The longstanding board game, Axis & Allies is not stranger to computer games. However, this is the first time that it has been translated into a 3D real-time strategy game. Developed by Timegate Studios, this version of Axis & Allies uses the Kohan II engine, which is a game that Timegate developed shortly before the release of A&A. The graphics aren't the best of any game, but the animations are very well done, as infantry are thrown around from explosions. However, in all fairness, this real-time strategy game plays much more similarly to Kohan than it does the board game that it's based off of.

The single player campaign allows you to select from five different factions: America, Great Britain, Russia, Germany, or Japan. Each faction plays very similarly but carries different bonuses. Players must then plot their way across the world's territories in a struggle for power, occasionally re-enacting major battles from WWII. Each territory is worth a specific amount of income. Players use this income to research new technologies and purchase additional armies. The object is to make your way to the opponent's capital and capture it. On the world map, the player is given three types of units: Infantry, mechanized, and armor. Strangely missing are sea units and aircraft. All three types only move one space at a time, which does not fall in line with the rules of the actual board game (which allows armor to move two spaces). Moving one space at a time makes the campaign needlessly tedious and slow paced. There is no way to build factories, so players are forced to endure a long, plodding trek from one capital to another. However, the world map is not divided up very well, sometimes leading to impossible victories. The missions seem loosely thrown together with no connective storyline to tie them all together. The player is tossed into each conflict without much of a clue as to why or how it relates to what he's already done.

The core of the game centers around the real-time strategy element which occurs whenever there is a conflict. The player has the option to skip combat and let the computer generate results, but most players probably would be very dissatisfied with them.

In the recognizably Kohan fashion, units are created in entire squads and will replenish their losses when they are inside a supply zone. All buildings start out as vehicles and can be packed up and redeployed as the player sees fit, which is a nice touch. The economics are among the most unique of any game. There is no resource gathering. Instead, there is a steady supply of ammunition and oil that your units draw from, which is represented in either positives or negatives. Building supply and oil depots will increase the supply, but your units will sustain persistent damage should the things fall into the negative. Units also have to be attached to a building to remain supplied for replenishment. That means a platoon can only be healed as long as the building they're attached to exists. Lose an Infantry HQ, and all those units that were attached to it for supply are vulnerable until they can be attached to something else.

The interface for Axis & Allies takes a little getting used to, since many of the units look very similar and it isn't always immediately obvious what the benefits or shortcomings of each unit are. There is also a significant amount of clicking that needs to be done in order to build armies - more so than most other real-time strategy games. While it is possible to queue up a string of units for construction, the player is automatically kicked back to the building's main menu every time a unit build command is selected. This is a very roundabout way of handling building commands, and significantly slows down the pace of the game.

Superweapons are represented by the "abilities" that your generals carry. In multiplayer, specific generals can be selected for their unique abilities, which range from radar pings, lowering enemy morale, or dropping the dreaded atom bomb. As you play, prestige points accumulate. After enough points are gathered, a power can be pulled off. However, the computer A.I. is weak enough that it is possible to easily win the game without even touching the general's powers. Whether it be on the world map or on the real-time battlefield, the computer just isn't very good at playing. Any experienced player will be able to overcome even the most incredible odds. The computer does not understand how to adapt to situations. It will usually stick to one thing, like researching technology, even as its base is being ripped apart. Oftentimes, you can rely on the computer's stupidity to pull you through. You can bombard the computer's infantry with long range artillery, and they will sit there and do nothing. On the battlefield, the computer prefers to send in small squads of units one at a time instead of coordinating them to work as an army. The mechanics of the game can sometimes work against itself. When a squad is whittled down too far, it will panic and try to flee the fight. Much of the time, this is a benefit. Unfortunately, when an area gets too crowded, the computer will spend too much time trying to find a way out and get destroyed. Sometimes this makes the game difficult to manage because it feels like half your team is running away when you want them to group together and reinforce one another. The computer seems to have some similar problems too.

Axis & Allies also suffers from a severe balancing flaw: It's too easy to rush. Building hordes of units is the key to victory, and will overcome just about any odds. Even an infantry rush will lead to easy wins. The technology tree lends itself to infantry rushes, since no other building can be built until an Infantry HQ is set up first. Not even defensive structures can be built. While waiting for funds or buildings to queue up, the opponent can easily build a small group of infantry, march in, and wipe out a base

The multiplayer aspect is the redeeming quality that makes up for many of the game's shortcomings, especially the weak A.I. The random map generator has a great variety of options to build maps that will keep people guessing. In many ways, the multiplayer aspect turns Axis & Allies into the game it should be. Even so, it only makes it an average game at best. A&A does not do very much to push the RTS genre forward in any notable way. This is not a bad game, but there are definitely better RTS's and WWII-themed games out there.