally in October of 2000. They are hoping this will be the game of the millennium. While that is indeed a lofty goal what I have seen holds the promise of being one of the exciting real-time strategy games of the year. Sudden Strike is certainly one to watch. Go visit them at www.suddenstrike.com.
The copyright of the article A First Look at Sudden Strike - Page 3 in Computer Game Reviews is owned by Randy Scott. Permission to republish A First Look at Sudden Strike - Page 3 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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