Platform: PSP
Publisher: THQ
Genre: SRPG
Release: Nov 2007
Publisher: THQ
Genre: SRPG
Release: Nov 2007
Comments:
Warhammer 40,000 Squad Command (W40kSC) is a turn-based man-to-man strategy wargame with heaps of visual polish but a mechanical simplicity that might frustrate fans of the tabletop game on which it is based. It is available for PSP and Nintendo DS. This review is based on a play-through of the PSP version.
Squad Command pleases me. I'm a fan of turn-based strategy games of all types, boardgames and videogames. It's good to have a tactics game in the dark sci-fi flavor to provide contrast to the gorgeous glut of Tolkien-fantasy anime titles released recently; Final Fantasy Tactics - The War of the Lions, Dungeons & Dragons Tactics, Jeanne D'Arc and Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness.
But theme is not the only feature of note in this game. Where most tactics games use an obvious square-based grid, Squad Command seems to have a hidden hex-grid base. The grid is so tightly packed and hidden that movement seems almost without artificial limits. Aiming weapons, an array of guns and flame-throwers, is entirely gridless and honors line-of-sight. So if your space-marine is crouched behind a crumbled wall, you'll have to switch him to "stand" mode to get a bead on the warpspawn warriors coming at you.
Or maybe you can shoot the fuel barrels just behind the enemy to create an explosion to take out the entire evil squad, along with the wall behind them? Which brings us to another stand-out feature of the game, destructible environments. Kaboom. Rockets, bullets, lasers, flame and fist can, either intentionally or by ill-aimed attack, damage walls and other pieces of the environment. Doing this will knock out cover behind which your enemy cowers, or clear the way for your giant exoskeleton battlemech to stomp on toward glorious victory.
Each team -- in the solo campaign there are only two teams in any scenario -- takes turns giving orders to their entire squad. Units in a squad can execute any combination of movement and attack up to their action-point limit. For example, a sniper could move out from behind cover, shoot a couple times, then duck back behind cover. Adding to this complexity is the ability to spend extra action-points to make attacks more accurate. The laser-like line-of-sight changes colors to indicate how accurate your shot will be. On top of that, you've got the option to save action-points for the end of your turn to perform "overwatch", to cover a particular cone-of-sight that will allow an "attack of opportunity" if an enemy steps into range. Each unit has two weapons; a primary weapon with unlimited ammo, and a secondary, generally more powerful, weapon with limited ammo.
Sounds pretty meaty, right? It is. And I love all the tactical options. The downside is that each mission, of which there are fifteen, has its own set stock of units. The only things customizable about those units is their choice of secondary weapon and the amount of ammunition to load into those weapons. It is a case of streamlining the game for playability, I'm sure, but it is contrary to one of the big appeals of Warhammer 40k, the customization of squads. Again, the limitation of options may have been a wise decision in the grand scheme of things, but one can't help but see the missed potential there.
The campaign progresses nicely, rewarding the player with new units or weapons for each mission completed. Missions come in a few flavors. There are the "get to the zone" missions for which the goal is to move at least one unit to a special area on the map. There are the "kill everything" missions and the missions to "kill a specific unit". Then there are the "survive for x number of turns" missions. Like most modern tactical games, there are occasionally special loss conditions like "don't let the tank be destroyed."
Sometimes the missions are tough, especially the survival type scenarios, but the "get to the map point" situations are too easy.
Each mission is scored, so there's solo re-playability there. But the real lasting appeal of this game will be the multiplayer, which is surprisingly robust. Squad Command can be played multiplayer with a single copy of the game, though limited. The full-featured multiplayer is available in multi-copy ad-hoc (LAN) or via the Internet using a GameSpy back-end. In the full-featured multiplayer games, which can apparently support up to four players per team, there is choice of armies/legions of either the Imperium or Chaos. Units in those squads are pre-selected, but players can customize the secondary weapons as in the solo campaign.
Games online can be ranked, and you can set up a friends list. I'm really impressed by the attention to quality and detail they've given to the online element here. Supporting single-copy game-sharing is going above and beyond for a game of this complexity and THQ should be applauded for that alone. Having only played the PSP version, I don't know if the DS version has the same quality of online play.
I should say that I've hit a bug in the PSP version of the game that, thankfully, only occurs after you've saved and are progressing on to the next mission. More often than not, my PSP will go into a hard freeze, a lock down in which I can't even turn off the system with the power switch. To reset, I have to pop out the battery temporarily. This happens when I have completed a mission, save my progress, then go on to the next mission.
The graphics are well-done, with gorgeously rendered cut-scenes. The controls and camera in-game take some getting used to. Found them a little confusing at first, but after a few missions they become second nature.
Some ideas for improvements for a patch or sequel:
1. Terrain elevation differences. Current maps are virtually flat.
2. More squad customization. Add the ability to spend "squad points" to bring different units into play, pick your legion and uniforms, level-up your leaders/heroes.
