Penalty battalions … For a long time it was not customary to talk about them. Famous song Vysotsky, Small references in the works of arts and stories of front -line soldiers – except that from here he could learn about the penalties of the post -war period. But recently there has been a lot of information about the penal parts of the Second World War. Information is often contradictory, inexperienced, and sometimes frankly false. Largely thanks to the recently released films and series about the war, many have fundamentally the wrong idea of the fines. Opinions were divided – it seemed to some that all the fighters of the penalty companies and battalions were exclusively criminals, while others, on the contrary, believed that they were sent to the penal battalion for the slightest offense. But be that as it may, the current generation knows about such units much more than the previous one. People are interested in this topic, they want to find out even more. Demand gives birth to a proposal, is it so?
Not a step back!
Of course, the creators of computer games could not pass by such a rich topic. It is not surprising that the next "In the rear of the enemy" turned out to be devoted to train soldiers;on the contrary – it is even strange that this did not happen before. But maybe the whole point is that the authors wanted to approach the case thoroughly? When I found out what helps developers Artem Drakin, The author of the site Iremamber.ru, which contains hundreds of interviews with veterans of the Great Patriotic War, is confident in a serious approach of developers to create a game only obsessed.
Penalty units in the Red Army were introduced by order of the People’s Commissar of Defense of the USSR of July 28, 1942 No. 227. This order was also called "not a step backward!" – in it in a harsh form indicated the impossibility of unauthorized abandonment of positions. Haded in cowardice and violation of discipline, it was now necessary to be sent to special military units, which were used in the most dangerous sections of the front.
Penalty companies were formed from convicted officers, penal battles from persons of ordinary and sergeant composition. In total, almost half a million people passed through these units, more than a third of them died – and this despite the fact that the maximum service life of the variable composition in the penalty units was only three months!
The Germans also had their own fines, and such military formations of the Wehrmacht existed long before the release of Order No. 227.
And indeed: work Drakkina V "Penettlement" made at the proper level. The main menu has the "Encyclopedia" section, in which there is a whole storehouse of useful information. Here are documents from archives, orders, and analytical articles, and – most importantly and interesting – memories of veterans who fought as part of penalty companies and battalions. There are memoirs of both ordinary pennants and officers.
I really liked the encyclopedia – rarely in games you meet such attention to archival documents. Unfortunately, there are almost no photos and videos – it would definitely not be worse from this. But some of the stories of veterans are presented in the form of audio recordings, but they cannot be listened right during the game, as we would like, only in the menu.
Another common misconception – the commanders of the penalty units were not convicted, as many believe. On the contrary, only personnel officers were recruited to the permanent composition, and the best of the best – after all, they needed to fulfill the most difficult orders.
After studying all the documents I want https://giantwins.co.uk/ to play even more. You already look forward to missions based on these very memoirs, perhaps even with the same actors. Knowing the time -tested gameplay "In the rear of the enemy" And hoping for the close attention of the developers to the details of the plot, I start a new campaign ..
The illusion of war
If in the last game of the series “Saboteurs: Vietnam” there were very few fighters under our command-four to five-now the number of subordinates has grown a little. We can directly manage several branches, but the union troops, as a rule, are much more. Apparently, the developers tried to take into account the experience of past games. Small detachments from "saboteurs" are convenient for management, but there is no feeling of mass battles, what is happening more reminiscent of a notorious Commandos, where it is necessary to act separately with each fighter. But the “desert fox” or “black pea jackets”, on the contrary, forced to command a whole company, which, of course, looked epic, but sometimes made a fair amount of confusion.
IN "Penettlement" something average – a dozen "our" fighters and a lot of allies. Soon you notice that their only purpose is the mass. The soldiers are sluggishly shooting, they also lazily flee the attack – and all this at the command of the scripts. No initiative from the allies does not come, they are not able to turn the course of the battle. But what to say there – sometimes it seems that the Germans are not particularly distracted by our comrades, preferring to water the player’s units with lead only. It immediately reminded me of the first Medal of Honor, Where enemy machine gunners shot only at me, and bullets flew through the allies, without causing the latter any harm – apparently the game believed that it was not good for them to die according to the scenario.
