World War 2 was replete with colourful and memorable characters. From nasty Nazis to flamboyant generals WW2 is probably the period of history from which people can remember the largest number of historical figures. I’m more then a little interested in military history so my knowledge of said notables is reasonable. But never have I come across names as ridiculous as Gregory Muir Sinclair, or Marius Bertrand Lafarge. These are the names of some of the hero units that you get to control in Digital Reality’s WW2 RTS. And whatever you do, don’t let them speak. When I previewed this game a few weeks back the utterly risible voice acting was the one things I most hoped would be changed before the game’s release. Most unfortunately this has not happened.

Desert Rats vs. Afrika Korps is a bit like Ground Control with a WW2 setting. If you aren’t familiar with that seminal Swedish game then let me explain. Rather than overburden the player with having to find the resources with which to build their army of conquest, the player gets a certain number of points to spend before the start of each mission. These points buy the various units in the game, with the more interesting units becoming available as you progress through the levels. Once your force is selected it’s off to the battlefield. Here things are more like your typical RTS, with unit selections, combat stances and formations all present and correct. Gameplay consists of battling through the map, hopefully achieving some secondary objectives in addition to the critical primary objective. There are also Prestige Points which players will have to deduce for themselves. Successful completion of these will unlock some special units for later missions, and help to boost the experience of your heroes. Each mission will see at least one of these super-units under your command. They boost the abilities of all other troops in their vicinities and stand out from the crowd with their big glowing markers. Which, along with hotkeys for their selection are very handy tools as the death of any of your heroes on a level leads to an instant mission failure. When you manage to finish the level with all of these cheesily voiced prima donnas intact you are rewarded with an illuminating breakdown of the entire battle along with a smattering of experience for the regular troops. And of course we know that experience means better abilities, so we all like that don’t we?

Playing Desert Rats vs. Afrika Korps is hardly any different from the myriad of other similar titles out there. While the voice acting is of the very worst calibre the sound effects are nothing if not terrible, and the musical score is also above average. The graphics are, well, nice. There’s a reasonable level of detail in all the models and they animate convincingly. There are moments when it all looks quite beautiful, usually just before everything gets blown to smithereens. The landscape is almost completely destructible, and as bodies stick around after their life has been extinguished battlefields have a more convincing ‘fought in’ look than most other games. There are quite a lot of options for some of the units. Some units can tow field pieces, tanks can go hull down and troops can occupy trenches. Soldiers can also opt to knock out the tracks and/or turrets of vehicles, and if you are fortunate in your circumstances you can capture enemy vehicles.

Desert Rats vs. Afrika Korps includes some real life battles along with the fictional skirmishes. Battles like El Alamein and the Torch landings provide the settings for the larger war-fests in the game, but the historical detail in these battles extend little further than matching names and terrain, so once again Desert Rats vs. Afrika Korps should not be seen as a historical wargame for buffs.

Multiplayer is present in this game, but only on a level comparable with the petroleum reserves of the Germans in the last year of the war. In other words, not a lot and what is there isn’t very natural. There are only two game modes, the usual deathmatch and king of the hill, and a laughable handful of maps to play with. The reliance on Gamespy over an inbuilt browser does little to help the game’s chances of making a breakout on the front, and the relatively small number of players cruising for a game further diminishes its chances of success. The omission of a skirmish mode then is yet another indication of the lack of long term potential in the title.

The single player modes do provide some thrills and spills in Desert Rats vs. Afrika Korps, it’s just a shame that as a package this particular release feels a little lightweight. Only players who are deaf and have a high tolerance for cheesy plots will go anywhere near the story campaign too. As the guff-free version of the campaign is to all intents identical most players will churn their way through this. Once both sides have been completed there’s the lure of completing all the extra objectives that may tempt some for a replay, and while shockingly minimal for an RTS, there are some multiplayer options to play around with.

Desert Rats vs. Afrika Korps is a competently made game which could have done with some more passion during its process. It gives off the whiff of a title done purely to make money. There’s nothing in it that suggests the developers had a burning desire to add anything new or unusual to the genre. The hero units may be new to WW2 titles but they are neither useful or otherwise fresh enough to rescue Desert Rats vs. Afrika Korps for the mire of the 'average'.

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By Sam Gibson

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