Blitzkrieg 2 is a game with a solid design that is pulled down by highly annoying AI, a wonky camera, and infuriating pathfinding. All the cool design ideas and improvements in the world can't save a game from mediocrity when its guts don't work as they should.

Just like the original game, Blitzkrieg 2 is a World War II tactical real time strategy game. There's no peasant pushing or resource management to contend with other than allocating reinforcements during a mission. When a campaign mission starts, you have your troops and armor and it's up to you to use them to the best of their ability. During most missions you can send for reinforcements but the game's design puts a premium on keeping regiments and armor alive. If you lose a T-34 tank, it's gone forever. You can't just crank out another one on the spot at the "tank factory."

There are a lot of different World War II units in the game (the documentation states that there are over 250 and I'd say that's a very close estimate). The units are accurately modeled to a certain degree but this is still a "light" wargame rather than a game for die-hard grognards who demand ultra realism. It has more realism than your run of the mill RTS due to things like armor penetration areas on tanks but no one will confuse this with a game like Combat Mission, either. Still, the game does strike a nice balance between wargame realism and real time strategy play style.

There are three campaigns in the game: Russian, American, and German. During a campaign your commander earns experience points which can be spent on special abilities for your units. You can also assign commanders to specific divisions, which allow them to learn such abilities. This experience point system is a very cool way to add continuity to the campaigns as you can see your units improve throughout the course of the war.

The sequel also has a much improved graphics engine in place. The visuals are 3D and allows for complete environmental destruction. Artillery shells blow up houses, tanks run over trees, bombers lay waste to entire areas with saturation bombing. It looks cool for the most part even though the tree destruction is a bit overdone. It's one thing to see a Panzer knock down a tree but basic infantry trucks shouldn't be able to do the same. The new engine also allows for night missions, rain, and the ability to enter houses, which make great cover for infantry.

While the graphics and 3D engine are vast improvements over the original, the camera presents a bit of a problem. You cannot fully zoom in (which isn't a huge deal) but you also cannot zoom out far enough to see the field. During big fights you find yourself scanning the field or using the mini map to get to where you need to be when you should be able to zoom out to get a better view.

While the camera is frustrating, the AI and pathfinding are what really cause the game to lose some of its luster. The pathfinding of your units is particularly annoying. For example, when presented with a road, tanks will simply run roughshod over the terrain, knocking down trees (which would otherwise provide cover) rather than simply going down the road. Sure, you can baby-sit and make sure every tank avoids the trees but the game should see that a road is there and use it accordingly; who has time to worry about such things during a battle? Infantry also suffer from weird pathfinding, and while Blitzkrieg 2 is by no means the first or the last RTS game to contain iffy pathfinding, it's more apparent here because the game is shooting for a modicum of realism and when units behave in such a manner is strips that layer of design away.

Even worse, though, is the enemy AI. The campaign isn't all that tough and that is mainly attributed to the bizarre way in which the AI engages you. It likes to use the trickle-down method of attack – sprinkling units at you a little at a time rather than simply attacking. There are a few tough missions, thanks to some clever mission design, but for the most part the enemy units simply get in the way rather than provide a tough challenge. The AI is at its worst when asked to form any kind of attack plan; it holds its own when you are on the offensive but any time you ask it to hit you, it struggles mightily. Infantry in particular act in a totally bizarre way when confronted with tanks. For some reason, they like to charge a tank's position, on open ground, crawling on their belly. It's easier than shooting tired chickens.

In the end, there is no doubt that Blitzkrieg 2 is a significantly better game than the original. With better AI and unit pathfinding, and the inclusion of a more practical camera, it would be one of the better World War II RTS games around. The nifty campaign design deserves a better game under the hood, though.