The Perfect General 2

BLOWING A WEEKEND WAS NEVER SO MUCH FUN

A Review of The Perfect General 2

QQP, one of the premiere strategic software publishers, has released a new
piece called The Perfect General 2, a follow up to it’s popular forerunner,
The Perfect General.

Installation of this software was extremely easy. The package came with a
single CD-ROM, and all instructions were laid out well in the manual. Also,
QQP has taken the liberty to add several pages of technical notes on
tweaking your system’s autoexec.bat and config.sys files or even making
a boot-up disk for memory pressed systems.

Like most gamers, I basically scanned the instruction manual (48 pages),
and jumped right into the game. I found it quite easy to get into the meat
of this software. Unfortunately, I got my butt kicked about 75% of the
time by the computer. Needless to say, this prompted me to reread the
manual. Frankly, this isn’t a bad way to approach most software packages.
Once you’re in the game, much of the topics covered in your instruction
manual will become much more clear when you read it again.

Upon entering the game, a general will appear on screen and offer advice
for a particular scenario. Much of what is offered here can be used in
many other scenarios and is sound strategic advice.

Perfect General 2 offers quite a number of different scenarios to choose
from. If you choose to play a full campaign, you can literally lose days
of your life. Most players will probably choose to play a Single Scenario.
These in themselves are time consuming, but at least you probably will
finish them in one sitting.

The game itself allows the player to taylor it to their own tastes. You
can be the attacker or defender. The AI of the computer is adjustable
from “1″ (easiest) to “5″ (hardest). Believe me, the AI of this game is
incredible. If you don’t have access to a carbon unit to war with, the
computer will put up a ferocious fight. Many other options are offered,
such as seeing your opponent’s forces, weather variables, etc.

Perfect General 2 is a hexed based game. However, the hexes are not shown
unless the player turns this option on. Don’t let that scare you away,
however. Many wargamers don’t like hex based games. You’ll never know it,
trust me. For those who DO like hexes, well, just turn the hex map option
on, and voila!

The graphics are incredible. The opening cinematic clip is second to none,
in my opinion. The sound effects have to be heard to be believed. From
the noise of tank treads, to the sound of men marching, it’s here, believe
me. One of the highlights is watching and hearing your artillery
bombardments reducing enemy units to so much scrap metal.

Gameplay is land based. Hardware choices are dependent on the scenario,
but overall, tanks (4 different kinds), airplanes, different types of
infantry units, armored personnel carriers, artillery & mines are the
tools of war.

QQP includes several mapbooks with the software, that show the battlefield,
scenario variables & force levels of the attacker and defender. These are
good study materials for armchair generals, allowing one to plot the demise
of your enemy in advance.

One thing to consider in playing this game, it’s very important to keep a
good balance of forces. Loading up on nothing but tanks can leave a player
stranded, or much slower than the lighter forces of the opponent. The key
to winning most scenarios is not only sound strategy, but the right choice
of hardware in the beginning and a willingness to take risks at appropriate
times.

Whether you’re a die hard wargamer, who lives and dies by methodical
strategy, or perhaps you enjoy good strategic sims with great graphics and
sound effects, Perfect General 2 is a must have.

The measure of a game’s enjoyment factor can be given in a number of ways.
My favorite is the grass factor. Great software is addictive to the point
it consumes your personal time. Unfortunately, chores (including cutting
the grass around the house) tend to get neglected. Right now, my yard
looks like a field…

Perfect General 2 won’t collect dust around your computer. I recommend it
wholeheartedly. It’s a winner.

Copyright © 1995 David Smith for infoMedia. All rights reserved worldwide.