At a glance, the unit variety in Arms for Victory is very impressive with over 100 different categories of playable combat units including numerous sub-groups of infantry, tanks, artillery, trains, ships, and even planes. Some individual units have special abilities or attacks, and most require regular use of ammo dumps and supply trucks to keep them in fighting condition.

When you get right down to it, however, the subtle nuances of each unit type are often lost once the action increases in intensity. This is particularly noticeable when it comes to the many varieties of infantry. It's possible to use medics to heal your wounded soldiers, send drivers to hijack abandoned enemy tanks, use engineers to repair your own disabled vehicles in the field, and more. Unfortunately, players are not rewarded for taking the time to utilize these interesting play mechanics simply because it's far quicker to just group scores of units together and command them en masse. Even this doesn't always work well due to particularly poor A.I. and path finding on the part of most tank units; they'll slowly swivel around in a firefight while getting slammed or simply get hung up on terrain obstacles. Sorting units takes precious time and energy, but the pause button does let you take a moment to do just that if you have the patience.

The new 3D engine works wonders in the graphical department. The game looks great visually, and it's a substantial improvement from past Sudden Strike titles. As always, the destructive environments are excellent. Forces can inhabit buildings for cover, but it's way more fun to roll a tank battalion in and decimate the area with fiery explosive goodness. A few minutes of battle in a heavily entrenched area will leave the earth scorched and pock-marked from artillery, grenades, mortar fire, and tank rounds. Terrain features and water effects are also quite nice. The long-distance view allows you to select groupings of units more efficiently, while zooming in to a chaotic battle is good for getting a front seat for the show. Infantry units are still quite small even at the highest zoom level, but Arms for Victory is more about the bigger overall picture rather than minutia. With your armies assaulting in three different directions, there's precious little time to stop and smell the roses.

Shortcomings aside, Arms for Victory is bound to suck you into its fold in short order. The immense battles with thousands of various units at your command are simply epic. The developers addressed some - but not all - of the issues of past installments in this largely satisfying follow-up. If you're up for a massive-scale WWII RTS onslaught, it's time to cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war with Arms for Victory.

By Nathan Meunier
CCC Freelance Writer