Massive Assault : Games : Web Wombat

When I was a kid, my mum used to ask where my brain was. You see, I used to do silly things like attack wasps nests with sticks, and swan dive off the back fence onto a concrete path (breaking my nose in the process).

Mum, if you're reading, I'll tell you where my brain was - on holiday. But now it's back, and my motor neurone skills and injury minimalisation senses are doing pretty good these days.

Okay, so they're not perfect - the monkey had it coming! - but with this next game, the old brain got a huge workout.

The game starts off with a fairly cool CGI intro, not unlike the C&C games of the early 90s with technical models and cool weapons - only the quality is slightly lower.

It's still good though, and together with the games' rendered images of units during loading screens, it manages to lend an air of old-school coolness to proceedings.

Sort of like a slightly more complex version of chess (in fact the creators even call it the 'next dimension of chess'), Massive Assault is a real test for the grey matter, and as much as I cracked the shits with the game after being surrounded and punished by the enemy, I was high-fiving imaginary friends [it's all he's got - Ed] and whooping with joy far more often.

In fact, even in losing there's often grim satisfaction in knowing that you at least held out against the odds and did your best - it's a weird game like that.

I'd heard a bit about Massive Assault before I reviewed the game, and the tasty screenshots made sure the anticipation grew. After about an hours play however, I was a bit underwhelmed to be honest.

Rocket launchers look cool, and have the
second-highest range, making them useful

To start with, there are only 13 units per side (Free Nations Union and Phantom League), and all are identical in function, but not form. The analogies between this game and chess are many, and that's a very important one.

It's ensures that there is a level playing field and the only way you can conquer is with supreme tactics and milking the absolute maximum out of your troops, as opposed to using unique specialised units capable of stymieing another unit every time.

Everything you have, they have. Only their units look different, which helps out a lot when there's hundreds of units scattered about on the map.

So, two teams have 13 different units - one airborne, about five naval and the rest land-based - and seeing as it's a turn-based strategy game as well, this makes for lots of planning and devising and, most importantly, pre-empting.

There's a bunch of tutorial missions in there to help you on your way, but for my money diving into the heart of the game is the best way. The interface is good, not overly complex and supplies you with most of the information you need at all times.

Every turn, one player makes all his purchasing, deployment and combat/movement decisions, followed by the other, and so on and so forth. You can play against the CPU, or another player online/LAN or via hot swapping on the one PC.

Winning the game is simple in theory - but not so in execution. You must destroy all enemy units and take over every country on the map. Each country houses a city, or citadel if you like, and every 'turn' that passes, citadels earn income not unlike the Warlords games.

After the unit movement phase of every turn, you get to spend your moolah on new units. Each country has borders, and to take over a country you must destroy all enemies within the borders and move one unit onto the citadel.

Despite being turn based, multiple units from
the same team can fire at once, creating a
very intense-looking theatre of war

This can be done in either order - eradication then occupation or vice versa - but both must be achieved for you to gain control, thus the extra income of the citadel.

Gaining ground, and countries, is therefore one of the keys to victory, as the more countries you control, the more citadels you have, and the more citadels you have, the more cash you can use to beef up your army.

Combat itself is very straightforward. Each unit has a number of stats, three of which are movement, damage and range. Let's say you've got a Tank with a range of one, plus damage and movement of two.

The Tank moves two spots across grass (or three along roads, which afford a movement bonus), and then fires at a now-adjacent enemy with two health points left, killing him (2 damage takes away 2 health - armour types don't exist). Easy huh?

Wrong. Things to be aware of include the fact that any one unit can only attack another single unit, no matter how powerful, and once you've fired its weapon, it's no longer able to move. However, you can move and then fire, and while all these rules may sound restrictive and boring, the end result is one of the most addictive games you'll ever play.

Part of the addiction will come from the first few major maps you play on, because even on the easy difficulty setting, the AI is incredibly tough. This game ain't for newbies. Remember that while you have to adhere to stringent rules of play, so does your opponent. Knowledge is power, my friends.

Most of the time winning the game will come down to the rapid occupation of citadels, or the clever use of terrain in pincer movements, surround and suppress tactics and using choke points to ensure certain enemy units can't operate to their full potential.

Another extremely valuable tactic is the use of allies. Allies can be disclosed to your enemies for them to see (there's no fog of war), or you can choose to leave them looking like neutral countries.

A couple of Phantom League Pteroplanes (or
bombers) take pot shots at a pair of destroyers

There are both pros and cons here. Firstly, if you fail to disclose all your allies, for each turn you keep them secret you are potentially stemming the cash flow early on - which is usually when you need it most.

On the other hand, disclosing an ally late in the game when an enemy looks to have an advantage can sometimes floor their plans, causing them to redirect troops and potentially turning the tide of battle.

Visually, the game is not brilliant, but still quite impressive in many respects.

When I first saw the screenshots I thought it looked a lot like C&C: Generals, and while the units aren't quite as detailed, the landscapes are up there with the best of them.

The floating camera is also really good, and has incredible levels of zoom, and the particle and water effects are damned pretty too. Just check out those low quality screens the drunken editor took for evidence [Watch it Will - Ed]. It's nice to see that system requirements are low, with 256Mb of RAM and a 600MHz CPU being the basics.

I'm really excited talking about Massive Assault because it's such a damn cool game. It won't be for everyone, I'll admit that, but for those who like strategy - basic or complex - they will really love this, and it will eat away at all your spare time like that imaginary lover who just never quits. Hmmm…

Err, yeah, so, um, as I was saying, Massive Assault is a decidedly old-school idea, with some modern graphics and sound thrown in. Despite relatively simple rules, minimal units and sometimes monotonous stretches of play, Massive Assault is a wickedly addictive turn-based strategy game that will get you thinking so hard, your brain power may just improve.

Game: Massive Assault
System: PC
Players: 1-2
Online: Yes
Developer: Wargaming.net
Distributor: Red Ant

Rating: 90%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)

Massive Assault is on the shelves now.

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