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Panzer General is a 1994 computer wargame developed and published by Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI). It simulates conflict during World War II. The designers of Panzer General were heavily influenced by the Japanese wargame series Daisenryaku.
Panzer General was a major commercial hit: 250,000 units were sold at full price, and long tail sales continued in the years ahead. It became and remained SSI's best-selling game across all genres, and was named the best-selling computer wargame of all time in 2007. It is the first in the commercially successful Panzer General series.
Panzer General is an operational-level game, and units approximate battalions, although the unit size and map scale from one scenario to the next are elastic. While the names and information for the units are reasonably accurate, the scenarios only approximate historical situations.
Its novel feature was to link individual into a campaign spanning World War II from 1939 to 1945. Units are able to gain experience and become stronger, where success in one battle would award the player prestige to upgrade units, acquire additional units, and select a better scenario for the next battle.
The game requires the player to use combined-arms tactics, where each unit is strong against some unit types but very vulnerable to others. Dug-in enemy positions must be softened by artillery, which is vulnerable and needs protection. Before attacking the infantry and anti-tank, one needs first to destroy the enemy artillery that protects them from behind. If no tanks can get within range, one does this mostly by bombers, but then it is advantageous to destroy the air defense units first. The fighter planes must negotiate dual roles: destroying the enemy air force and protecting their own bombers.
The player must carefully observe the road system to speed the advance, or may use Bridge engineers to cross the rivers. The game rewards a Blitzkrieg strategy - penetrating deep into the enemy positions while postponing the destruction of some of the encountered enemy units for later.
The performance of units is increased by their experience points, which are acquired through combat. In Campaign mode particularly, one then has to protect the experienced units as the most valuable assets.
In Campaign Mode, a series of battles unfold as a campaign heads to victory. There is one long campaign as Germany, with five starting locales:
The task in most scenarios is to take all objective cities in a given number of turns; taking them at least five turns earlier is considered a major victory. In scenarios from later stages of war, the Germans try to hold positions against a stronger enemy. A typical task is then "hold at least two of our objective cities for 20 turns; for a major victory, hold at least five".
All campaigns branch out and end either by the general being sacked for incompetence or end of the war. In Campaign Mode, a major victory could possibly change known historical events. For example, after a major victory over France, the player invades Britain. Later in the game, after a major victory in Barbarossa, the player can convince the German High Command to attack Moscow immediately (which costs him or her much prestige) rather than diverting to Kiev before Moscow.
If the player achieves a major victory both in Britain and in Moscow, he or she is allowed to carry out an invasion of the United States and reach Washington. In any other case, he/she must fight well in many battles to get another chance to attack them. If either Britain or USSR survive this attack, they drive the Germans all the way back to Berlin. The best the player can do is to fight well in each battle to have enough prestige for the next one - and to achieve a major victory in the final defense of Berlin.
Daisenryaku would go on to serve as the inspiration for the entire Panzer General series.
In 1996, Next Generation listed it as number 51 on their "Top 100 Games of All Time", contending that though the game's interface is simple, the complexity of the strategy is exceptional. In 1996, Computer Gaming World declared Panzer General the 15th-best computer game ever released, and listed the Game Over scene as #8 on its list of "the 15 best ways to die in computer gaming". The magazine's wargame columnist Terry Coleman named it his pick for the best computer wargame released by late 1996.
In 1996, Panzer General won the Origins Award for Best Military or Strategy Computer Game of 1995.
In their brief review of the PlayStation version, Next Generation remarked: "One of the best PC wargames of all time and still highly thought of, this version doesn't miss a trick".
Bruce Geryk of GameSpot argued that Panzer General resurrected the computer wargaming genre.
The series continued with People's General, an upgraded version of Panzer General II based on a World War III scenario between China and the UN. Panzer General also provided a Play by Email (PBEM) system. Panzer General 3D Assault arrived in 1999, with fully 3D graphics. was released in 2000, with better graphics and a redesigned interface.
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