Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: July 27, 2004

When I hear stories of genuine heroism, I can’t help wondering what I would do in the protagonist’s position. I would like to think I’d be the first one to step forward for that dangerous assignment or to jump into shark-infested waters to save someone. In reality, I run away like a ten-year-old girl when there’s a spider in the room, so purposely going where bullets would be flying at my head is pretty well out of the question. Fortunately I have video games to safely place me in situations where I showcase what little bravery and selflessness I do possess. Recalling some instances of heroism from the Second World War, developer Best Way has created a real-time strategy title called Soldiers: Heroes of World War II.

In Soldiers, you command a small squad that has been tasked with completing the impossible. Sometimes, you’ll have the safety of heavy armor to forge through enemy lines, but many times you won’t. Whatever your situation, don’t expect the enemy to make it easy on you; you can be sure that they’ll throw everything they’ve got at your men no matter what. Many of your troops will pay the ultimate price for freedom, but the very fate of the world hangs on your success or failure.

Soldiers is broken into four distinct historical campaigns, one for each superpower involved in the European conflict. The Allied portion is waged by the Russians, the British and the Americans, while the Axis is dominated by Nazi Germany. Each campaign contains five missions that tell a story of a specific World War II battle from the point of view of the army you’re using to fight. Additionally, Soldiers has seven single-stage bonus missions that have you completing objectives like cleaning resistance out of a town, holding a position and protecting an injured officer.

Soldiers‘ style will be familiar to anyone who’s played Commandos or the more recent Silent Storm. Your team is placed on a map containing overwhelming odds and given specific goals. Unlike Commandos, no skill sets place limits on what your team members can do. Soldiers are nondescript units that look unique in their portraits, but that have all the same abilities. Each unit is capable of using any or all of the equipment on the battlefield, so you don’t have to drag someone across the map just to do one little chore. The guy who just fixed the tank and loaded it with fuel can be the same guy who violently reverse engineers enemy vehicles with a bazooka or hurls a knife at an enemy’s head.