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               Newsflash Product Review : Blitzkrieg - May 1940
                           Released by Impressions
                        Game Type : Strategic Wargame
                          Rec Retail Price : £24.99
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  May 1940, Western Europe is in turmoil - the mighty German army has struck
  deep into the heart of Poland,  Belgium  and France. People everywhere are
  dumbstruck at the frightening success of the  new type of war - Blitzkreig
  (lightening  war).  Shortly  afterwards  the  Germans  swept  through  the
  continent crushing all in it's path  forcing  the allied forces to flee in
  disarray via the French  port  of  Dunkirk.  This  piece  of software is a
  highly detailed strategic simulation of this historic episode.

  There are two options to play either the German Panzers and Storm Troopers
  in a bid to repeat the victory and  send the allied forces reeling or play
  the part of the allied forces and attempt to block the Germans superiority
  bid by out-smarting and out-manoeuvring them.

  You play the commander and control the  overall strategy of your corps and
  you may  also  delegate  command  to  some  of  your  armies  to computer-
  controlled intelligent generals.

  The author of the game is the highly acclaimed Ken Wright who has had many
  success on 8-bit machines and this is  his first 16bit product. The system
  is reputed to have a  highly  advanced  artificial intelligence to set new
  standards in computer wargaming.

  The game is depicted in the usual  computer-wargame style with a large map
  and units displayed as icons. In  this  game  there is the large scale map
  and a small scale  map  for  full  details.  The  map scrolls around under
  mouse/cursor control and as far as  graphics  go, and more importantly the
  speed of them, there are no problems here.

  Control is via the keyboard or  mouse  and  it's a very comfortable way of
  control, you always feel at ease and  there's no messy controls and it has
  been well designed. This  is  very  important  as  a  standard game can be
  expected to last 8-10 hours, of course there is a save option too.

  The game, as per  usual  in  these  gametypes, revolves around game-turns,
  movement turns and attack/combat turns. All movement and combat is carried
  out  quickly  and  is  very  clear.  The  game  offers  lots  of  tertiary
  information and details to back up the commander.

  As far as I'm concerned this isn't a  game that I'd see myself playing but
  that's because it's just not my  thing  and  is not a criticism. Wargamers
  will no doubt be excited at the  prospect of quality wargames on the Amiga
  and there's no  doubt  that  this  game  will  appease  these people. It's
  destined for a long shelf-life  as  these  games  will sell and sell, long
  after the latest shoot em up is out of trend.

  Criticisms: Just a couple of minor points,  I  wasn't too keen on the font
  used in the game, perhaps a smaller,  neater  font  next time - the one on
  the box was much more like it, perhaps  this was from the St Version. Also
  I would have appreciated a  few  sound-effects  here  and there although I
  admit that these are unimportant to the strategy purists.

  Ratings:

  Speed   :  9/10 Fast paced. Quick graphics.
  Accuracy:  9/10 Historical content very high.
  Options :  8/10 Good options to play either side and have different
                  starting points for the troops. Also the option to
                  delegate command to computer controlled generals.
  Overall :  9/10 Well packaged and well produced, Check it out.

  Review by Martyn, Newsflash Uk.

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  Available now from Impressions Software, Riverbank House, Putney Bridge
                       Approach, London SW6 3JD. £24.99
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