Gamers who have been spoiled by the lavish number of fights in Battlefront’s classic Combat Mission series, will take issue with the sparse pickings in TOW2. The game comes with no stand-alone battles and only the 15 campaign missions. In many cases, a battle in the German campaign is just the other side of a battle in the American campaign, further diluting the diversity of the experience.

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The game addresses this lack of diversity by offering a full-featured set of editors. But mission and map editors are not easy to find, and definitely not easy to use. Would-be scenario designers who are familiar with object-oriented programming, height-maps and scripting will find they have almost complete freedom with this powerful game engine. Unfortunately, most players will be intimidated by the editor’s steep learning curve.

For the rest of us, a special mission generator is a quick way to put together a battle without having to code scripts. The player selects a map, sets up the play area, chooses forces and then can save or play the battle. The mission generator is very efficient; it takes less than 15 minutes to build a medium-sized fight with a platoon of tanks and infantry on each side. Unfortunately, the mission generator does not have a load feature, so if the player wants to tweak his work, he has to go back and rebuild the battle from scratch.

Strangely, the game offers no random skirmish mode—strange, because the feature is there in a way. The player can start a multi-player game with only a computer opponent, basically a random skirmish. But don’t look for skirmish on the menu.

Overall, the interface works fairly well. Players familiar with RTS conventions will be right at home. The options are streamlined, and with just a few clicks the player can do a good job of managing his forces. Soldiers can either be moved individually or by squad. Tanks are moved and given targets with simple clicks. Complex tasks are also easy. With a few clicks, a player can order a half-track to hook up a field gun, and transport the crew.

The UI does have a few issues, like the fact that you have to set a squad’s formation each time you move it. The facing command does not always work. Also, the slopes on many hills can not be climbed by infantry. Too bad, because the Tunisian campaign was characterized by infantry hill fights. But in terms of game-play the issues are minor.

If you are one of those players who avoids real-time because twitch-and-click is not a life-style you choose, you will be pleasantly surprised by TOW2. Players can not only give orders while the game is paused, but there is also a half-speed button that does not make the player feel like he is living in slow motion.

The AI is certainly better than many games that have gone before, but it is not the best. Dumb AI tricks are generously mixed with some real faux intelligence. For example, tanks in towns often become confused, and drive around in reverse. Sometimes, troops storming an enemy position throw grenades, then run out on them as they explode.

Generally however, the AI provides a good sparing partner. On the defense, the enemy is usually thoughtfully deployed. In some scenarios, the attacking player is forced to fight hard for every sand dune, house and mountain pass. On the offense, the AI is somewhat suicidal and likes to run straight for the objective without regard to losses, but these scenarios are still fun.

One aspect of the AI is a good-news, bad-news story in that individual vehicles and other units act semi-independently. On the good side, the player can be fairly comfortable putting his attention on important parts of the battlefield. While he does, his units will fight pretty well on their own. This feature dramatically reduces the click-fest feel that many real-time games have.

The bad news about this semi-independence is that sometimes your tanks and men run off and die without your orders. In one game, this reviewer halted two Pzkw IIIs just outside of a small village held by American infantry. While the reviewer moved the camera around the map, looking for friendly infantry to assist in the assault, the panzers decided to go for Iron Crosses on their own. The tanks drove into the village, and were cut up nicely by American bazookas. Hardcore wargamers tend to be control nuts when it comes to managing their virtual troops; this aspect of TOW2 may drive them crazy.

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