After briefly gaining cult international popularity then disappearing back to the Korean peninsula – where many good MMO games roost – Mowelsoft’s World War II armoured vehicle all-in brawl is set to roll back into the international arena.
Now under the control and administration of EFusion MMOG as TwoWar.com, who also manage the European version of NavyFIELD, Blitz1941 is set for a closed beta release sometime during the next few
months, and fans could not be more happy. For those who experienced those fleeting few months back in 2006, the news of this tank en-masse MMOG returning has been an answered prayer due to the sudden disappearance of Blitz1941 three years ago. But for those not familiar with the title, the fuss needs examination.
Set amidst the German push into Russia and the subsequent retaliatory action, Blitz1941 is all about large-scale armoured vehicle combat. Each server boasts a 3000-player capacity, with the number within each arena offering an incredible 100-vs-100 battle for occupation. NavyFIELD is the closest living relative to Blitz1941, but offers a much more technical and complex form of player-versus-player encounter. Blitz1941 strips armoured combat down to a near-arcade level of play, but retains a level of strategy with enough depth to provide players with choice, vehicle and item preference and an avenue to develop their own tactics.
Played from an isometric perspective, players utilise the mouse to guide their tank or self-propelled gun around the battlefield. 
Targeting is differentiated between vehicles; a T-34 (the 1944 variant being a particular favourite of comrade and fellow-blogger DM Scheer) can outmanoeuvre a Jagdpanther with the use of its turret and strategic movement. However, with careful planning and a group schwerpunkt, the Jagdpather can tank-hunt as it was known to do so effectively. This highlights the thrill of the Blitz1941 encounters – the sheer number of vehicles involved is an exhilarating experience to behold. Light tanks racing towards the enemy lines, backed in force by the arcing shells from self-propelled guns rumbling behind the vanguard. Medium tanks rolling in packs towards an enemy outpost or making an incursion through wooded valleys to cut off spawned reinforcements from reaching the front. Players desperately trying to accelerate out from an inbound airstrike and regroup. With ninety-nine other comrades, the game enjoys living truly under the moniker of a “massively-multiplayer” title.
The graphics are rendered in a quasi-cel-shaded fashion, with the vehicles themselves a real treat for history buffs. Churning across the countryside, leaving tread-bitten tracks in their wake, seeing a large armoured platoon on the move is satisfying – matched only by the fleet actions in NavyFIELD. While Blitz1941’s models are not of a particularly high polygon-count, the textures are sharp, clean and well-conceived. Urban environments are superb, with the streets soon littered with smoking wreckage and blast marks from conquered foes. Spawn bases become the focus point of cunning offensives or defenders holding off against waves of approaching tanks in defiance. Snow-covered plains highlight the visceral combat as damaged vehicles limp away from the front lines to repair, enemy shells thumping in pursuit.
Information from the Blitz1941 website tells of what the player should expect from the game. First and foremost, there are sixty individual vehicles on offer. Split down the middle, with thirty each side, there remains a slew of choices facing the player. Should one play a supporting role as a self-propelled gun? Would the role of a heavy tank commander suit the player, leading the attack and being the first in the fray? Does playing the middle ground in a medium tank appeal to the gamer? Not only that, but with each vehicle comes upgrades and items. Specific weapons and buffs and items are assigned, de rigueur, to the numeral keys and triggered as such. While many of these items will have little historical accuracy, they remain an integral part of staying alive on the battlefield, supporting friendly vehicles and laying waste to those who oppose.
Levelling up on the battlefield comes via experience, bonuses, contribution and money. From there, new tanks become available, much like any other MMOG where higher tier objects are complimentary to player level. Like NavyFIELD and crew component of a player’s vessel, it is the tank commander who levels in the game, rather than the vehicle. Special attributes and statistics occur and upgrade with each promotion. Further information on this facet will hopefully be released closer to and on the beta’s release, as well as a host of player-driven impressions on the Blitz1941 forums.
According to the Blitz1941 website, combat takes place across fifteen individual arenas: Warsaw (Poland), Helsinki (Finland), Copenhagen (Denmark), Oslo (Norway), Stockholm (Sweden), Prague (Czech), Munich (Germany), Hamburg (Germany), Kiev (Ukraine), Vilnius (Lithuania), Riga (Latvia), Tallinn (Estonia), Minsk (Belarus), Leningrad (Russia), and Stalingrad (Russia). Each of these locations fall into the environment and structural categories of a metropolitan city, a small city, a munitions city or a commercial city. Players battle for control of these areas to gain economic stability for their chosen side, as well as items specific to the region. Currently, little is known as to what items are endemic to what area, or even what items are available. Surrounding major population centres is a varied and tactical terrain. Line of sight plays a big part in combat, with tactics such as taking a hull-down position behind a hillock playing a smart role in-game. Valleys, hills, rivers, lowland areas and more are some of the terrain being touted by TwoWar. If the original international beta is anything to go by, it will remain thrilling to engage an enemy over uneven ground.
As of the 6th of July, sign-up for the closed beta has begun. Players are eagerly awaiting their acceptance into the rebirth event of one of the best cult-classic MMO experienced outside of South Korea. One fan in particular has been Danoo of the Blitz1941 blog, who tirelessly trawled the internet for any hope or evidence that the hallowed title would return to the international scene. Lo and behold, it did and Danoo was there to spread the news. Congratulations to him for keeping an ear to the ground and an eye on the horizon, as it has paid off.
Incidentally, Blitz II is already out in South Korean, with the tentative promise of it reaching international waters. Blitz II leaves behind its predecessor and World War II in favour of the Six Day War era – taking place in the Middle East with early Cold War technology.
For the moment though, Blitz1941 looks set to retake a fair share of the F2P MMOG sphere, a portion it once held during those brief but oh-so-sweet few months in 2006.
I dig the Yeah Yeah Yeahs reference as much as anything else. Bravo.
I want a PSP version, and I want it now.