Sudoku Master Java Game

War is a huge business. Not only in terms of the big stuff. Our everyday leisure industry is certainly tarred with the tang of bloodshed, even if it is only simlulated. If nothing else, the popularity of such pursuits as paintballing and the recent rise of the airsoft phenomenon go to show that for some people you can't beat the thrill of a gunfight.

Sudden Strike ME tries to incorporate a mix of the visceral action of front line fighting and the strategy of the command centre. In each of the game's missions, you control a group of between one and around 6 soldiers. Generally, objectives revolve around kicking various types of ass, whether its enemy troops, tanks or buildings.

Action takes place in real-time, and moving troops around feels almost Cannon Fodder-ish in its simplicity. Switching between troops is equally breezy, and is done with the * key. Although single troop usage is sometimes important, as different ranked soldiers have varying fields of vision and some will have other equipment such as grenades and medikits, generally you'll find yourself gathering your soldiers into a mob and stalking around the map for enemies.

The key to winning in the game is getting an upper hand on the enemy. Firing takes place automatically once an enemy solider is in firing distance, so skillful button bashing, if there is such a thing, won't get you anywhere. Instead, getting your troops perfectly placed in buildings and watch towers is the key to victory. Doing this increases their view distance, allowing them to blast enemies without risk of retribution. Nearby troops can also benefit from a fellow squaddie's increased perception, making a well-placed officer even more of an advantage.

The core game mechanics are pretty intuitive then, but Sudden Strike ME still offers a robust tutorial that takes the player through these key features. Once this has been completed, the game offers three separate campaigns, each of which consists of four missions. In true politically correct fashion, each of the campaigns lets the player take the helm of a different nation's army. First we have the Germans, followed by the Russians and finally the Allied army. Before each level we are offered a quick textual blurb giving a little background about the mission in hand, but really both this and the country are arbitrary since you'll be much more interested in playing the mission itself than worrying about historical motivations.

Each mision is relatively small, and each should only take five minutes or so, but there's a nice span of styles incorporated in the game. On some levels you'll find yourself commanding a batallion of tanks, wreaking carnage on the countryside, and in others you'll have only a skeleton crew of rifle-toting men despite being faced against a horde of troops, tanks and jeeps.

It's a good job that the game itself manages to forge a sense of personality with these varied missions because, as might be expected considering how high up our viewpoint is, the graphics don't exactly ooze soul. The sprites are perfectly functional and the backgrounds are reasonably attractive, but they're more a peg to hang the game interface upon, with its many view range circles. In fact, the graphics are a fairly decent cut-down interpretation of the Sudden Strike PC original.

The soundtrack is a selection of suitably uptight-sounding military anthems, but unfortunately there are no sound effects, which is always a little disappointing when there are firearms in the vicinity.

Sudden Strike ME is a very decent real time strategy game. The interface does get a little stretched when the action is at its busiest, but when it is working properly, it does war gaming on mobile a real service. It's a nice little package wrapped up with the high level of presentation we have come to expect from Xendex.'