3. Play as Chaos in single-player.
4. More weapon types. Mines, drones, barriers.
5. Saved "films" of games.
6. Downloadable scenarios/maps.
7. Map editor.
Overall, I'm enthusiastic about this game and encourage any turn-based strategy fans to pick up a copy for their handheld of choice. Find me on GameSpy as "Starstew".
Squad Command pleases me. I'm a fan of turn-based strategy games of all types, boardgames and videogames. It's good to have a tactics game in the dark sci-fi flavor to provide contrast to the gorgeous glut of Tolkien-fantasy anime titles released recently; Final Fantasy Tactics - The War of the Lions, Dungeons & Dragons Tactics, Jeanne D'Arc and Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness.
But theme is not the only feature of note in this game. Where most tactics games use an obvious square-based grid, Squad Command seems to have a hidden hex-grid base. The grid is so tightly packed and hidden that movement seems almost without artificial limits. Aiming weapons, an array of guns and flame-throwers, is entirely gridless and honors line-of-sight. So if your space-marine is crouched behind a crumbled wall, you'll have to switch him to "stand" mode to get a bead on the warpspawn warriors coming at you.
Or maybe you can shoot the fuel barrels just behind the enemy to create an explosion to take out the entire evil squad, along with the wall behind them? Which brings us to another stand-out feature of the game, destructible environments. Kaboom. Rockets, bullets, lasers, flame and fist can, either intentionally or by ill-aimed attack, damage walls and other pieces of the environment. Doing this will knock out cover behind which your enemy cowers, or clear the way for your giant exoskeleton battlemech to stomp on toward glorious victory.
Each team -- in the solo campaign there are only two teams in any scenario -- takes turns giving orders to their entire squad. Units in a squad can execute any combination of movement and attack up to their action-point limit. For example, a sniper could move out from behind cover, shoot a couple times, then duck back behind cover. Adding to this complexity is the ability to spend extra action-points to make attacks more accurate. The laser-like line-of-sight changes colors to indicate how accurate your shot will be. On top of that, you've got the option to save action-points for the end of your turn to perform "overwatch", to cover a particular cone-of-sight that will allow an "attack of opportunity" if an enemy steps into range. Each unit has two weapons; a primary weapon with unlimited ammo, and a secondary, generally more powerful, weapon with limited ammo.
Sounds pretty meaty, right? It is. And I love all the tactical options. The downside is that each mission, of which there are fifteen, has its own set stock of units. The only things customizable about those units is their choice of secondary weapon and the amount of ammunition to load into those weapons. It is a case of streamlining the game for playability, I'm sure, but it is contrary to one of the big appeals of Warhammer 40k, the customization of squads. Again, the limitation of options may have been a wise decision in the grand scheme of things, but one can't help but see the missed potential there.
The campaign progresses nicely, rewarding the player with new units or weapons for each mission completed. Missions come in a few flavors. There are the "get to the zone" missions for which the goal is to move at least one unit to a special area on the map. There are the "kill everything" missions and the missions to "kill a specific unit". Then there are the "survive for x number of turns" missions. Like most modern tactical games, there are occasionally special loss conditions like "don't let the tank be destroyed."
Sometimes the missions are tough, especially the survival type scenarios, but the "get to the map point" situations are too easy.
Each mission is scored, so there's solo re-playability there. But the real lasting appeal of this game will be the multiplayer, which is surprisingly robust. Squad Command can be played multiplayer with a single copy of the game, though limited. The full-featured multiplayer is available in multi-copy ad-hoc (LAN) or via the Internet using a GameSpy back-end. In the full-featured multiplayer games, which can apparently support up to four players per team, there is choice of armies/legions of either the Imperium or Chaos. Units in those squads are pre-selected, but players can customize the secondary weapons as in the solo campaign.
Games online can be ranked, and you can set up a friends list. I'm really impressed by the attention to quality and detail they've given to the online element here. Supporting single-copy game-sharing is going above and beyond for a game of this complexity and THQ should be applauded for that alone. Having only played the PSP version, I don't know if the DS version has the same quality of online play.
I should say that I've hit a bug in the PSP version of the game that, thankfully, only occurs after you've saved and are progressing on to the next mission. More often than not, my PSP will go into a hard freeze, a lock down in which I can't even turn off the system with the power switch. To reset, I have to pop out the battery temporarily. This happens when I have completed a mission, save my progress, then go on to the next mission.
The graphics are well-done, with gorgeously rendered cut-scenes. The controls and camera in-game take some getting used to. Found them a little confusing at first, but after a few missions they become second nature.
Some ideas for improvements for a patch or sequel:
1. Terrain elevation differences. Current maps are virtually flat.
2. More squad customization. Add the ability to spend "squad points" to bring different units into play, pick your legion and uniforms, level-up your leaders/heroes.
3. Play as Chaos in single-player.
4. More weapon types. Mines, drones, barriers.
5. Saved "films" of games.
6. Downloadable scenarios/maps.
7. Map editor.
Overall, I'm enthusiastic about this game and encourage any turn-based strategy fans to pick up a copy for their handheld of choice. Find me on GameSpy as "Starstew".
