Airborne Assault: Red Devils over Arnhem Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 7th January 2008

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We take a this WWII Strategy game.

Airborne Assault: Red Devils over Arnhem Details:

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	Strategy
	PC
	Panther Games
	CDV

Out Now

N/A

Real time strategy games based around World War II are nothing new! But every once in a while a game comes along that breaks from the traditional Command and Conquer style, we have all grown to love. Airborne Assault does exactly this and lets you take command of the battle at an operational level, delivering an interesting alternative to the standard RTS game format.

Airborne Assault is based on events that took place around the Dutch City of Arnhem. General Bernard Montgomery commander of the British forces hatched a plan codenamed Operation Market Garden, which would have effectively ended the war in Europe by Christmas 1944 if it had succeeded.

The general believed a short focused burst into the German lines would be more successful then a broad attack, so thirty thousand British and American airborne troops were to be flown behind enemy lines, to capture eight bridges that spanned the network of canals and rivers on the Dutch/German border. At the same time British tanks and infantry were to push up a narrow road leading from the Allied front line to these key bridges.

Although the bold plan failed, it was one of the most aggressive plans carried out by allied forces and provides an excellent basis for a strategy game. After all had the operation been successful, post war Europe would have been very different. When playing Airborne Assault you have the option to play in a campaign that comprises of 22 scenarios. You command either the Allied or Axis forces as you assume the role of the general. You issue orders to virtual commanders who will decide the best route and tactics to use, based on preferences you give them. For example you can instruct your commanders to get to locations by the quickest or safest routes. There are also a number of other orders you can specify but the beauty of Airborne Assault is that you can leave the fine details to your virtual commanders, leaving you to concentrate on your overall strategy.

For those wishing to micro manage you have the option to separate individual units from their commanders, allowing you to issue orders to them directly. Airborne Assault features multiplayer support as well, and with the ability to play the game from both sides it adds to the games overall replay value. There is also a scenario editor bundled in for those who wish to design their own missions!

Graphics within Airborne Assault are nothing special, but they don't need to be! This is an operational level war game and the battle interface portrays this and it works very well.

Battles take place on vector maps that have been recreated from Allied records and therefore players are presented with a wealth of detail. You have the ability to zoom into the map to take a closer look and get a clearer picture of the action if necessary. I found myself using the zoom function quite frequently to pinpoint a unit’s exact position as the overall map can be quite unclear.

Overall Airborne Assault delivers a fresh approach to the RTS genre and with its great detail, addictive gameplay and excellent replay value it is definitely worth a look for any RTS fan.