Panzer Elite Action Preview

There are all-terrain vehicles, and then there are who-cares-about-the-terrain vehicles. Tanks fall into that latter category. Tree in the way? Knock it down. Enemy hiding behind several trees? Blow them up – the trees and your enemy. 

Panzer Elite Action: The Fields of Glory compares to a third-person shooter, but with tanks as the main ingredient in the battles. Having previewed a copy of the PC version not long ago, it was worth looking to see how the Xbox version stacked up.

Panzer Elite Action is a JoWooD and ZootFly title. Much like its PC brethren, this preview code was a little light on the missions and options, giving only quick battle with two available missions. The Michael Wittmann scenario was explained in the PC preview, so this time around, maybe a look at the Huertgen Forest level.

The Allies have advanced almost to the Rhine when they came to the Huertgen Forest, which spread out before them as a barrier to the Schwammenzuel Dam. If the Germans blew the dam, the valley would flood and all progress lost. Of course, the Germans were expecting an attack from that direction and had King Tiger tanks prepared to welcome any visitors.

The idea was a simple one – pretend to be a convoy of captured tanks, moving through the darkness. A captured Tiger tank led the procession (ok, would that be tank-jacked instead of car-jacked?), with Sherman tanks in tow. Of course, simply sneaking on through would be pointless, so some of the mission essentials, like a German-speaking officer, or forged papers are missing, and when stopped at a checkpoint and that is when the night lights up with cannon fire.

No doubt the Tiger has a lot of firepower, and the mission is progressive, with each element checked off as achieved. Bog down, fail to make the checkpoint and it is mission over.

Control-wise, the Xbox controller settings are very intuitive, though the actual controls are a little more sluggish than its PC counterpart (the Logitech G5 laser gaming mouse may have had something to do with that). In the Xbox version, the Tiger is an ungainly beast and if you do not have a tight handle on the controls, even at the easier settings, it will be all over the forest. That can be both good news and bad. The good news being that if you are all over the place, it is hard for the enemy to target you. The bad news is that it is hard to target the enemy as well.

The targeting reticule turns green when a target is ripe for the plucking, but not every shot is a kill shot. And the AI was a little suspect at the lower difficulty settings and less than forgiving at the higher settings – sort of like the difference between sitting duck and piranha. 

The sound has good elements and some cheesy lines thrown out by the crew that attempt to capture the spirit of the moment. The sound of the tank treads, grumbling as they gain purchase on the ground, the blast from the cannon and the smack of shells or fragments glancing off all add to the ambience of the game. The musical score is solid.

The game will support Xbox Live multiplayer, but this preview code was very limited in scope.

Panzer Elite Action for the Xbox looks to be a solid war-shooter title featuring tanks. Mission-based with some linearity in the mission structure, it nonetheless looks great and plays well. Put this on the list of titles to watch for this winter.