After fulfilling all my army commanding fantasies in the previous Blitzkrieg games, I was geared up and ready to go with the latest World War 2 real-time strategy from Nival Interactive.

World War 2 games are churned out on a regular basis, but it’s hard to find one that truly stands out and allows you to experience the atmosphere of struggle and desperation that was World War 2; games such as Medal of Honour have cemented themselves in gaming history as timeless games which we come back to again and again, but at the moment the Blitzkrieg franchise is hovering around the edges, it certainly has enough substance to push it into the front of WW2 games, but will Blitzkrieg 2: Fall of the Reich be the shove it needs?

A good real-time strategy combines action, tense drama and an intense story line; I will rate Blitzkrieg 2 with these in mind. Action, well, what is more exciting than having your tanks storm a village only to be ambushed but then fight to the last and conquer the village? Or to have to infantry charge heroically against an entrenched tank or enemy infantry unit? If you want action this game has got it, as soon as the mission starts you are right into the thick of things, with overwhelming numbers of enemies on all sides it’s your job as a master tactician to utilise all your resources and come out victorious. The combat system in Blitzkrieg 2 is simple enough with a tried and tested point and click interface. Individual units have their own special functions, for example infantry can throw grenades or dig trenches, tanks can use special firing techniques in order to get a quicker rate of fire, or entrench themselves behind sandbags; these special abilities come from a nice system of unit commanders; as you rise up the ranks in the game, you get access to a large amount of sub-commanders who you can assign to your different unit groups, such as assign a commander to your medium tanks or to your regular infantry. The more you use these individual unit groups the more experience they get and the more special abilities they are given. This means that the units you use most often will also be your most powerful which does help a lot. When you start a mission you are given a set amount of units, and sometimes you are also given control of an outpost on the map. It is through the outpost you can call for reinforcements but you can only use so many per mission; other times you must capture an enemy outpost. Because you are constantly outnumbered and your supply of reinforcements is limited, a full-on brute force tactic will never work, especially if the enemy is defending something as this means they will be entrenched and have long-range cannons placed around key areas. This game is undoubtedly harder than its predecessors, and only the greatest tacticians will survive. At first the game is infuriatingly hard even on easy mode, but after several failed attempts at various missions the rage is entirely forgotten when you finally do complete it, the satisfaction at cracking something so hard is rewarding indeed.

"Tense drama and gripping story line" - what could be more tense than fighting for your very survival? And what more gripping story is there than that of World War 2 itself? Blitzkrieg 2: Fall of the Reich is set in the final days of fighting on the Eastern front and covers both the Soviet and German campaigns in the long "Siege of Budapest," "Fortress Kurland," and the Soviet "Operation Bagration". The game contains 16 historically accurate missions, which put you in control of either the Germans or the Soviets in their quest for survival and domination.

Certainly this game has enough push to put it at the forefront of World War 2 strategy games; it’s cunning mixture of unrelenting action, strategy and outstanding game play is very satisfying and is definately something fresh coming from the WW2 genre. This game is hard at first so don’t be tempted to run in all guns blazing - every tank, troop and fighter is key in your victory.