East Front 2

by TalonSoft

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00002SFLC
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,547 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

GameSpot Review

Ignore the fact that there's a Roman numeral in the title. East Front II is not a sequel, but rather a "gold" edition. Basically it's all the original East Front scenarios, the campaign disc, and 50 new scenarios upgraded with the advances found in West Front. Yes, that's right, Talonsoft has gone the Sierra route and rereleased a game that originally suffered from severe bug infestation. Yet even Sierra would at least have included a rebate if you already owned the original game, something you won't find in East Front II's box. Instead, as a concession, you can order East Front II through Talonsoft at a discounted price, but tough luck if you've already picked it up at a retailer - you're stuck with full price.

So what's new in East Front II? Well, imagine all the improvements of West Front, applied to the original East Front. This means better graphics such as contoured terrain features and vehicle camouflage schemes, several optional rules such as armor facing, a linked campaign mode, and a thick manual. Of course, everything you didn't like about West Front is still present, such as the annoying supply rules (supply in a game where most scenarios represent an hour of real time? Come on, at least make the rules optional!). And oh yes, don't forget that 50 new scenarios have been added. While veterans of the original East Front might have to take a long hard look into their wallets, picking up East Front II is a no-brainer for green recruits.

If you're a newcomer to the world of computer wargaming, but grew up on board games, East Front II plays a lot like Avalon Hill's Panzer Blitz or GDW's Blood and Thunder. Turns represent six minutes, with most scenarios lasting from one hour to two hours of simulated time. A single unit represents a platoon, with individual strength points equaling half an infantry squad, a full MG team, an artillery piece, or a tank. The game is played out on a hex grid (each hex is 250 meters) and conforms to the standard "side A moves and fights, then side B does the same" style of play. Victory levels are derived from the control of certain hexes and the destruction of enemy forces while preserving friendly forces.

Because East Front II is a computer game, technology eases some of the burdens found in board wargaming. For example, true fog of war is possible without any convoluted double-blind system. The pain of setting up hundreds of cardboard counters is eliminated, as is trying to recall dozens of arcane rules and tables. The game is very user friendly, with plenty of online help, but most importantly the control scheme is very intuitive. The basics can be mastered in a few minutes, and the manual (weighing in at a nice 239 pages, and it even includes an index) does a good job of laying out all the tables one could want.

The graphics are pleasing to the eye, with a choice of three 3D views and two 2D views. In the 3D view the maps are laid out in an oblique manner, with terrain resembling that found in a diorama and units looking like hand-painted die-cast miniatures. The only downside is the poor sense of scale; tanks are as big as buildings, and the soldiers are all descendants of Paul Bunyon. The 2D view portrays the more traditional view found in board games, looking directly down on the terrain with units represented by icons. Unlike The Operational Art of War, the 3D view is actually playable and doesn't detract from the player's battlefield awareness.

One of the most impressive features of East Front II is simply the sheer size of the game. There are 150 single scenarios, a random scenario generator, an editor for crafting your own scenarios, and several campaign games. The dynamic campaign mode of the original is still present, but a linked campaign mode has been added. In the linked mode, the scenarios follow a "tree," with the number of scenarios you branch into depending entirely on how well you fare. If none of that is enough, there's also the slew of multiplayer options to extend gameplay, including the ability of 16 players to play over the Internet in one scenario! Imagine trying to get that many gamers together around your kitchen table!

While there's something to be said for gaming against organic intelligence, another advantage of computer wargaming is simply the ability to provide an opponent for you. Many wargames make up for the lack of a decent AI by creating scenarios that are actually puzzles. In these puzzle scenarios, good tactics are always overshadowed by trying to figure out the proper use of your units in the situation. East Front II's artificial intelligence puts up a good fight, and because of that, the scenarios are winnable by good strategy, not following a walk-through guide.

The biggest problem comes from the aforementioned supply rules that are totally out of place in a tactical game. Considering the background most of the scenario designers have with board wargaming, it seems strange that they allowed the supply rules to remain in the game. Some other problems include the inability to cancel an artillery attack and the console style of saving in a campaign. You can only save after a campaign scenario and never during the scenario. The rationale is to prevent "cheating" by retrying a scenario until you get the best score. Not everyone who wants to save during a campaign scenario is interested in cheating though; sometimes we just don't have enough time to sit down for an entire session.

East Front II is everything the original East Front should have been when it was released. It's big, engrossing, enjoyable, and true to its board game roots. It's just a shame that Talonsoft would make it appear like it was a true sequel, and not including a rebate is just as shameful. Still, East Front II is the best tactical level wargame to come out in a long time. If you have the original game and the expansion CD, you'll have to decide if the new features are really worth the money (and also take two points off the value score). For the rest of the world, dress warmly and expect to spend quite some time in those harsh Russian winters.--Scott R. Krol
--Copyright ©1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited.

Manufacturer Description

East Front 2 is a stand-alone game that combines all the scenarios, campaigns, units and nationalities found in East Front and Campaign, while adding the new gaming features and improvements of West Front. It is tactical combat on the Eastern Front at its most complete and very finest. Besides compiling the features of the previous games, East Front 2 also gives over 45 all-new scenarios, two new Dynamic Campaign Games, and two Linked Campaign Games, battles that can be found only in this release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best tactical level WWII simulation ever, November 5, 2000

By 

J.P. Maijala (Markham, Ont Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: East Front 2 (CD-ROM)

East Front 2 is not perfect, but it is simply the best tactical level World War II simulation ever made. Really. It follows in the tradition of the Panzer Blitz/Leader board games (and to a lesser extent the Squad Leader games) but adds a tremendous wealth of details and realistic game features. The game includes 600 different types of units, everything from 8 different models of PzKpfw IIIs to Polish wz.06 mountain guns, to Finnish Jaeger engineer platoons. The game also features historical information, specs and photos of each unit type.

