Allied General

The Good
I think the thing I liked the most about this release is that I got the DOS, Win and Mac versions all on a single CD. Sadly the PC versions no longer work under 2k, although the Mac one continues to chug along fine.

Anyway the game is basically identical to the original Panzer General, but with new units and missions. You can play as either the British, US or Soviets, which is also a nice twist. As you move from one country to another the UI elements change, from a "soft" look for the Brits to a "hard" metalic UI for the Soviets.

The Bad
As with all of the original PG series, the game is terribly weak in terms of supply lines. As a result the concept of Blitzkrieg, or even just encirclement, simply doesn't work. As a result all missions have to be fronted from a single wide line, thus ruining the effects of a lightning strike "up the middle". Even the newest releases in the series have the same problem. It's very annoying.

As to this release specifically, I found it somewhat weak in comparison to the other members of the series. I can't be much more specific than that, I'm not sure what the issue is. Maybe it's the mission selection. Maybe it's the units. I don't know, it's something though, I never got into it like I did with PG or PacGen.

In addition, in general I found playing as anyone other than the British very difficult. The Soviets have a very hard time getting started because their equipment and experience are terrible at the beginning. Likewise the US doesn't have enough time to get up to snuff in experience before being tossed in the fire. The British on the other hand had "good enough" equipment and "just enough" experience to hold off the Germans in the first few missions, and thus get the units ready for the missions to follow.

The Bottom Line
Still a classic after all these years, I suggest getting the entire "Five Star" series.