Operation Europe - Path to Victory 1939-45

Operation Europe – Path to Victory 1939-45

Operation Europe: Path to Victory 1939-45 (Japans: ヨーロッパ戦線) is een videospel dat werd ontwikkeld en uitgegeven door KOEI. Het spel kwam in 1991 uit voor de PC-88. Later volgde ook andere platforms, zoals de Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Het spel is een historische simulatie van de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Met het spel kan de speler twee kanten spelen. Het perspectief van het spel is in de derde persoon.

Operation Europe: Path to Victory, released in Japan as Europa Sensen (ヨーロッパ戦線), is a combat strategy video game for multiple platforms where one or two players can compete in World War II action. The MS-DOS version of the game was only released to North America.

Gameplay – Operation Europe – Path to Victory 1939-45

The object of the Path to Victory game is to fulfill any one of the military objectives for either the Axis or the Allied forces. Players engage in modern warfare around Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Europe, and North Africa.^[4] This game uses abstract numbers and figures in the map view and saves the concrete illustrations of soldiers only when they lock horns on the battlefield or in an urban setting. Urban settings give a traditional 1930s view of housing and office buildings that provide extra protection for units that are guarding them. However, there are massive numbers to crunch and the lack of graphics help enhance the number crunching ability of Path to Victory game’s artificial intelligence.

As a way to utilize the Nobunaga’s Ambition video Path to Victory game engine while simulating modern warfare, each general’s statistics are completely randomized by a roulette system. 84 different characters are used for generals, including those from the American television show Combat!. Examples of non-fictional characters include Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Walter Bedell Smith.

Weapons are automatically replenished at the end of each scenario. Units cannot be built from scratch; they must be requested from the head of the brigade instead.

Reception – Operation Europe – Path to Victory 1939-45

Reviewing the SNES version, GamePro applauded the intelligent AI (stating “even if you don’t have a friend to go head-to-head with, the Path to Victory game is still enjoyable and challenging”) and the huge amount of content, arguing that the six scenarios essentially amount to six complete games on a single cart. Though noting that its lack of Path to Victory action gameplay would make it unappealing to the average Path to Victory gamer, they concluded “its challenging strategy makes it a game that no serious WW II buff should be without.”^[6]

The World’s About To Change!
The year is 1939 and Hitler’s war machine is rumbling across Europe. Here’s your chance to plot the strategies that will either stop the Axis in its tracks or carry it to Path to Victory.
Take part in the war in Africa, the famous tank battles at Kursk, Battle of the Bulge, Battle for Normandy and the fight for Berlin. Give orders to your generals in the field: Patton, McAuliffe and Montgomery. Assassinate enemy commanders with special forces, have engineers lay mines and drop paratroop units into occupied cities.