Rush For Berlin

What Would Have happened if Hitler had been sacked? Would the Russians have rolled their tanks into Berlin before us? Or would the Nazis have unleashed their secret flying saucers and simian super-soldiers upon the world? Thanks to some alternate reality tinkering in this plucky strategy game, we endeavour - WWII pun book in hand - to find out.

A change from our normal diet of fighting elves or space marines, Rush For Berlin - the latest from the studio behind Codename: Panzers - is an enjoyable RTS. The plot behind the game explores what might have happened if everyone's favourite 'tached-dictator had done things a bit differently. You unravel this exciting alternate reality across four separate fronts detailing the Allied, French, German and (our favourite) Russian campaigns. As always the multiplayer mode is also there offering a well-balanced all-v-all slugfest.

Tanks For Your Time

The biggest touted feature of the game is the unique way it handles resources. The resource in RFB is time; each objective has a time limit for completion, and you'll be rewarded for how quick you are. Completing missions in a speedy manner will ultimately move you faster towards Berlin, catching those pesky Krauts off-guard. The 'time' mechanic works well and provides a refreshing slant on the old and dusty RTS formula.

A surprisingly well-produced cut-scene pads out each mission, setting the mood and showing off Panzers' heavily upgraded engine, which now sports all kinds of graphical tweaks including some particularly nice self-shadowing. Meanwhile, pre-mission briefing videos help keep things simple with lots of branching arrows and flashing waypoints - y' know, in case you're a bit thick. Sadly, although the Al is generally fantastic, computer battles are fairly formulaic and rarely encourage complex flanking tactics. The camera could also do with some work; it's usually pointing in exactly the wrong direction and flails like a mentalist when you try to manoeuvre it.

That said, the single-player campaign is varied and hardly ever falls into genre convention, which makes Rush For Berlin a decent WWII strategy romp.