Steel Horizon

With its touch screen and dual view, Nintendo DS is the perfect handheld for strategy games. Who needs point-and-click responses when you could touch, drag, and release?

At least that was the assumed path DS developers would (could?) take. Thus far the system's most prestigious strategy game has been Advance Wars, a title that plays better with a D-pad than a stylus.

That makes Steel Horizon the first of its kind – a strategy game whose touch-screen controls are superior to the directional buttons. World map locations are selected with a tap of the stylus. Each map is condensed to a 20x32 grid that's similar to (but more expansive than) the grid in Milton Bradley's electronic board game, Battleship.

Steel Horizon puts you in charge of the world’s most cutting-edge warships. You command fleets, not individual units, though you may link eight of your toughest battlers for the ultimate enemy pounding.

Use battleships and battlecruisers to hammer opposing forces. Annihilate would-be powerhouses with destroyers, submarines, and mine layers. Take control of enemy and neutral territory with specialized landing craft, and heal those who have been damaged using repair ships.

One to eight ships may be applied to any given fleet, which appears on the world map as one unit. The benefit of dispersing ships is tempting (greater presence over enemies) but dangerous (less strength in combat). Eight battleships should be able to withstand an assault from most adversaries, even if the enemy strikes with eight equally powerful ships. But if you disperse your units and receive the same attack, your chances of survival are greatly reduced.

Fleets are selected very easily using the D-pad or touch screen. Tap any ship or base on the map and the game will jump to its location. From there a circular menu will appear, asking if you’d like to move forward, change the standing position (where the front of the ship is pointed), or end the turn. You may also use this menu to look up ship info, double-check objectives, or to modify fleet size and ship placement.

Park two fleets next to each other to swap ships. The first mission will teach you that your first objective should be to assign the toughest ships available to one fleet. Keep adding ships until you’ve reached the maximum number allowed (eight), then use that fleet to ward off the majority of the mission’s threats. There will be other obstacles to work around and other things to contend with, but no problem is greater than watching your men die. Not all missions begin with ally-controlled bases, and no new ships may be created until a base is under your command. Hence the necessity to fight hard while your men are still standing.

The moment of truth comes when an enemy is within attack range, as indicated by the grid. Battles play out automatically once a strike has been issued. The action unfolds on the top screen in 3D and in real time. Polygon-seekers won’t be overjoyed by the grainy visual display – the camera changes are interesting but the ship models are lackluster – whose explosions and gunfire / weapon effects are terribly weak. Press up and down to alter the camera’s focus, switching between ally and enemy ships in about a second. The transition is smooth and uncommon for a DS title, though it’s nothing a strategy fan hasn’t already been exposed to.

Those of you who wish the game had a bit more interactivity tied to its combat engine will be interested in the special abilities function. When it’s available (apparently at random) press the X button for enhancements like rapid fire and improved target accuracy. The primary target may also be selected, but the game does the rest for you.

Battles are timed and end when the clock runs out or when either fleet is destroyed (whichever comes first). Expect a retaliatory strike if the enemy isn’t wiped out. If you keep your fleets strong, it’s unlikely that the enemy’s response will be successful. Which is why the battered fleet may retreat to heal and re-group. Then you’ll have another deadly force to think about.

For a lower-budget strategy title and a brand new series, Steel Horizon is a pretty good game. But it may never reach the players that would appreciate it the most – those who have not played a strategy game. Its intended market is the hardcore strategy fan, a type of gamer who will be disappointed by the lack of complexity. It is also much slower than the average turn-based strategy game, a fact few players will be able to ignore.

Though I hate to stress the importance of expensive graphics, their absence in Steel Horizon will stop almost anyone who isn’t already a fan of strategy games from taking a second look. No matter how much fun a game is once you start playing it, we all judge books by their covers. When you look at Steel Horizon’s images, what do you see? An exciting Nintendo DS game? Or do you scratch your head and wonder, “Is this a port from the NES?”

Gameplay: 6.9
Turn-based strategy or turn-based simplicity? Steel Horizon uses old technology and old gameplay ideas to produce a game for a new-gen handheld. The results are nowhere near as hardcore as expected. But there is some fun to be had with it, especially for those who consider Battleship (the electronic board game) to be one of the premiere strategy games.

Graphics: 4.0
Steel Horizon isn’t much of a showpiece for what the DS can do. The top screen battle antics and pixelated CG sequences (and bland characters during the story spiels) have no power over your eyes. They will wander.

Sound: 7.8
The sound effects aren’t worth mentioning, but the music – while lacking in the clarity of other DS soundtracks – is quite good. Traditional drum rolls are backed by a host of orchestral themes that sound like they came out of a war flick.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Nowhere near the colossal challenge of Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, or other handheld strategy hits.

Concept: 7.0
Steel Horizon isn’t an exact clone of another strategy game, but it does borrow most of its content from existing franchises. Break it down a few times and a fragment of Advance Wars pokes through.

Multiplayer: 5.0
Not much excitement for gamers looking to get their strategy on with more than one player.

Overall: 6.9
Steel Horizon works well as a mainstream DS release but does not have the intransigent components of a cutthroat strategy game. Its combat is too simplistic. I wasn’t looking to be tortured, but there is something special about a strategy game that makes you scream at the DS’s two screens. (I like to scream at them individually, then make them sit in a corner for a few hours.)

That’s not this game. You won’t be screaming anything, though you may release the occasional, “Whoa, I wasn’t expecting it to be that easy.” Those of you who aren’t yet addicted to the genre, take my advice and give this one a shot. There’s no need to be intimidated – the difficulty isn’t high enough to scare off a timid animal.