Having played and enjoyed the game thoroughly I was distressed to read Ray Crawford's notes above about a faulty and/or biased game algorithm and decided to test his observations myself. I found that they were wrong. He maintained that German MG units had about a 50% chance of destroying Soviet T-26 tanks at a 2 hex range. Actually, MG units can't even fire on armored units at 2 hexes, the game won't permit it. At 1 hex, T-26 tanks were destroyed only 6 times out of 84 attempts or about 7% of the time. This may strike people as strange though "Machineguns destroying tanks with 25mm or armor?!" but remember that that's the maximum armor thickness and not the average. Tanks and armored cars are always more thinly armored along the sides and rear. And that defensive rating each unit is assigned also reflects things like the size of the tank, its silhouette, speed, how well the armor is sloped etc., etc. From my observations I noticed that Soviet MG units can also destroy German armored vehicles: PzKpfw Is, IIAs, and PSW 222 armored cars. Crawford also wrote that all Soviet guns under 76.2mm typically had no effect against German armored cars at any range. Again, my observations didn't bear this out. Soviet 45mm guns knocked out PSW 222 armored cars 11% of the time (out of 65 attempts) at 3 hexes, their maximum range against armored targets. They were also effective against light and medium tanks (the latter at short range though). Overall, my results were in line with expectations based on the game's combat system and I didn't find any bias in the game mechanics.

It's true that in the game German infantry is much more powerful than Soviet infantry, but that was the historical reality anyway. For every German soldier who died on the Eastern front, 6 Russian ones died. Russian armored units, on the other hand, are extremely powerful in the game. The T-34 M40s are really tough to stop with just PzKpfw IIIs and early IVs to say nothing of the super heavy IS IIs and IIIs that show up in the later scenarios. The game designers seem do have done an thorough job and the unit characteristics seem reasonable and realistic.

Having said that, the game isn't perfect. The spotting rules don't seem accurate. Infantry moving through woods are typically spotted from over 1 km away. I don't like the way units are 'blind' when scouting in unfamiliar territory and can't spot enemy units until the end of the turn. Sometimes you end up blundering into a large enemy force out in the open or even finish your movement next to them and are given no chance to react. The simulations during movement and combat run too slowly as well and the AI isn't all that great. The computer will sometimes vacate a victory objective to advance and engage the enemy, and it generally acts too predictably. But in a game this complex, it's not terrible and the scenarios are generally interesting and somewhat challenging.

So in spite of these shortcomings East Front II is a really wicked game. I find that the most successful tactics are the most realistic ones. You end up basing your plans on the maps, weather conditions, supply situation etc, and end up fighting for the best tactical position instead of just slugging it out mindlessly. The infantry assaults work best when done in a true to life fashion: artillery bombardment, smoke, infantry advancing with MG support and a final close assault when the enemy is disrupted or 'pinned down'. The game also has a virtually unlimited replay value. It comes with over 130 ready-made scenarios plus some in depth campaign scenarios. You can generate your own scenarios in minutes with the scenario generator or carefully design your own. And then there are the on-line and play by e-mail options. After playing EFII for more than a year I still feel like I've only scratched the surface of its full potential.

So, summing up I give the game 4 and a half stars (rounded up to five). Having played war games since I was a kid I'd have to say that EFII is the best one out there in its category. If you love detail, realism, the chance to plan and execute well thought out attacks, you'll love this game.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Squad Leader/Panzerblitz boardgame in e-form, January 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: East Front 2 (CD-ROM)

Warning, this review will only be useful to veteran wargamers and mil-geeks.

EF2 is designed by one of the founding fathers of the classic Avalon Hill "hexagons and hundreds of cardboard counters" boardgame Squad Leader, but actually more closely resembles the Panzerblitz game from the same company... i.e. platoon, not squad level units.

I always loved those games as a kid, and a PC version solves the two main problems-- finding opponents and all the time it takes to set up. The artwork is really great and quite clear.

However, I'd like to see more of a breakaway from the turn-based boardgame paradigm. Also, even with fog of war rules on, you still know far too much about the condition of your opponent's units.

As a game, it is fun, but as a simulation it could be substantially improved. Sequential, turn-based movement is the worst problem. Just as artillery strikes are "lagged" in the game, you should have to issue your movement orders in advance and then watch your poor troops try to carry them out in real time, as the enemy simultaneously does the same. Your ability to alter these orders in any given turn (based on what you've bumped into) should be limited and based on your experience, nationality, degree of unit mechanization, etc.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Be Warned: Best Suited For The Hardcore Wargamer, April 19, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: East Front 2 (CD-ROM)

The other reviewers are more articulate than I, so why am I bothering? Mostly because if you're reading this review, then you're probably interested in buying EF 2 and maybe already know something about it except the most important thing: will YOU enjoy EF 2? I think EF 2 is the sort of historical military game that usually only hardcore wargamers love: detailed unit statistics, complicated supply and movement restrictions, and so on. If you're not a veteran, this EF 2 is not likely to be as enjoyable. For one thing, it is sloooooow: waiting for the AI to make its moves can seem interminable. I find the drama greatly reduced (in comparison to games like Steel Panthers and Combat Mission) but far more distracting is the predictability of the AI with its inflexible attacks. You can learn to love EF 2 (I did) but it was work: ask yourself why you're playing...