An on-the-go strategy game can be a lot of fun... if the development team can produce it just right. Take a look at Nintendo's Advance Wars: Dual Strike for the DS. Players can find an overload of strategic elements here, all wrapped up in a nice little package. Now, on the other side of the scale, Konami's Steel Horizon, a World War II-themed strategic game, attempts to focus specifically on sea battles. Where Nintendo's game does everything right, Konami's does everything completely wrong.
Horizon starts off on the right foot with a storyline that not only involves the German Nazi party, but another shadowy organization looming around. It almost seems like Konami took an adventurous route instead of a fact-based one, even though actual Atlantic and Pacific Theater campaigns remain in place. Sadly, this feeling of hope soon leaves.
One big problem with Steel Horizon is its lack of depth (no pun intended). The game promises many strategic elements, but never really brings any to light. Players merely choose from different ships in their party, although sometimes they can get saddled with a ship they don't want. This results in unnecessary frustration, having to deal with a "black sheep" while plotting a strategic attack. Eventually, players will just find it best to send them to their doom and continue with the mission -- an unnecessary sacrifice.
Horizon's in-game battles become tedious in a matter of minutes. Players don't have to worry about ship positioning or what kind of weapons to select during a battle – they merely have to tap buttons in order to fire off a few shells. The enemy AI acts ridiculously, not putting up very much of a fight until later parts in the game. Even then, the player's ships end up so overpowered that they still sink the enemy rather quickly. Unfortunately, each of these missions takes quite a long time to complete for such little action. It gives the game some terrible pacing, something that will turn off many players by the third mission.
Konami didn't really do great work on the game's presentation. While some of the ship models look impressive, the map can be hard to read at times. Just keeping track of your own ships is a burden, much less the enemy ships looming over the waters. Players sail around in a square-based interface, moving around slowly until eventually stumbling into a battle. Even Naval ship enthusiasts will find themselves squinting and wondering what they might be looking at. The sound doesn't work either -- a repetitive war theme and sub-standard effects do nothing but grate on the ears.
Steel Horizon tries to offer one redeeming feature -- multiplayer. A second player can jump in and take part in a full battle against a buddy. Though, why subject another person to this mess? It'd be a kinder gesture to give them the measles -- seriously.
Without strong strategic elements, an enemy AI with back-bone, a solid presentation, or any idea of pacing (or fun for that matter), Steel Horizon merely sputters around in a sea of its own monotony. Go play Advance Wars instead and leave this on the shelf.
Final Score: 3 (out of 10)
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