Desert Rats vs. Afrika Korps single-player demo for Windows

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Editors’ Review

Download.com staffOctober 13, 2013

Whereas most real-time strategy games force you to mine resources, learn technology, and develop infrastructure, Desert Rats vs. Afrika Korps (DRvAK) cuts right to the chase, dropping you directly into tactical battles in North Africa. Instead of building your own units, you get a certain number of points on each mission that you can allocate toward troops, weapons, and vehicles. Although the demo offers only one brief mission, the detailed graphics, interactive environment, and variety of available units make this WWII strategy game very enjoyable.

Following the actual battles between Rommel's Afrika Korps and British troops, DRvAK lets you play as either the Axis or Allied forces, each with more than 70 units to choose from. Before each mission, a default unit selection is presented. You can modify your units as much as you like, within your allocation. The easy-to-learn controls work similarly to most real-time strategy games. Although the detailed graphics scale well for large battles, we had some quibbles with the interface. The action buttons are too small (though they all have hot keys), and the font is difficult to read. Also, camera movement is limited, requiring one eye on the radar at all times. Despite these minor flaws and the too-short demo mission, we recommend DRvAK to any fans of tactical-strategy games.