Genre: Turn-based Strategy
Developer: Strategic Simulations
Publisher: Strategic Simulations

Graphics were clearly not what the development team of Panzer General spent their time on. The feeling here is that this title was intended to be a sort of board game turned digital, and the graphics reflect that; they are minimalistic in style, and are meant to be functional. At this, the team succeeded-- it's clear what the identity and nationality of each unit is, as well as what type of terrain each octagon consists of. In short, functional, but nothing more.

There's not very many music tracks in Panzer General, but the songs that do exist are stereo and of reasonably high quality. Melodically, they are typical war tunes, with a twinge of suspense and intrigue, as if to reflect that the battle could take a momentous turn at any time. Sound effects are minimal, and seem to also reflect the design goal of function over form, as per the visuals.

You could take turn-based strategy and World War II in a number of different directions. As the title implies, Panzer General is about leading battle from a large-scale perspective. Units consist of entire groups of soldiers, artillery, tanks, planes, ships, and the many other units that grace the game. The octagonal game board provides room for the ruckus, and units have different attack and defense attributes depending on the terrain. The gameplay is balanced, but the interface is a bit clunky.

To paraphrase, SSI claims that Panzer General is a hyper realistic representation of the many significant battles that took place in European WWII warfare. This claim is backed by the many missions, which can be played in sequence in the campaign mode, and the detail and apparent research that went into the units and stages. Unfortunately, to a non-history buff, the lack of presentation and, frankly, unengaging gameplay will be a turn off. To a true student of WWII however, Panzer General could be a god send.