Theatre of War 2: Kursk 1943

Theatre of War 2: Kursk 1943 is bloody difficult. It’s also quite possibly the driest videogame experience you’ll ever play and occasionally complicated beyond belief, and yet it still demands a certain respect for the level of depth and simulation on offer. It’s aimed squarely at a seemingly evergreen hardcore WWII strategy-loving niche and unfortunately for the rest of us, it’s all but impenetrable for anybody without a deep love of both historical period and complex strategy mechanics. For the precious few of you that it appeals to, let’s face it, you probably already own it anyway.

Within minutes of finding myself baffled by the tutorial and swiftly marvelling at the ‘mission failed’ screen in the campaign, it was clear that Kursk 1943 doesn’t mess around in it’s presentation of historical accuracy. This German vs Russian battle on the Eastern front revolved around an incredible rearguard defensive action from an emplaced Red Army as they repelled the full might of Hitler’s tank divisions, and marked the first time that a Blitzkrieg attack had been successfully defeated without significant penetration into allied territory. The Russian counterattack that followed won them key cities across the continent.

The game focuses on two stories, that of the German Grossdeutschland battle group, and the Societ 67th Rifles and 3rd Mechanized corp. As the Germans, the action largely revolves around controlling tank divisions and attempting to rout the incredibly strong defensive lines around Kursk. With the Russians, it’s precisely the opposite, as you hold those lines and scrounge whatever equipment you can find in the heat of the moment.

Either way, it’s a complex beast, with individual units possessing their own unique personalities and for the most part stubbornly refusing to put themselves in harms way no matter how sadistic your mousing hand wants to get. In fact, they’ll even go so far as to run away if you simply keep pointing them at mechanised treads and suggesting they pull the trigger, but on the flip side, keeping them well-grouped and strong of pulse builds up experience and stat points that further their abilities for subsequent missions.

While the main interface is chock-full of well-worn formation, grouping, movement and attack controls that will be familiar to anybody versed in Total War, the big problem with Theatre of War 2 is a distinct lack of visual, aural or mechanical feedback and notification of success or failure. The soldiers shout in their native languages, victory conditions are mostly fuzzy and occasionally ill-defined, and for the most part there is no easy way to assess exactly how effective your tactics are, save for the bodycount.

No doubt the hardcore military strategists will be able to look past that distinct lack of personality and praise the sombre and realistic tone, but for those weaned on C&C and StarCraft, it’ll present a steep learning curve as a result. The tutorial points players in the right direction for the basics, though many hours of tactical experimentation is necessary before even breaking the surface.

With patience, though, it is possible to gain some moderate success and enjoyment out of Kursk 1943. Whether or not you’ll want to carry it through when the rewards are relatively meager and doled out under such a veil of austerity is another thing entirely. I suspect you’ll already know whether that’s you or not.