For gamers who seriously enjoyed the original Clash of Steel, released in the early nineties by Strategic Simulations Incorporated, Clash of Steel: Future Edition is going to provide a much greater challenge and offer a lot more enjoyment (and frustration). The Future Edition is a remake of the original game, with some noticeable improvements that range from graphic display to added gaming details. Clash of Steel: Future Edition, like the original, is a turn-based military strategy that focuses on the battles of the second world war. In the quest to control Europe and Northern Africa, the user can choose to play as either the Axis or Allied forces. The game begins in 1939, and the user must control the land by January of 1946 in order to win the game.
The focus of Clash of Steel: Future Edition is not the micromanagement of a game such as Civilization or Age of Empires. Instead, it focuses strictly on the military and all the things that go with it. The closest micromanagement aspect of the game is working the diplomacy factor with neighboring forces. This is actually one of the new, and reworked features of the Future Edition. The great focus of the game is military, and there is such great, in depth detail to the military that the user will be plenty busy keeping track of the great variety of available units, their various attack and defensive bonuses, the plethora of weaponry and specialized attacks and so forth. The user will have to position units and lead them into battle. He will have to be aware of defensive positions, supply lines and the position and speed of reinforcements if he is going to succeed at any campaign he launches. Becoming familiar with the variety of units will be the biggest challenge, and one of the most fun.
In other improvements, many of the bugs and crashes from the original Clash of Steel have been removed. The maps and scenarios have all remained the same, but the addition of diplomatic relations can drastically sway the outcome of a campaign in this edition of the game. In short, the Clash of Steel: Future Edition is the game that designers had in mind when they rushed the release of the original Clash of Steel. It is a good little game that features some serious in depth play and military strategy.
Written by:
~dorento1
