Frontline: Fields of Thunder review

The biggest tank battle in history is the subject of this WWII RTS - Kursk, 1943, Russia. It was the moment when Hitler threw the lion’s share of his best remaining Panzer divisions into a meat grinder, in a tired old rehash of previously successful Blitzkrieg tactics. Which is ironic, as this game is itself a tired old rehash of Blitzkrieg - the last RTS game from developers Nival.

Despite the mid-Russian setting, the terrain here feels mighty familiar. It’s one of that veritable battalion of up-’n-at-’em RTSs that rushed through the gap that Sudden Strike punched in the market back in 2000. No resource gathering, reinforcements triggered by events, large-scale drag-and-drop battles. Mucho fiddling with supply and repair units.

But to be fair, the format is essentially a good one, and despite the overwhelming déjà vu all these T34s and Panzer IVs cook up, Frontline is mildly entertaining. It’s no challenge to master, and the on-screen armies do their damndest to put on a show, pyrotechnic explosions, rattling machine guns and tanks demolishing everything in their way.