Across The Rhine (a.k.a. 1944: Across The Rhine) Simulation Ground combat
Rating: 8.76 (189 votes)
In the words of veteran wargamer M. Evan Brooks: "This was the most anticipated wargame of 1993-1994. When it was finally released in 1995, it quickly sank to the depths of the ratings charts. "We wuz robbed!" seemed to be the cry of wargamers everywhere. But what they were in fact was surprised because they did not get what they had been anticipating; hoping (and to a certain degree being misled by the design team) for an M1 Tank Platoon of World War II, the customer received a totally different package. While the design was severely flawed, it had many innovative concepts (few of which worked). On top of the design flaws, the game asked more from the MS-DOS operating system than it could deliver. The historical manual was very well done, and looking back on this one, this reviewer feels that the gamers may have "gone a bitch too far." " Across The Rhine may not be one of MicroProse' finest titles, but it is definitely underrated-- largely due to very high anticipation among wargamers and steep hardware requirements for its time. Recommended for anyone looking for an accessible and graphically appealing tank simulation; die-hard armchair commanders looking for a realistic tank sim, on the other hand, would be better off with Spectrum Holobyte's Tank! or MicroProse' earlier classic M1 Tank Platoon.Reviewed by: Underdogs