Blitzkrieg (video game)

Blitzkrieg (Russian: Блицкриг) is a real-time tactics video game based on the events of World War II and is the first title in the Blitzkrieg series. The game allows players to assume the role of commanding officer during the battles of World War II that occurred in Europe and North Africa. Each country has its respective historically correct military units. Similar to the Sudden Strike games Blitzkrieg focuses on battles rather than real-time strategy aspects like base building.

This article is about the computer game. For other uses, see Blitzkrieg (disambiguation).
Blitzkrieg
Developer(s)Nival Interactive
Publisher(s)CDV
1C Company
Virtual Programming (OS X version)
Designer(s)Dmitry Devishev
Alexander Vinnikov
Boris Yulin
Igor Petukhov
Serge Orlovsky
SeriesBlitzkrieg
EngineEnigma engine
Platform(s)Windows, Mac
ReleaseJune 4, 2003
Genre(s)Real-time tactics
Mode(s)Single player, Multiplayer

Virtual Programming published a Mac OS X version of the game on the Mac App Store on April 20, 2011.[1]

Certain versions of the original game, and several sequels, use the StarForce copy protection system. Blitzkrieg Anthology does not appear to use Starforce.

Graphics deliver realistic 3-D rendered isometric terrain and details include seasons, climatic zones and weather conditions which can affect game play. Blood is present although it can be deactivated. The game features over 350 different units and objects. The player has the ability to build pontoon bridges, dig trenches, lay mines, resupply and repair units or call in air support but there are no resources. Virtually everything can be destroyed including buildings and bridges. Forests can be flattened by tanks or artillery. Each unit of a respective nation speaks its own language, adding immensely to the immersion.

The game shipped with a mission and resource editors for users to create their own units and maps.

Gameplay

The game is split into three modes: campaign, multiplayer and custom game.[2] Blitzkrieg centers on 3 distinctive campaigns which features some of the major factions battling it out in World War II.[3] They feature the Allies (American and British campaigns), the Germans, and the Soviets.[4] Each of those attempt to chronologically re-enact the time periods of the war by devising Chapters into each of the campaigns.[5]

Each player starts with 'core units'. These named units would be the same personnel accompanying the player throughout the chosen Campaign and may gain rank and experience as the player progresses from one Chapter to the other.[6] As they fight, units will expend their ammunition, forcing the player to pay attention.[7] Each of the individual units can be used separately or in groups, and by highlighting vehicles or humans, groups can be created and then called by a button at any time.[8] Because of the dismissal of base-building and unit spawning, strategy is a key ingredient of overall gameplay.[9]

Add-ons

There are three official expansions of the original Blitzkrieg to date, all three were developed by La Plata Studios (Germany) in collaboration with Nival Interactive, the developer of the original Blitzkrieg game. They are published and distributed by CDV Interactive. The base game Blitzkrieg was released together with its three expansions as Blitzkrieg Anthology.

  • Blitzkrieg: Burning Horizon follows the footsteps of General Erwin Rommel starting from the crossing of the Ardennes to the battles of the Afrika Korps and continuing to the last struggle of German resistance in occupied France. It also includes a new nation, Japan, with unique new units and weaponry (Belgium is also added, in single player only as an enemy), as well as 8 brand new single player missions, in which battles rage in many different countries and islands, from the Pacific island of Papua New Guinea to the jungles of Burma and Singapore and the deserts of Northern Africa and much more. It also includes over 56 new and improved units, including tanks, aircraft, squads, and artillery.
  • Blitzkrieg: Rolling Thunder traces the career of General George S. Patton during World War II ranging from the deserts of North Africa to the snowy forests of the Ardennes.
  • Blitzkrieg: Iron Division (also known as Green Devils) , an expansion that requires Blitzkrieg and Rolling Thunder in order to play. Unlike the first two expansions, it is not a full campaign, but a set of 4 custom missions. It follows 9th panzer division's actions in France, Eastern front and Normandy. It also includes Blitzkrieg's 1st airborne campaign called Eagles as well as a few new units and a new campaign: Tank School.

Stand-alone games
  • Stalingrad, developed by DTF Games, is a stand-alone game covering the advance toward and the battle for Stalingrad from both the German and Soviet sides.
  • Talvisota: Icy Hell, developed by Blitzfront Game Studio, is a game based on the Finnish-Russian Winter War in 1939–1940.
  • WWI: The Great War, developed by Dark Fox, is a World War I based game built on the Blitzkreg engine. The player assumes the role of the commanding officer of either the armed forces of the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Germany or Austria-Hungary on the battlefields of the Great War with the country's respective weaponry from 1914 to 1918. As of April 2015, the game is now officially available on Steam.
  • Mission Barbarossa and Kursk, developed by Active Gaming, follows the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 and the Battle of Kursk in 1943.
  • Blitzkrieg: Operation "North", developed by Dark Fox.

Panzerkrieg - Burning Horizon II

In October 2007 Hamburg-based La Plata Studios (developers of the Burning Horizon, Rolling Thunder and Green Devils titles) announced that Panzerkrieg - Burning Horizon II would be released during 2008. Initial details are few and far between but, as the project is being produced in conjunction with the head of the original Blitzkrieg team, it is likely to be more than a standard expansion or stand-alone title. By the end of October 2008 the game was released in Germany where it was very successful and sold more copies than any Blitzkrieg 2 extension.

  • In the season 3, episode 4: "Sistering" of the popular British sitcom Peep Show, character Mark Corrigan plays Blitzkrieg for 5 hours straight during his week off from work. He was supposed to be reading about the Roman Republic, doing sit-ups and learning the clarinet. He ruefully jokes that winning the war for the Nazis is more important.

Reception

By April 2005, global sales of Blitzkrieg had surpassed 1 million units.[10]

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References
  1. "Blitzkrieg". Apple. April 20, 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  2. Shiels, Jack (June 24, 2008). "Blitzkrieg". Inside Mac Games. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  3. Osborne, Scott (April 27, 2003). "Blitzkrieg: Not quite the great WWII RTS we've been waiting for". GameSpy. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  4. Wilks, Daniel (October 2003). "RTS with actual strategy- Such a thing possible?". PC Powerplay. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  5. Shefski, Bill (February 24, 2003). "Blitzkrieg by CDV". Gamezilla. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  6. Butts, Steve (April 22, 2003). "Blitzkrieg REVIEW". IGN. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  7. Mcdonald, Thomas (August 1, 2003). "Blitzkrieg (PC): World War II in real-time". Computer Gaming World. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  8. Wiz, Tha (April 22, 2003). "Blitzkrieg Review". GameZone. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  9. Brown, Jason (May 27, 2003). "Blitzkrieg Review". Gamespot. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  10. Maragos, Nich (April 13, 2005). "Ener1 Group Acquires Nival Interactive". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on September 23, 2017.
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