Targeting and firing are easily accomplished through the game but not easily in gameplay. What I mean by this is simply an example of the level of realism this game models. For example in a modern armor sim you have the technology to both see and engage targets out to 4000-5000 meters. In WWII that technology just wasn't there, and engagement ranges were more severely limited. So you will not see targets out at 4 or 5000 meters let alone hit them. Keep in mind when playing this sim, this is NOT your son's M1, its your grandads Edsel! In the 1940's armor was still in its pre-adolescence and was going through rapid changes and growth.  

There are some other graphics issues as well that need mentioning so that you don't think your system is glitching. Turrets do sometimes disappear and reappear. I was once preparing to engage a German tank when suddenly his turret vanished into thin air.. er, thin pixels! Shades of Klingon technology! I still had my ranging reticle on him but could only see sky where the reticle was. the funny thing is you can still hit and kill the target in his "stealth" turret. Again this is another point that SSI is fully aware of and I urge all of you out there to take full advantage of SSI's tech support. (more on this later) 

One of the things I personally didn't like was the map that you can access from your F4 TC Cupola buttoned position. The reason is it is a very small map and is not as detailed as I would personally prefer. It is completely useful and does show you the terrain you are going through, but its not as big as I would like.

Nonetheless the map serves its purpose well and shows you all prominent terrain features as well as all other objects in the area again based upon the level of intelligence you set to be shown in your options setup. As I said the map is very detailed and easy to use and is another essential component for survial.  

With regard to the AI, one of the factors I found quite alarming and felt was a bug was the fact I would sometimes have enemy vehicles drive right by at top speed. After asking Rick about this I now understand why this happens. One of the orders you can give a unit in the scenario editor is "Rush". Once you give this order the unit just rushes through their waypoints with a total disregard to you and your platoon as well as any of your other friendly units. Through this you may see one of the situations I have observed a couple of times.

I once had a pair of Bren Carriers headed towards me at a couple hundred yards. I decided to take out the leader, whereupon the trailer rode right up his leaders tail pipe and stayed there! This is due to several factors such as the original Rush order the unit is continuing to follow as well as morale checks to see if he can get himself out of the pickle on his own.  

This is a situation those of you out there who want to build their own scenarios should learn from. Use the Rush command only when you are ready to kill units, units WILL die when you give this order. They are so intent on getting to their objective they fail to protect themselves properly and can easily become sitting ducks as that one Bren Carrier did. It is a very useful command but should only be used by a blitzing unit that has some flank coverage. 

Forests are again handled in much the same way as they are in M1TP with blocky forest walls that from a distance are not much more than square objects. This is not really a big thing as you have plenty of other objects from which to hide and ambush the enemy as well as be ambushed.  

Now lets consider friendly AI. You have to watch your platoon closely when you give formation orders: #1. it takes about 3-5 seconds for your unit to receive and acknowledge orders you pass over the radio. So wait for the acknowledgement prior to moving out. #2 Your guys will have a tendency sometimes to get stuck against each other if you don't give them enough room to move, so make sure you have plenty of room for their drivers to realign themselves in any new formations you call out.
Click to continue . . . 

#3. Be careful when giving orders beofre crossing a bridge and also along banks of rivers. Make sure you call an in-line formation prior to crossing a river bridge so your platoon can fall in behind you and cross safely, otherwise they have a tendency to just head right into the water and swamp their engines. The same can happen along a riverbank if you're not careful; since they readjust their place in formation they can easily wander into the water and again swamp their engine.  

One of the most fun parts of this game is the driving, which many people had wished to see in M1TP but didn't. In Panzer Commander you WILL drive the tank, and let me tell you it's not only fun, but very realistic.

As I said before the terrain is fully modeled on real terrain and as in real terrain has differing effects on your vehicle. Hills can be steep to climb and sometimes can be impassable at points, so you must pay careful attention to where you're driving especially when under fire. When doing some "off-road" driving you must realize that you will not attain your tops speeds and your speed can drop to a mere 6-9 kph, but then again that is the trade off when being able to use the terrain to your advantage.

A variety of other factors also come up. You must keep in the forefront of your mind the engine overheat issue (unless you turned it off in your options). Your engine has a tendency to overheat if you stress it too much so go easy on it and save it for when you really do need it. If you receive an overheat warning message from your crew, by all means SLOW DOWN!

As for enjoyment of the experience, I recommend anyone to switch to the outside view when you can as you are driving and just pan around and enjoy the excellent physics modeling of each of the tanks, watch as the roadwheels roll and bounce and the track moves and leaves those treads in the soil. It's a real treat, but don't stay out there too long or you could be toast! 

Issuing platoon orders is very easy, but be careful when in the heat of battle as I've found myself sometimes moving when I didn't want to after placing an individual tank fire command. To issue a platoon fire order you must use the shift key in conjunction with the numbers at the top of the keyboard that correspond to the tank you wish to give the order to.

However, there is a problem here since those same number keys also control your throttle, and when you give that order you also change your speed according to which key you press, which will slow you down if moving full speed or make you move forward if you are stopped. This can sometimes cause you to move when you don't wish to so it's something to be aware of while you are playing. 

One thing I wish to make clear is that SSI intends to give great support on their products; they ARE listening and WANT your feedback on this game. If you see something that you feel, SSI is asking you the player to send them e-mail. It is only in this way they can fix any problems and at the same time make the game even better with everyones input.

There are also alot of things in this game that do allow for easy customization, so you hackers out there don't have to work too hard to change  things in this one. The vehicles and scenarios have been constructed around an open file structure so as to allow gamers to really dig their hands into it and tweak it as much as they want.

Ever wondered what an M1 would do in WWII? Got the stats for one? Then jump right into any of the .VDF (vehicle definition files) files and change the stats. Next thing you know you have a fully modern M1 running rampant through Africa tearing up Rommel! Want to play a German scenario with an American vehicle? What would the Americans have done with the King Tiger in their arsenal? Chnage settings in the .PZS files and you can see.

As you can see, in a similar way to MPS with M1TP2, SSI has gone out of their way to allow the game to be manipulated and tweaked by the gamer by allowing use of these text files. You can even create your own briefings for missions through this architecture. To get some more information on this as well as winnign strategies and breakdowns of the missions you can also purchase the strategy guide by Mark Cohen. Bottom line on this one, if you are into realistic WWII armor sims, this is one you cannot be without. 

Ratings: 
Core Rating : 75 
Gameplay : 85 
Graphics : 85 
Sound : 85 
AI : 60 
User Interface : 80 
Fun Factor : 90 
Learning Curve : 4-6 Hours (depending on level chosen) 
Overall Rating : 80 

This is a truly enjoyable sim and the only drawback to it is the AI for both friendly an enemy. let's hope SSI gives us a patch to fix these issues and if so this one will be a real winner.