How It Plays: 9/10
It has to be said that the first thing that hits you when playing P.F is the control system. If you were expecting Gran Turismo style sleek response and power slides, then I suggest that you get your money back, because P.F�s movements are as sluggish as it gets. �Sluggish is bad right?� Yes! In 99% of games, but in P.F it is an absolutely fantastic attribute, that really emphasises a sense of realism. You are controlling huge hunks of metal weighing numerous tons, and it actually feels like it! What�s more the response of each vehicle is so well suited to your tank of preference whether is be the slow and fearsome JagdTiger, or the �nippy flyweight� Sherman.
Shooting can be as easy or difficult as you want it to be. Novices can have tabs telling you how far away the enemy tank is; match the distance with the gauge, fire, and bobs your uncle. However turning off all rangefinders really heightens the intensity of the battles; the feeling you get in a standoff with an enemy tank, as you each try to find each others range in a classic �trial and error� manner. To the victor, the clearing of an enemy position to continue your advance; to the loser, a molten, smoking mass that was once an ultimate fighting machine. The enemy tanks do it all, from blazing towards you on main roads in columns, to stand alone �sniper� tanks hidden on hills and in woodland; to make sure you survive you have to be as vigilante as the real tank commanders of the war.
One slight niggle with some of the �sniper� tanks can be seen with the suspiciously accurate firing, which so often ends your turn. It�s like these tanks have modern targeting computers, the sort which would grace any modern hi-tech battle field. This complaint is only minor, and reinforces the old 1st rule of tank commanders �get them before they get you�!
�Buddy� tanks are provided for your disposal, managing them is of strict importance: make a right decision they you can pull off a devastating advance Rommel would be proud off; make a wrong decision, then its like the charge of the light brigade all over again!
Graphics 7/10
If you are a visuals junkie then leave P.F alone. The visuals are highly blocky but overall adequate for the game. But P.F is not about graphics it is very much �substance over style�. Okay so enemy troops look a bit flat, hedges disintegrate when you touch them, but believe me the graphics are certainly good enough when the occasion demands it (eg. You KNOW when a tank has been destroyed). The quality of the graphics is understandable for a Playstation, what in this world of PS2, and X-BOX, but they definitely succeed in giving off the �atmosphere� of your environment.
Sound 8/10
This area is one of Panzer Fronts largest strongpoints. Ricocheting shells, tank tracks at top speed, trees being uprooted. All of these battle noises heighten the sensory delights of combat. Title music is not so commendable, low quality �stereotypical� music is given for each nations tank. By far the worst noise in Panzer Front has to be the German Theme, it sounds like a rusty bugle, recorded on a scratched record!
Innovation 10/10
Such details of panzer front are never compromised by Enterbrain, who could�ve so easily avoided so much research and expense to make an arcade tank game. I never thought I�d see the day that a console game rivals a PC for in depth strategy. Believe me! P.F is up there with and Rainbow Six in terms of tactics and planning. It is a shame that Panzer front has/never will appeal to the masses, so indoctrinated in their FIFA franchises and �NEXT GEN� orientations; but in a way this adds to the credibility of P.F as a cult classic. If you are into tanks/WW2/ strategy �thinking games�, then this game is a must for you! Get yourself down to the shops quicker than an 88 shell this instant!!!!!!
Overall: 9/10