Developer: Graviteam
Genre: Wargame
Release Date: Q2 2009
“Kharkov 1943” is a wargame with an exciting story, based on documented military history.
In game there will be forces - about 1-2 battalions in one operation from each of the parties.
Similar games: the Close Combat series, the Combat Missions series, and Theatre of War. The representation is similar to those games, with the camera displaying a third person view of the action, allowing the player to zoom into the action, observing individual units.
The action takes place within two campaigns based around Kharkov – one for the Soviet Army (February 1943) and one for the Wehrmacht (early March 1943). In addition, there are a number of training missions for the player to explore. The game is based on the already well known Graviteam engine. The objective of the game is to throw the player into the grindstones of the Eastern Front, allowing him to feel like a great tactician right in the middle of these bloody battles of the WW2.The key elements of the game are the units of soldiers and accompanying tanks and their crews, all of which were recreated with painstaking detail and maximum historical accuracy. Large scale battlefields with various armed forces, combined with two campaigns help reproduce dramatic historical battles, with the outcome for either side dangling by a thread. These battles during early 1943 changed the tactics and strategy of both sides and will immerse the player in the swirl of events of those days.
- Large-scale battles.
The gameplay will challenge all your tactical abilities at company level, involving various types of troops (there can be up to 250 soldiers and officers, as well as more than 40 types of vehicles on the battlefield at the same time). As in reality, the outcome of the game's battles are based on how skillfully you interact with your units and how well you deal with the forces of your opponent. When maneuvering, think out of the box to outsmart your opponent and lead your forces to victory. Remember – if you don't win, then the enemy will!
- Balanced game world. The game features a unique mix of realistic factors, such as the landscape, distances, velocities and pure scope. These factors are the shortcoming of other games in that genre, so we improved on those constraints to make the whole player experience more fascinating. Even without starting to play, you will notice how the game blends the shadowy line between game and the real world and, like a time machine, will take you outside of your cozy room and place you into the cold winter war of 1943, leaving you there to fight.
- Fully interactive landscape.
Deformable terrain and destructible objects are the basis of this game. During the battles, you can blow up or break down and destroy everything, from a small bush to an entire village. And, by the way, so can your opponent! The use of tactical destruction allows for unprecedented strategic opportunities for you to master the battlefield's challenges. Blow up bridges to prevent the enemy from pushing forward! Facing an well hidden enemy? Destroy everything around them, then send forces into their rear and eliminate them! It's up to you to decide. You are the commander-in-chief of this highly realistic battlefield environment. Act decisively – for everything is possible!
- Seeing is believingSince you're already fully engrossed in the gaming process, you are invited to get to know a simple, yet convenient option, known as “adaptive scale”, which allows you to oversee the whole battlefield, or a just single unit. This gives you the chance to be a tactician with a capital “T”. Find a comfortable position in your chair, relax, locate the enemy on the map and send sufficient forces his way, and watch the execution of your commands in detail.
