Battle Academy 2: Eastern Front Review

Battle Academy 2: Eastern Front is a successor to Battle Academy, the deep and rich World War II-themed strategy game. For the most part, Battle Academy 2 picks up where the first game left off, challenging players to choose the best positions for their units to ensure victory all the way down to deciding which direction each unit should be facing before the end of a turn. Just like the first game, the amount of depth in this game could be a huge plus for some, but can definitely keep others from getting into it.

For those unfamiliar, Battle Academy is a World War II-themed strategy game where players play out combat scenarios that feel true to the spirit of the tactics and combat of that era. This includes things like choosing cover for units, determining line of sight, and deciding between different attack methods. It is tremendously deep with each scenario in the game, either in single or multiplayer, easily taking over an hour. When it comes to Eastern Front, players can expect much of the same gameplay as its predecessor; however, in this iteration, the game does narrows its scope a bit, which cuts down on some of the game’s variety.

This isn’t to necessarily say that Eastern Front is a lesser game. The depth of combat strategy still persists here, and the addition of new and different units changes how each scenario can be approached. On top of this, many of the environments on the Eastern Front are urban, which lends itself to more ambush potential than the open deserts and forests of the first game. In this way, Eastern Front feels both more streamlined and more complex at the same time.

With that being said, much of the problems with the previous Battle Academy game are present here as well. The game controls are still pretty complicated on a touch interface, particularly given how many commands can be issued at a given time. Also, despite being incredibly detailed and deep from a mechanical level, Eastern Front is pretty lacking in the visuals department.

In a sense, Eastern Front seems like a lot more Battle Academy with very few changes. Players that liked the first game will most likely like this one, but anyone that felt burned by the first Battle Academy should probably avoid Eastern Front.