Currently in development at The Bitmap Brothers, World War II: Frontline Command is a squad-based action RTS game that captures the heroism of some of World War II’s most significant and bloody battles. As a commander of Allied forces in Europe in the last year of World War II, the player will enter into combat with the Axis forces to drive the enemy back deep inside its own territory.

As a fully realised 3D RTS game, World War II: Frontline Command offers real line of sight and shared line of sight systems that are in turn affected by the height and characteristics of obstacles. Visually, the game utilises state-of-the-art weather, light, smoke, and damage effects to create an eerily realistic and engrossing battlefield experience as never seen before. Tanks and half-tracks blow up in a violent fury of debris and flame, and the deformable landscape allows units to seek cover in the large craters left behind by enemy mortars. Buildings can collapse under enemy shelling before the snipers inside them have a chance to evacuate.

While RTS games traditionally involve the player spending time concentrating on building, resourcing and preparation, World War II: Frontline Command’s authentic troops are fully resourced with equipment from the start, enabling the player to get straight into action and concentrate on what really matters, the battlefield.

The game features 10 unique multi-player maps, and up to 4 players at a time will have the choice of commanding the entire range of Allied or German units in multi-player mode. In single-player campaigns, the game features 25 missions, starting with the initial Allied D-Day assault on June 6th 1944 and ending at Hitler's lair in mountainous southern Germany. The close of the campaign will see the player pitted against crack German Army units with experimental hardware.

The game’s simple, click and drag controls and user-friendly interface ensure the player can keep their attention focused on the action. Intuitive from the start, WWII: Frontline Command is perfect for the RTS first-timer yet offers advanced controls and techniques for the experienced player.

Gameplay delivers a fully submersive battlefield experience and, thanks to its unique, Frontline system, also effectively portrays the psychology of warfare, rather than the sterile theory of war gaming. The Frontline system generates a unique bond between the player and the troops they control. This is enabled by way of a graphical on-screen representation of the player’s units’ morale, health and vision within the game. The system responds to the horrors and triumphs of war, providing for realistic, dramatic and empathic gameplay.

The Frontline system shows the real-time changes in a unit’s morale. If morale is exceptionally high, the combat effectiveness will be raised substantially and objectives easier to achieve. At peak levels, units may even perform heroic acts, such as putting a grenade through an enemy bunker or pillbox. At lower levels, units may even freeze in combat; in such a situation, it’s up to the player
to bolster morale by bringing battle-weary units back from the front lines or sending in reinforcements to help out.

Currently in development at The Bitmap Brothers’ studio in east London, World War II: Frontline Command is due to be published this autumn for PC. The game’s web site, with access to its Forum and latest visuals, is located at: http://www.codemasters.com/ww2