East Front

Eastern Front

Release Date: November 15, 1997

Strategy, World War II, turn-based, multiplayer, singleplayer, PBeM, hot seat, internet

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Extended turn-based strategy, continuing the traditions of the excellent Battleground military series. The action takes us back in the years 1941-45 and allows us to take part in one of eight campaigns recreating skirmishes on the eastern front of the Second World War. For keen strategists there is also an option to play online in one of the wide range of game modes and a scenario generator.

East Front is an extensive turn-based military strategy created by Talonsoft, a company specializing in this type of productions. The game is a spiritual heir to the popular Battleground series, developed since 1995. However, unlike the cycle mentioned above, which recreated mainly single battles of the Civil War and Napoleonic period, the East Front takes us to the reality of fighting on the eastern front in the years 1941-45.

A total of eight different campaigns were made available to players. Three of them are related to the Third Reich's aggression against the USSR, which went down in history as Operation Barbarossa. Others recreate other known episodes of World War II, such as the Battle of Kursk or the siege of Stalingrad. Among the arsenal of units we can find long-range guns, planes, infantry, tanks, sappers and many others. In the East Front we can shoot smoke ammunition, dig up, transport infantry units using trucks, etc. The creators focused primarily on realism. Optionally, the game even takes into account the differences between hits on particular details of armoured units. For example, the front and rear armor of a tank - as in reality - differ in thickness, and thus in strength.

The game combines the best features of its precursors with elements of a competitive Panzer General series. The game's tuned Battleground engine shows the action in isometric 3D projection, which allows to display the image in resolution up to 1024x768. However, the appearance of the units is more reminiscent of the SSI series, as well as the game interface, thanks to which the East Front, despite all its complexity, is relatively easy and user-friendly production.

For the most demanding, the authors have prepared a mission generator, thanks to which we can quickly create a battle in random terrain and with unknown forces of the opponent. East Front also allows 2 players to play in one of the gameplay modes: via the Internet, LAN, modem, direct cable connection, e-mail or alternatively on a single computer. In addition, together with the game we receive an interesting weapon encyclopedia, enriched with archival photographs and authentic technical data of the equipment.

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Last updated on August 14, 2015