14 DAY TRIAL // Wargame Red Dragon offers four single-player campaigns, all of them based on political tensions in South East Asia that could have flared into open conflict during the 70s and the 80s, and even veterans of AirLand Battle will need a little time to adjust to the way they work.
The previous title in the real-time strategy series focused on NATO and Warsaw Pact divisions, which would be deployed as a whole to the front, expected to cover the large spaces of North Germany and the Scandinavian peninsula.
In Red Dragon, the development team at Eugen Systems has chosen to portray smaller tracts of land and sea while splitting the division into their components, which means that players control battalion and regimental-level units during the strategic deployment.
This means that there’s less integration and that gamers need to pay more attention to how they move their forces around and make sure that they do not leave an opening for the AI to explore.
I had one tactical battle in which I was defeated because I failed to take into account the enemy’s use of airpower and had my ground forces pounded into dust after I failed to move my anti-aircraft battalion in support.
My own air cover was taken out by the more numerous planes of the American enemy and I was forced into expensive retreat that ultimately cost me the entire Japanese campaign.
I also managed to catch the computer without solid support for a tank regiment as the North Koreans and wiped it out entirely employing aircraft and solid use of infantry in an urban environment.
I like the way the focus on smaller units makes Wargame Red Dragon feel more personal and immersive.
Unfortunately, the developers at Eugen Systems have failed to allow two humans to play a versus version of the campaigns, which is a major oversight, given that the feature was present in AirLand Battle.
I also miss the strategic options that I could spend requisition points on in the previous title, like commando raids, nukes for the Soviets, or mines to stop enemy ships from covering certain areas of the map.
The developers have a good history when it comes to offering support for their titles and it will be interesting to see if they use downloadable content packs to enhance the solo campaigns or if they focus instead on the multiplayer, which is traditionally more popular in the long term.