Patton Strikes Back is a war simulation game that was also sometimes labeled as educational strategy because of its attempt at historical accuracy. It was published Broderbund Software Incorporated and was developed by Chris Crawford Games. “True” war simulation gamers knocked Patton Strikes Back quite hard when it was released in the early nineties. There were many, many other similar games available for the personal computer (Patton Strikes Back is a DOS based game) that were much more complex. However, the fact of the matter was that Chris Crawford simplified Patton Strikes Back tremendously and intentionally in order to try drawing non-war gamers into the genre and generate sales for the future.
It follows a style of game play that would be emulated and interpreted again some years later in Strategic Simulations Incorporated’s Panzer General franchise.
As mentioned above, Patton Strikes Back is battle and historically specific and exact. It centers around the historical World War II battlefield of the Battle of the Bulge. At this famous conflict, the user will be able to play as either the Germans or the American forces. The game is laid out in a very easy-to-conquer manner. After selecting the side for which you will play, you will be presented with a rendering of the battlefield and you will be allowed time to research any visible enemy troops in order to
best select your own units. You will then be able to select what type of troops you will send into the battle and will give them very basic orders, such as attack or defend…called a “mode” in this game. You can give them loose directions concerning which way to move and so forth. Once the beginning strategies are all laid out, the battle will begin in earnest.
Following the above detailed planning phase comes the actual battle which takes place in real time. You can change the original commands you issued your units at any time by pausing the game. You can also order supplies or reinforcements while the game is paused. While this does take away some of the real time elements of the game, it also simplifies it tremendously, which was the original idea when it was designed. Of course, you are perfectly welcome to also just sit back and watch your battle with the original commands just to see what will happen, but being this rigid is not advisable if you truly want to win.
In conclusion, this is not as bad of a game as critics made it out to be. Saying that it is bad because it is simple is like saying that an educational application made to teach a three year old about colors and shapes is simple. Patton Strikes Back does what it was designed to do, and more experienced war gamers should know enough to go another way. Those just breaking in will find it to be just what they need.
