Which is not to say that it wouldn't be fascinating to know how certain dodgy decisions survive throughout the development of a game, and make it into the final product. There's nothing about the phrase "3D turn-based tactical game set in the Warhammer 40,0000 universe making full use of the DS' touch screen" that sounds anything less than thrilling. In reality, though, there's at least two things in that very phrase that should have been vigorously stamped on at some stage of Warhammer 40K: Squad Command's development on the DS.
The '3D' bit, for instance. The DS is quite capable of handling a smooth, reasonably attractive 3D engine - Phantom Hourglass, Metroid Prime: Hunters and Animal Crossing all managed it without breaking a sweat. Squad Command, however, has been saddled with an engine that's neither smooth or attractive. It's simply not able to meet the demands that the game makes of it. Even putting aside the fact that a turn-based game doesn't really need to be particularly fast or good-looking - and Squad Command is certainly neither of those - the 3D-ness of everything actively works against the underlying gameplay.
They're either ferocious Space Marines or angry hobbits. Not sure.
The one thing that any decent turn-based tactical game absolutely needs is a crystal clear way of representing the tactical situation at any given moment. The enjoyment comes comes from assessing a situation, making a plan, committing to it and seeing it through. What you don't need is a graphics engine that presents muddy, indistinguishable units, constantly obscures both friendly and enemy units behind hideously blocky scenery, makes accurate positioning of your troops a haphazard affair and does its best to make sure you miss the result of your actions and any enemy attacks on you. Or, to put it another way, Squad Command is being held captive by a 3D graphics engine that seems specifically designed to undermine any engaging gameplay it tries to throw your way. It's baffling, really, why someone at some point didn't say "Um, you know what? This whole 3D thing isn't working, and is killing the game." There must be some reason involving things like production budgets, development cycles or the aforementioned puppy dog entrails, because it only takes five minutes with the game before this most fundamental problem becomes glaringly obvious.
To focus in on one particular failing of the 3D engine: it's terribly laggy. Not, you would think, necessarily a problem with this kind of twtich-free gaming. However, it makes choosing a destination for a unit far more fiddly than it should be, due to the unresponsive, stuck-in-the-mud feel of things. Perhaps worse than this, though, is that it makes it very difficult to follow what's going on during the enemy's turn. The game doesn't automatically switch the view to show what the enemy's up to - you have to drag the camera around by yourself and inevitably, by the time you get there, whatever was going to happen has already happened. It's deeply unsatisfying.
Some of the issues regarding unit placement and cover could have been addressed if the camera had been fully rotatable and zoomable - something that would seem an obvious benefit of a 3D game - but it's basically locked into position. You can swing it a few degrees up, down, left or right but it's no help whatsoever in getting a better point of view on the battlefield. Again, we ask: why 3D? Why? WHY? Because 3D is sexy and sells better, presumably. Fume.
Add to this the fact that the touch-screen based interface is awkward and, at times, DS-bitingly frustrating, and the cost of entry to Squad Command's universe becomes increasingly high. In another of those bewildering decisions, tapping a unit more than once with the stylus functions as a 'group select', with each subsequent tap adding the next unit to a group. In effect, it's staggeringly easy to accidentally select and order more than one unit at a time, and therefore send a previously sheltered unit bumbling out into the line of fire. There's no 'undo' option either, which just adds to the fun. It's something that demands constant attention and therefore absorbs precious brain cycles that should be devoted to the game, not the interface.
Chaos comes in many forms, including fluffy purple clouds.
The real heartbreaker here is that once you learn to work around or live with the limitations of the 3D world, and once you've completely abandoned the touch screen interface in favour of the d-pad and shoulder buttons, a reasonably solid game starts to emerge. There is fun to be had guiding your six units across the battlefield, slowly reaching objectives and outsmarting the enemy. There are no reinforcements available during a single player mission, so every unit counts and every sacrifice has to be carefully considered. The fifteen single player missions will take anywhere up to an hour each to complete and, in a rare moment of helpful design, you're able to save any time you want.
The game uses a familiar 'action point' scheme, with each unit having a certain number of points to spend each turn. Moving and firing cost a certain amount of points. Any left over points can be used to fund an overwatch mode, which lets a friendly unit fire upon any enemy units that wander into view during the enemy turn. There's a pretty decent range-finder as well, which draws a line between you and the bad guy and turns from green to yellow to red. Green means you'll get a good, well-aimed shot, red means it's a bit more hit and miss. You can spend more points to improve your aim, though the little aim-improving widget that pops up can sometimes obscure the range-finder enough that you're not sure if your previously yellow shot is now green, or whatever. Sure, it's a minor irritation but after all the major annoyances you'll already have to put up with, it might just be enough to see the game cart tracing a graceful, airborne arc towards the bin.
W40K: Squad Command comes with all the standard DS multiplayer options. Trying to find a game online is the familiar Nintendo Wi-Fi experience of tossing a ping-pong ball into the Grand Canyon and hoping it lands in a teacup down the bottom. If you have your own real-world squad of DS-equipped, strategy minded buddies, you'll obviously have more opportunity for multiplayer games using either multicard or DS Download options. It's doubtful, though, that anyone but the most patient and W40K obsessed will happily join in.
There's absolutely no doubt that there's room for a solid W40K strategy title on the DS - just not this one. We'd be quite happy to see a Squad Command 2, with a clean and clear 2D presentation, or even a fully revamped 3D engine - just not this one. If the developers can prise off the barnacle-like crust of problems that are smothering the game and give it a good polishing, there might yet be a good game to be had. Next year, perhaps.
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