Pocket War, by MetalShard $24.97
Reviewed June 2002, updated August 2003

As one of the most established turned-based strategy war games, Pocket War's got a new outfit. The new version, developed by MetalShard, adds some real time elements and a truckload of new features. What didn't change is that you still need a sharp mastermind to command this new army to defeat the new enemies.

You start the game by selecting a difficulty level (easy, medium and hard) and a map size (small, medium, large and extra-large). The maps are generated at random, which means you will get a new map each time you start a new game. You start with one city, but your enemy often has more to start. You and the computer (your enemy) each take turns to train troops and build artillery. Compare to some other strategy games on Pocket PC, the "skirmish" in Pocket War is more fun because there are many cities to capture and each city can produce Marines, Tanks, Fighter Jets, Bombers, Helicopters, Submarines, newly added in this version: Sub Hunters and more. The only way to capture a city is to send the Marines in. The cities that have not been occupied by the enemies are usually easier to capture than the enemy cities.

Because the map, even the small size ones, are massive, and so many cities can produce war units, you really need a strategy and plans to win the war. First, you should read about what each unit can do and how they can be upgraded before you start mass production. One of very nice features in Pocket War is the finesse in designing war units and their upgrade paths. For each war unit, you can assign them their primary actions, such as Defend, Attack Units, Attack Cities, Go to Nearest Transport, Go to Nearest Friendly City, Go to Nearest Upgrader. You can also assign the move actions such as Stop, Explore or Waypoint. With large number of troops in action on the ground, in the water and in the air, this function will help you keep everybody under the control. Each unit has values in Building Time, Attack, Armor, Speed, Fuel See Range, Attack Range, Specialties and Attack Adjust. Some units can go anywhere without having to worry about fuel, like the Marines, Tanks, Transport, Submarines, Destroyer, etc. You can set a number of these units to Search and Destroy. They will find the targets and fight the enemy automatically. Understand the designed specialty of a unit, and use the right unit for the job. For example, Bombers are designed to attack ground targets. If you use it to fight enemy air units you will get penalty.

I was amazed how well Pocket War deals with communications. Thanks to new features in this version, the game gives you notification messages on each action. When you have hundreds of Marines and Tanks fighting on 5 fronts, 10 Submarines roaming all over the map, 10 Carriers with 5 Fighters on each, 20 Helicopters transporting ground troops, it's hard to keep track of everything. There is an area at the bottom of the screen where you'll recieve messages about attacks, waypoints, fuel stats, spotting enemies, etc. After receiving messages, you can give further instructions to continue your attacks. Another way to gather information in the game is by clicking on the objects, which will bring up a semi-transparent window that shows the unit status, or what units the city is building or housing, or how many units are reporting to certain waypoint.

On top of the addictive gameplay and easy-to-use game interface, you will find a multi-player mode that will make this game irresistible. The way the multi-player game works is simple. You can play the game for a few turns, then submit the game to the server. The server passes those turns on to other players who do the same thing. You don't have to be connected all the time, just need to check back with server and see if it is your turn yet. If you prefer to be online all the time, then Pocket War will tell you when everyone has gone or when is time to take you next turn. This set up allows players to find human opponents who play the game at the pace that fits their schedule.

The use of the screen is quite efficient. There is a narrow bar on top of the game screen that shows number of turns, score, access to save or exit game, help menu, etc. At the bottom of the game window, you will find a menu bar that has shortcuts to messages, lists, cities, mini-map, jump to last place on map, multi and single turns, etc. Underneath this menu bar is the one-liner message display area. The look of the screen is very clear yet packed with information. In this new version, you are able to watch units moving or attacking, though still no animation of explosion or light and smoke. The graphics of the units, maps and cities are incredibly sharp, though there aren't real looking terrains like in Argentum. There are sound effects of screams, explosions and jets flying overhead to add to the fun.

All in all, Pocket War is a great turn-based strategy game that has incredible depth. The ability for users to customize their games by adding units, mods, etc. and play against human opponents opens up a whole new world for the gamers.

Read our interview with Tully Edson, creator of PocketWar, here!