The Nazis, by the way, are also not distinguished by their minds and quick wits. It is clear that the enemy attacks only when the trigger installed by the cartoon works. But you could do it not so clumsy? The infantry running in full growth, armored vehicles in the right system, as if in a parade … Or the German commanders play for graves, or the guys from some are fighting against our units FELDSTRAFGEFANGENABTEILUNGEN (Field penalty division of the Wehrmacht). As a result, everything that happens looks somehow frivolous.
The tasks of the missions are also not disposed to the search for cunning maneuvers. Usually everything happens according to a naked scheme: our detachment makes his way to the rear of the enemy, throws tanks and machine guns with grenades, destroys the calculation of guns, after which the main forces of the allies enter the battle. Here you can capture a machine gun or artillery gun under the noise and help develop the offensive. And so – constantly. The frontal attacks will not end with anything good – everyone will beg before the infantry can get to the distance of a pomegranate throw. Realistically, I do not argue, but long "crawling" bypasses pretty tired. I want action, and it occurs only when it is possible to get armored vehicles under your command.
Quiet sapa
It is terribly annoying that the personnel available to the player cannot be replenished independently. I remember in some previous "In the rear of the enemy" There was such a trick – to pick up a soldier of an ally. Helped a lot when almost all the fighters knocked out in battle with fire. In other games of the series, it was possible to "buy" reinforcements for the glasses earned in the battle. And now you have to be content with what is, occasionally receiving a dozen infantrymen as a reward for the task completed. They will kill everyone – the mission is failed. Therefore, in order to win, you have to send subordinates to the attack one at a time – in order to avoid unnecessary losses. As a result, we have a couple of heroes who, having gained full inventory of grenades, quietly go to the raid on the rear of the enemy, while the rest of the fighters lie somewhere in the forest. They will kill our saboteur – we call the next "volunteer".
The mission began only with the infantry in subordination, but the second line of enemy trenches is already assaulted with captured equipment. Otherwise, do not win.
Of particular note are those missions where it is necessary to defend. It is very, very difficult to do, especially at a high level of complexity. No, the point is not in the tactical genius of the enemy – as I said, the enemy is very stupid and straightforward. But there are a lot of it. Sometimes – just indecent a lot. The local Germans Suvorov obviously not in high esteem, they only take in number. And here it will turn out – if there is a gun or a couple of machine guns (and even better a tank), then we will get off. Only "one rifle for three"? Well, maybe you’re lucky ..
Loyal sometimes comes with the Bagams. The enemy may suddenly stop attacking, froze in a clean field. Or vice versa – he will run through the position of defense, without thinking about stripping trenches. A couple of times in a similar way were stupid and ally fighters. I had to almost stripped the village occupied by the enemy alone, on the outskirts of which stood, occasionally shooting, a whole company of our. Somehow it is not like those fierce battles in which real, not virtual fines participated.
Although what am I saying: the matter is not at all in the "bugs", more precisely, not only in them. IN "Penettlement" There is absolutely no plot (and which could be done with the proper effort!), the heroes of the faceless – you do not sympathize with them, you do not worry about them. From the penalty parts in the game only the name, change it – no one will suspect that the game about fines. We saw everything that happened on the screen in other games of the series, and more than once. Maybe it’s time to come up with something new? It turns out that only the "Encyclopedia" connects the game with real events.
Another “bug” – during the shelling, the Germans try to get out to the parapet, closer to my soldiers. How it usually ends – you see for yourself.
None of my hopes were justified. IN "Penettlement" There is no strong plot, no interesting gameplay, no smart AI. A collection of documents and memoirs turned out to be a cut above the game itself – its authors worked one hundred percent. What remains minus the "encyclopedia"? Only a set of implicitly related missions, made on the knee and did not bring anything new to the series. For a full -fledged game, no matter how you try, does not pull. Despite this, "In the rear of the enemy" remains – to those who like this series, it is still worth getting to know "Penettlement". If you do not think that we have already seen all this, then you can get your share of pleasure.
Pros: collection of documents and memoirs of veterans;Advantages "In the rear of the enemy" I haven’t gone anywhere ..
Cons: … but no longer impressive;A stingy plot;And stupid like a cork;"Bugs".
