Gary Grigsby's World At War

by Tri Synergy

Product Features

• Features four full-length scenarios in 38 countries, from the Spring of 1940 to the Summer of 1943
• Play across 350 areas on a sprawling world map, as you lead five different armies - Germany, Japan, the Soviet Union, the Allied Forces and China
• Command multiple units on land, in the air or across the sea - and learn the rules that govern strategic warfare, from airborne attacks to amphibious invasions
• Special Fog Of War rules hide enemy units and production for greater challenge
• Realistic supply chain rules add a more hands-on form of resource management to the game

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002FGFJ8
• Item Weight: 11 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: March 15, 2005
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,348 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Gary Grigsby’s World at War takes you through four World War II scenarios where five playable powers battle across 38 different countries with 15 different unit types. Each unit type has up to 14 attributes, which you can upgrade through careful research of new technology during the war. Rules cover everything from strategic movement to cold weather, nuclear weapons, and even dealing with managing supply lines in the advanced mode of the game. With a top-notch AI, play-by-email capability, and two in-depth tutorials, World at War will make you a general in a day but keep you occupied year round.

Take command in this dynamic, turn-based strategy game of World War II that puts you in the role of some of the most legendary leaders of history. You have complete control over the production, research, and military strategy for your side. At your disposal are the full air, land, and sea forces of each power, with each unit rated in a variety of researchable areas. Two tutorials and several campaign scenarios let you learn the system quickly and start fighting the whole war or a smaller part of it.

Features:

• Four full-length scenarios (Spring ’40, Summer ’41, Spring ’42, Summer ’43) lasting to the end of the war
• Five playable forces (Germany, Japan, the Soviet Union, the Western Allies, and China) and 38 different countries
• Over 350 areas on a sprawling world map
• Command 15 different combat units in the air, on the land, and at sea, as well as infrastructure and supply units
• Each unit has up to 14 attributes, most of which can be improved through research and development
• Rules that cover strategic movement, forts, cold weather zones, airborne attack, amphibious invasions, partisans, militia, and many other features
• Fog of War rules that hide enemy units and production
• Supply rules that can be set to provide a common pool for all units to draw from, or the creation of field units that must accompany the armies
• PBEM playability for two to five players
• Challenging AI that offers a unique gaming experience
• Ability to automate either or both the Production and Research functions
• An in-depth tutorial that smoothly integrates the player with the game

Product Description

WW II turn-based strategy game. Control the production resarch and military strategy for your side. At your disposal are the full air land and sea forces of each power with each unit rated in a variety of resarchable areas. Take command in this dynamic turn-based strategy System Requirements:Windows 2000/XP Video:1024 x768 or higher 32 Mb Video RAM (128Mb recommended) CPU: 800 MHz Processor (2GHz recommended) Direct X 9c Memory: 512 MB RAM (1Gb recommended) 16 bit Direct Sound compatible soundcard 8xCD Rom 500 MB Free Hard Drive Space Format: WIN 2000XP Genre: ENTERTAINMENT Rating: NR UPC: 183881000014

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gary Grisby has done it again!, March 31, 2005

By 

J P Falcon (Fords, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Gary Grigsby's World At War (CD-ROM)

You basically cannot go wrong with a Gary Grisby game, but I want to quickly assure those of you who shy away from his "monster" games, like War in the Pacific, that World at War was not designed only for the die hard wargaming grog....World at War will appeal to all gamers for its' relatively ease of play and respect for the historical period. Once you navigate the slightly steep learning curve, you will quickly become comfortable with the gameplay, and realize that many of the rules are intuitive.

One of the problems with buying many games is that after playing around with them for a week or two, you find it sitting on your hard drive, unplayed, to the point that WINDOWS tells you that you have unused desktop icons which can be deleted. This will not be the case with Gary Grisby's World at War. The replayability of this game is very high for the following reasons:

1. You have 5 different sides you can play v. the AI. You can play either Germany, Japan, Russia, The Western Allies, or China. Feeling adventurous? Then play more than one country such as Germany and Japan and see if your strategy for both nations can change the course of history. Want to learn the game mechanics better before playing the Western Allies? Then control China and see if you can withstand the Japanese invasion.

2.The game has 5 default difficulty settings. Winning as the Western Allies at the normal setting? Then crank it up a notch and see the strategies you employed previously crumble to dust as the AI is not only tougher during combat, but new strategies conducted by the AI are opened up as well.

3. Customizing the game is easy to do which will once again increase the difficulty. Just one example: you can increase your enemies supplies and transport abilities or conversely, deny your AI allied partners the same...either way, an entirely new game will result from these changes....these are only 2 of many adjustments you can make to increase your enjoyment when playing World at War.

