0 to Z of Playstation 1 Games - Allied General

  

Allied General is a turn based strategy game released for the Playstation 1 and is a port of the PC version, the game was developed by Halestorm, Inc and, Strategic Simulations and published by Mindscape,  Strategic Simulations and Xing Entertainment, the game was ported by Ultimation.

The games was released in Japan on June 13^th 1997 and a few weeks later on July 1^st in Europe, The North American release was just short of a year before Japan and Europe, with the game releasing in September of 1996. The German release of the game was re-titled as Panzer General II, while the game Panzer General II was named Panzer General IIID.

Allied General is the sequel to the 1994 release Panzer General and uses the same turn based gameplay mechanics, this time around the player experiences the allied side of World War II, taking place during two British, one US and one Russian campaign (see story section for this).

The player earns prestige points for completing the various scenarios that are presented to the player during the campaigns, this prestige points are used buy replacement units. This is not your only priority as surviving units from your previous battle carry over to the next, these units will have gained experience when you completed the mission.

The game is not entirely linear either with the results of the previous mission effect the following mission, meaning a loss in a battle does not necessarily mean a game over, a scarce victory could mean devastating consequences for the next battle while a devastating victory for the player could well have a positive effect on the next mission.

During the course of a players turn the player plans out the actions of the units under his command, the obvious aim destroy the enemy, using the many units and weapons at the players command, while managing  other factors like fuel. The game does try its hardest to be user friendly giving the player feedback by showing probably outcomes to your orders before you issue the attack, there is an undo option that can be used as long as no other enemy units have been scouted.

The game has four campaigns focussed on the Allied Forces during World War 2 with two campaigns focussing on two British campaigns and one US and Russian campaign. Starting with the Russian campaign which features the soviets invasion of Finland, known as the winter war as well as the defence and eventual counter attack from Moscow.

The first british based campaign takes place in North Africa against the Italian and German armies with the campaign starting in Sidi Barrani, which was the opening battle of Operation Compass, the first major attack by british and commonwealth troops of the Western Desert Campaign.

The second British campaign, which can be played as the continuation of the previous campaign focuses on the final battle for Tunis on Mareth Line, and the eventual invasion of Nazi occupied Europe.

The fourth and final campaign focuses on the US forces and plays similarly to the second British campaign starting with Operation Torch which was the invasion of North-western Africa continuing with the invasion of Europe.

A handful of review and a decent mix of review scores, starting at the top as usual though with German Publication Mega Fun with a 84/100 with their review quote saying Graphics and sound have not been reworked and are still at 16 bit level. The simulation depth, on the other hand, is still a prime example of this genre.

Fellow German publication Video Games were also positive on the game in their 82/100 review, with their review conclusion reading. Despite the bleak appearance and the external similarity with the previous, fans of heavy-duty Stratagy get their money. Attention to the highest is required especially in higher scenario: attacks must fended off, own advances well coordinated and ensured the troops are supplied. For PS generals, there is currently no better choice.

Absolute Playstation in their 70/100 review had the following to say I think the reason that I enjoyed Allied General was that I also enjoy the challenge of chess and this allowed me to offer the game the patience that will reward you with success. However, if you prefer your games to be action packed scraps, then the game also offers an excellent two player option where you can challenge a mate to play the role of the enemy troops and annihilate his forces, reducing him to tears.

We now switch to the bottom of the review scores where we find the lowest for Allied General is an average 50/100 from Play Magazine who’s review is clearly a graphics whore, with the following review quote. Will anyone buy Allied General on PlayStation? It's doubtful. To succeed on this format, Mindscape, this sort of game needs kick-ass visuals and presentation. Otherwise you shouldn't bother.

All Game Guide were fairly positive In their 60/100 review however were still critical of the games appeal to the majority of players, with the following quote from their review conclusion. History buffs looking for a decent World War II strategy game, then Allied General may be for you.

Just be warned that this is for the strategy enthusiast; it is very serious and can go on for days, relying less on action and more on troop deployment, marching across terrain, and setting up strategies for land, sea, and air operations. If that doesn't sound terribly exciting, then stay far, far away from this game.

This is the part of 0 to Z where is visit five online retailers and see what the availability of the title is, and what price you would be looking at if you wanted to pick this title up, the sites that I will be using for this are Amazon.com,  eStarland.com, retrogames.co.uk and Gamedude.com I know the last one is very location specific, but from a podcast I listen to I’ve heard they have a huge stock of older games, I will also be including Ebay.com as well

So lets get down to business with Gamedude, who will pay you $12 for your copy of Allied General, if on the other hand you are in the market for a copy of the game it will cost you $24 for a copy. Retrogames.co.uk sadly do not stock this title new or used so we now head to eStarland.com.

Who have two copies of the game available, one a used copy without a manual is priced up at $15.73, the second copy on sale is a used complete copy and can be picked up for $18.50, this is for the North American edition, you can also trade in your copy to eStarland who will pay $8 for you copy.

Heading to Amazon.com where prices start at $12 for an acceptable quality copy of the game, this copy is fulfilled by Amazon so a minimum spend of $25 is needed if you want free delivery. If you want a better quality used copy of the game a very good quality copy can be picked up for $12.37 + $3.99 for shipping so a total of $16.36.

This converts to £12.70 in the UK, in the Euro zone countries you will be looking at a price of €13.73 while in Azerbaijan you will be paying 27.81 Azerbaijani Manat. Prices for a very good quality used copy of the game reach a high of around the $25 mark

There is currently one new copy of the game available on Amazon.com, and it is a hefty price of $199.99 with a $4.99 shipping fee, this is currently also the only new copy that is available from the selected stores for this section with Ebay not having any new copies at the moment.

Speaking of Ebay.com lets take a look at what they have in stock, same as with previous games the shipping location has been set to the UK. Which has pretty much ruled out every copy thanks to the shipping fees which make the minimum price for a copy at least $20.

One copy of note however is the Japanese version of the game for any collectors out their, it is priced up at $24.00 with a $6 shipping fee, same shipping fee to the States as well. If you are in the US prices start at a similar price point to Amazon.com, with one correction there is a new copy available priced much more competitively than the $200 copy on Amazon, with an asking price of $59.95 with a $9 shipping fee.

 

Written by

P J Gibbon