Is it possible? Can a PS1 game beat all CPU competition for realism?
 

I think as far as WWII armored sims go the answer is yes! The game was a sleeper in the west known as Panzer Front for the Playstation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYS1z...eature=related



The Japanese designer although quite limited in what he could produce managed to make a far more realistic WWII armored sim experiance then the PC has almost a decade later. Dont beleive me?

Features: Complete control of A.I. armor in your squad, You pick the route and send them flanking.

The ability to put your squad mates on the defensive.

Realistic penitration physics model and accurate representation of vehicles speed and x-country mobility.

Ricochet shots!

Playable tanks include: Most major tanks from WWII from Tigers,Elephants,Panthers,JagdPanthers,JagtTigers, Stug,Panzer III, Panzer IV, Nashhorn, T-34's, JS2,IS3, Sherman's, FIrefly's and most other Sherman variants, Tank destroyers and more!

All scenarios are taken from historically famous tank battles. You can play as Earnst Barkmann in his lone panther taking out swaths of allied armor after D-day in a historically correct map of the very town in France!

You can drive your tiger as Micheal Wittman in Villars Bocage!

And many many more!. Tired of playing these scenarios? Mix up the tanks!
Ever whonder what the outcome would be if Wittman had a Captured Russian T-34 instead, and were fighting nothing but Captured Panthers? a few clicks of your controller and you can find out?

Bored with that? Build your own missions! Load one of the many beautifull (For PS1 standards) maps and start editing who goes where and what the objectives will be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DzCMeGvxO0

Then they released Panzer Front Bis for the Playstation 2.

They focused on the battles in Afrika. They have fewer tanks but added an internal view. Now you can sit inside the tanks and look out the veiw ports or pop the top and get the commanders veiw! Play as the British, Germans or Italians and even man AT guns and feild artillery. Call in artillery or airstrikes!

For more information and to see how to get a copy running on your PC visit-http://www.geocities.com/panzerfrontuk/

Simulation. Hm.

Never heared of this. Let'S ignore the obvious date of graphics and sound.

The second, ingame video leaves me with an impression of that it is a hidden point-and-click/fire game. The mission they showed was not showing that much tactical realism, if any, and the terrain representation did not give the impression to allow implementation of essential manouvering that would make use of terrain features - in my book a vital part of tank warfare. Targetting and shooting also did not convince me, from a watcher's perspective. Enemy AI reminded me of Lemmings. finally, the interface obviously lacks any realism alltogether, giving the "commander" a level of situational awareness and clear view that you even do not have in modern tanks. Regarding this, Steel Fury as well as Steel Beasts 1 and Pro PE do much better jobs in simulating the limited and characteristic viewing possibilities aboard a given tank type.

I'm not making a final verdict, since I have not played it. But by the views of it, or better: the video, I am not too impressed. To me it looks like a 100% arcade game.

I can assure you that there is no arcade game in this "SIM"
The target identifiers are toggled in the difficulty settings. Terrain plays a huge role in combat. For example in the original version PS1 you can drive thru the bocage and use ambush tactics or you can find ditches and hills to get into a hull down position. In the second version "Bis" It has all the features that are done exactly the same in SF, with the ability to switch between driver gunner and commander all in first person. The desert's of Afrika offer less protection but there are still sunken or raised roads to use to find a hull down position. There are also hills and valleys. The A.I. is supurb and very authentic and uses historical tactics. If you are reffering to the scene in the video where the panther takes out several shermans. That is Ernst Barkman's scenario "Barkmanns corner" where the U.S. army was rushing to take the next town and drove right in front of Barkmann's Panther. From wikipedia "On the morning of July 27, Barkmann found himself in his Panther cut off from the rest of his company. While attempting to reach his unit, he was stopped near the village of Le Lorey where he was told by German infantrymen that the Americans were closing in with a large armoured column. Barkmann positioned his Panther under a stand of oaks near the crossroads where the American tanks would have to pass.
As the column came into sight, Barkmann knocked out the two lead Shermans and a fuel tanker truck. Next he destroyed two Shermans which had attempted to bypass the burning tanker. The Americans called in fighter-bombers, which damaged Barkmann's Panther and wounded two of his crewmen. Barkmann's next victims were two Shermans that had used the noise of the fighter-bombers as cover to sneak up on the damaged Panther's flank. As Barkmann's crew repaired the Panther, two more Shermans were knocked out. Finally, before leaving, Barkmann destroyed one last Sherman.

So as a player for years of both of these sims I can say that only SF comes close.

Na gut. ;)

I see just that video and I already said that that is what I am referring to, and that I do not know the game.

I think I just wait for the major SBP upgrade this month and be happy with tanks in my own way. Everyone to his liking. :yeah: