Software Review: Fall of the Third Reich

This is one of the few games I’ve had for the 2068. I’ve never brought a “war game” before but the ads got to me. Having no idea what to expect, I expected the sights and sounds of WW2 with minor limitiations due to 48K Ram. When I opened the package, about a month after ordering it, I found a cassette and 3 pages of documentation. The program loaded right up and the documentation didn’t mean much until after I ran thru the first game. The program is in BASIC with a map of Europe and lots of little green, black and red squares. A complete read thru of the documentation and there was light at the end of the tunnel. Well, like I said, I don’t have much to compare this to, it is limited, slow and not much action or freedom of movement. You play the game to win but unless you hold Berlin from the Reds and the Allies, you lose. After the first couple of games and I was hooked, it grew on me. Like eating one peanut, it is hard to stop at one. With this war, possibile moves that might help you win keep popping up just like Red reinforcememnts. You gotta try just one more defensive posture or combination of offenses and defense. You gotta reload the game after a win or a loss. And you’ll learn to sit on your hands, cause the tempetation to hit before the cursor is up will cause you to error or freeze up game. On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 high) I’d be tempted to give a 2.25. The price of $16 is a little high. If the game had ability to dissengage the enemy, and some sort of status report per unit and to show reserves and their locations in advance. It is a pretty good game, I’d play it before watching any TV. I bought the “Fall of the Third Reich” by Mark L. Stueber, from DataCom ,PO Box 775, Kernersville, NC 27284.