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Over roughly the last year, there have been a few WW2 tank sims that have come out. In all honesty, they were pathetic and very unrealistic. I played one mission in one of them and got my Panther D wasted by a Sherman from a range of around 1500 meters. Anyone who knows anything about WW2 armour knows that a Sherman can't hit a Panther at that range, let alone kill one. To say the least, the game was quickly uninstalled and shelved.

I have nothing against American programmers, but it seems that in every wargame they make the American units are stronger, and are always way out of spec and capable of impossible feats. When I found out Panzer Elite was done by a German company named Wings Simulations, I prayed it would break that bad streak that's been happening recently. I saw a early build of the game at E-3 and was pleasantly surprised to watch that same Sherman bounce round after round off the Panther at a range of 800 meters. Almost casually, the person from Wings hit a few keyboard commands and I watched the Panther slew its turret around, sit for about 6 seconds, and send a round down range, almost obliterating the Sherman. I watched in a almost morbid satisfaction as the Sherman did a jack in the box - had its turret blown 30 or 40 feet in the air. They had gotten that much right at least. After the Panther dispatched 3 more Shermans in under 2 minutes, I watched the Panther suddently explode. The Wings employee slewed the camera around and showed me the 5th Sherman, sitting about 50 meters behind the Panther, still pumping rounds into it. They got that right as well. And today, I'm going to review the final product in all its glory. Gameplay:

Panzer Elite is about platoon level armoured combat in World War 2, something that it simulates very well. Almost every aspect of it is covered in minute detail. From addons to the tank to fuel and ammo loads, they got everything covered.

For the review, I'll center on the long German campaign. I'll go though a mission to give you a idea of what to expect.

Playing the Germans, you have 4 tanks total - your command tank and 3 wingmen that, believe it or not, actually act like they have brains. Big points to Wings for great AI. The American platoon consists of 1 command tank and 4 wingmen. Your wingmen can be given individual commands and sent on their way, or you can keep them with you in one of several formations.

At the start of each mission you have your setup/layout screen that lets you tweak crewmen, fuel, ammo, and addons for your tanks, and get upgrades if available. One thing to remember for novices in the genre - a big, short barreled gun is not as effective as a smaller, long barreled gun. A 50mm l61 gun has better penetration and damage potential than a 75mm l24 gun - food for thought.

Once your tanks are configured to your satisfaction, you enter the mission briefing and get described to you in detail your mission goals and any support you may have, plus the missions of acompanying units. When you are satisfied with the mission, you click the go button and begin the mission where, with a few keystrokes, you and your section of tanks is on its way to do its job.

A word of warning here. These are 1940's era tanks, so bombing along at max speed is not the best idea unless you are crossing open ground. None of these tanks on either side fire on the move very well - no stabilization or laser range finders here. I found it easier to let the computer gunner fire for me while I concentrated on issuing orders and paying attention to what was going on. After a while, you realize how things work in a tank - once the gunner is aiming, grind the tank to a halt, and the second he fires, take off again. Your wingmen do this automatically. It makes your fire more accurate and, if you do it right, chances are the enemy rounds land in front of you, and as you take off again that messes up their aim even more. Paying attention to where you are going is also important. I found this out after I rolled a Panzer IV down the side of a hill.

The only thing I found really wrong wrong with the game, apart from a few bugs that have now been fixed, was that in one mission I came upon an American tank in a town at a range of about 15 yards or point blank range. My gunner would not fire so I had to override the controls and dispatched the Sherman myself. After doing this I stopped what I was doing and did some checking. I manually dropped into the gunners seat and checked to see if the tank was visible. All I could see was a big green lump in front of me. This puzzled me, so I did some research on German tank crews myself, and it seems that in their training, gunners will not fire unless they know for certain what the target is. This may be a bug or an interesting feature, because I tried the same thing with the Americans and the gunner fired. At the time of the review, I was not able to get clarification of this incident from Wings, so you can decide for yourselves. If you manage to win the first mission, you go to the debrief screen where you learn exactly how well you did or did not do. Medals are given out and, best of all, if your crew's skill improves you get informed. A major factor in this game is keeping those guys alive, because a expert crew shoots faster and more accurately than a novice crew, sometimes getting off 3 rounds to the novices' 1. That makes a huge difference in whether you live or die in Panzer Elite.

With 4 theaters of battle and 3 types of campaigns, plus single missions, multiplayer, and instant action, playable from either the German or American side, there is so much to do in this game it's not funny. The added ability to change difficulty factors makes your options almost unlimited, and with promises of a scenario builder and expansion sets already on the horizon, Panzer Elite should keep armour fans happy for a long time.

The controls in panzer elite are great. You can control everything from either a joystick, mouse, or keyboard, or use all 3. The keys are remappable to a great degree, and the only control bug I found has been fixed in the latest patch. The force feedback recoil is great - then again, rolling your tank down the side of a hill makes for some interesting feedback as well. All in all, the controls are not too hard, not too easy, but just right. It only takes a few minutes to realize what you need to do and you're off and gunning. The joystick controls i found especially well done, with the rudder controlling the turret and the stick itself controling gun elevation and turning, with throttle being self explanatory. The ease of the controls helps a lot when you need to quickly take control of the tank.

The level of detail in Panzer Elite is incredible. The suspension moves, the tracks move, turrets go up in the air, and the tanks are so detailed it's like looking at a picture. When you're in your briefing screen, the addons to the tank show up and they even have insignia and ID numbers on them. I was floored with the amount of detail in the game.

The game can be displayed in 5 different video levels ranging from 640x480 up to 1280x1024. Almost everything in the game is rendered. The buildings in the desert look like mud and stone huts. When you get to Italy the terrain becomes rocky and mountainous, and the houses are identical to the time period. When you finally hit Normandy, you enter the rolling hills and bocage of France with appropriate buildings.

If it's shown on the battlefield chances are you can destroy it. In one mission, I got upset at a hidden US bazooka team that whacked my number 2 in a town, and after chasing the elusive team down and finally destroying them, I realized I had leveled the entire town, street signs and all. So if you find them hiding in a building, just drive on through.

There isn't much more to say about the graphics. You have to see them to believe, and you will be impressed. All in all, with 80 plus vehicles accurately modeled, and 22 odd the player can actually control, Wings went out of their way to make this realistic.

Apart from some minor clipping during the briefing, the sounds are bang on. From the clang of a shot rebounding off your armour to the squeal of your tracks, everything is perfect. The gun sounds are the most realistic I have heard, from the steady thumping of the American 50cal to the almost ripping sound of the German mg42's. You can tell from the sound whether the engine is a GM or a Daimler Benz.

So turn those speakers up and upset the wife!

For those wanting a realistic, unbiased WW2 tank sim, Panzer Elite is definitely a must have. While reading the press release, I found much to my surprise. The design team actually went to the Munster tank museum in Germany where they have running examples of the vehicles included in the game, but that wasnt good enough for them. They then went to the veterans themselves and got their input, leaving no stone unturned. And the result is Panzer Elite. With the aforementioned expansion packs planned and the plethora of missions included this game is worth the money, and the enjoyment will be given back ten fold when you pop over that hill and catch the enemy from the rear looking the wrong way. Playing from either side is enjoyable, as the Germans have better tanks, just not as many, so you really worry about losing that Panther D you just got. As the Americans, you have Shermans coming out your ears, but you go through them faster than popcorn at a double feature.

Step back in time to when the fighting was up close and personal and the fastest gunner lived to see another day. You won't be disappointed.