Trying to analyze unfinished software is tricky. Take Hammer and Sickle, a tactical strategy-role-playing hybrid from developer Nival Interactive and publisher CDV. After tooling around with a playable Alpha build of the game, it's clear that it has a ton of potential, but it's so rough around the edges that all you can do is hope that Nival cleans it up before its release later this year.

Hammer and Sickle is a sequel of sorts to the vastly underappreciated game Silent Storm, which was also developed by Nival and released back in early 2004. Silent Storm was a turn-based World War II strategy game with some paltry role-playing elements tossed in, which got in the way more than it added to the experience. Hammer and Sickle takes the same basic premise of Silent Storm but beefs up the role-playing aspects and adds better graphics, and additional gameplay options.

The story takes place in 1949 during the initial phases of the Cold War. You play a Russian agent who is at the helm of a top secret mission to infiltrate American and British held sections of Berlin. It's your basic, "If you get caught we'll say you're a rogue agent and you'll be hanged" kind of story. Not even the Russian army knows who you are. As you'd expect in a game revolving around the Cold War era, the plot involves political intrigue and the new threat of nuclear war.

One part of the Alpha that stood out was the dialogue – which was both hit and miss. The mission briefings and the spoken dialogue during the action, at least in this build, are in Russian with English subtitles. I for one hope that Nival keeps it like this for the North American version. Hearing your commander yell at you in actual Russian is so much more compelling that hearing English with a Russian accent because it adds another level of realism. However, the translation from Russian to English is at times a bit odd. For example, I have absolutely no idea what, "Are you set into these words?" means. Strange translations like this are very common; thus far it isn't a huge deal, but if there's an off translation during a vital part of a mission briefing then it could be a problem.

The gameplay itself isn't a whole lot different from Silent Storm in that it's a real-time turn-based hybrid. Everything happens in real-time until combat ensues when it then shifts to turn-based mode. You, and your enemies, have a set number of action points from which you can walk, crawl, run, shoot, throw grenades, etc. Everything you do costs action points (AP) during the round, even basic things such as looking in a certain direction (although there is an ability that you can choose which makes this a free action.) The combat model works extremely well but again it was a bit rough around the edges. The big issue is that the enemies never miss and since the game strives for a certain level of realism – it only takes one or two direct hits and you're a dead man. Playing the Alpha because of this was literally impossible without using the provided cheat codes. This is what you get sometimes when you play with software which is obviously unfinished so it's unfair to be too critical at this point because the game is still months from its release.

Still, it needs to be fixed.

Hammer and Sickle is playing up the role-playing elements quite a bit. This time around you get a lot more traditional role-playing elements such as a detailed ability tree where you can add skills such as rifle proficiency or the ability to shoot through cover without penalty. There are six basic character classes from which to choose: soldier, scout, sniper, medic, engineer and grenadier, but you can also customize your character to create nearly any sort of class that you wish. Along these same lines, the game allows complete customization of your agent's appearance – from facial features to eyewear.

The game is open ended in that you can do what you want once inside Berlin and your actions have a direct effect on your surroundings. Everything is cause and effect so if you kill an important NPC early in the game, that character's death will become part of the story. NPCs also have lives of their own and go about their daily business; you're just another part of the scenery. The missions aren't a set puzzle piece like so many strategy games today. It's completely up to you how to complete an objective. If you need to assassinate someone you decide when to go (day or night) and whom to talk to in order to get close to your target. The fact that you can approach an objective in a myriad of ways is always a good thing.

There is an amazing amount of potential in Hammer and Sickle and fans of tactical strategy and role-playing games should definitely keep an eye out for its release this fall (possibly into early winter). There's still work to be done, but the makings for a great game are there.