4. The game supports PBEM play which will result in countless hours/days/months of play with your friends.

World at War is a turn based game, not real time, thus allowing you to pace the turns at your comfort level. The manufacturing and research aspects of the game are handled very cleanly and will not boggle you mind what to do next. The combat system is easy to comprehend and you will quickly understand why a particular attack of yours fell apart. The supply system of the game can be set at no supplies (recommended for beginners and the first game only), standard (where supplies you build for your forces are simply drawn from a common supply pool) or advanced (where you are responsible to create supply chains and physically have supplies present with your forces). These various supply rules illustrates the depth of the game. Finally, you can complete a game in one 4 to 6 hour gaming session.

Gary Grisby's World at War is a breath of fresh air in the stale world of WWII strategy games. Enthusiastically recommended!

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strategy at its finest!, March 30, 2005

By 

traemyn - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gary Grigsby's World At War (CD-ROM)

STORY: 5 stars
How can you go wrong with WW2? :P

GRAPHICS: 4
Ok this is a strategy war board-game so theres not much need for great 3d graphics and ooo-ahh special effects. The icons for the units are well done, although I would prefer a different infantry icon that stands out more (this can be modded btw). In fact I think most of hardcore guys shun that kind of stuff because it could mean the game producer didn't spend enough time on what matters most - gameplay. A Combat Animation of your units fighting is ON my default but the units are static and the battle presentation is lacking. It can be turned OFF in the options if you feel like I do so I don't see a problem with it.

GAMEPLAY: 5
If you like games like Risk, Axis and Allies and are looking for more depth then this game is your new best friend. This is turn-based wargaming at its best! Completely engrossing gameplay that covers from 1940-1946 and you can play as either Western Allies, Japan, Germany, China, or Russia. WaW does a good job on the historical accuracy for the most part but still lets you pull off those "what-if" scenarios. There are a number of difficulty options to play around with which makes it super easy to grasp the basics of the game. As soon as your delve into the 126 page manual you will notice though that there are rules for a ton of things and advanced game options that add whole new layers of depth.

SOUND: 3
The sound is ok I guess. I do find myself humming along to the opening tune but its probably not something I will remember the game for. There are a number of sound effects for the combat animations and others that are good quality.

REPLAY VALUE: 5
With 4 different campaigns, 5 different sides to choose from, all the alternate production/research/war strategies this game should last you a long while. Plus, most everything can be heavily modded to your liking by just modifying a text document.
PBEM (Play-By-E-Mail) is the online component included with this game. It allows you to play with 4 other people all controlling a major power. Turns can take from 5 minutes to an 1 hour so PBEM makes sense in this setting.

CONCLUSION:
If you like strategy games then this is a great game to spend your money on. "Gary Grisby's: World At War" really fits "Easy to learn, hard to master!" and provides excellent gaming on all fronts.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GGWaW better than A&A, December 6, 2005

By 

[RS]Wedge - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Gary Grigsby's World At War (CD-ROM)

First off let me say that I have played the PC versions of Axis and Allies, Hearts of Iron II, and Uncommon Valor (another game by Gary Grigsby).

Second: If you do not like strategy board games such as Axis and Allies, Risk, or World in Flames - then this game is not for you.

GG World at War is not as complex as Hearts of Iron II or Uncommon Valor, but is more involved than Axis and Allies. GGWaW allows you to scale the complexity of the game - you can make it as simple as you want it. For example on my first game I only controled the movement of my forces. I did not have to worry about production, supply, advanced supply, or research. After my first game I then incorporated production, research and then regular default supply. I have yet to try Advance Supply. The 4 scenarios are geared toward the actual WWII historic time line. It is easier to win with the Allies, but on some occasions the out come has ended in draws. To have a true challenge is to play as the Axis. As a skilled player it is challenging to win with the Axis, but it is possible and offers an excellent challenge for any skilled GGWaW player.

Why I like GGWaW:
1. The game plays like a board game and theoretically you could play this game as a board game if it were sold that way.

2. It is a more indepth version of Axis and Allies, but not as indepth as Hearts of Iron II or Uncommon Valor.

3. The game is "Turn Based" unlike Hearts of Iron II which is more or less a real time strategy game.

4. The game can be scaled to your skill level. You can make it simple as you want it or control every aspect of game play making all the decisions on production, supply, and research.

5. The different scenarios to play - from large to small (4 different scenarios in all). For example you could play the longest scenario which is the whole length of the war taking 27 turns to finish the game or you could play the shortest of the 4 scenarios which will only take 10 turns. I like these options because of time restraints.

6. Support. The developers are on top of things and are constantly looking for feedback on bugs to correct to make the game even better.

Some people have complained about the Play By EMail feature. I dont see much of a problem with this feature because the game is turn based anyway and the file that you have to email to the other players are small and it only takes seconds to send

Edit: There is a beta patch out for registered users that lets you play over the interenet which gives you another option for multiplayer games other than PBEM.

This game will have a permanent spot on my hard drive.

(...)