Hidden Stroke 2 - PC

The original Hidden Stroke was a real-time strategy game set in World War II, with the emphasis very much on scale. Using a 2D engine, huge armies could be marshalled and sent to do battle on beautiful, intricately designed maps. Now, there’s a sequel to the game, which is still played online in its original form by strategy enthusiasts. Again based on a 2D engine and using large and detailed maps, players will be able to take control of forces that number as many as 1000 different units! Haystacks, trees, foxholes and camouflage nets offer endless hideout and entrenchment possibilities on the impressive maps (you can position snipers and other troops in them), and there are more than 500 buildings and over 760 units, including 40 new land units and 40 new planes.

The abilities of different units have also been improved upon, and now amphibious tanks, moveable mortars, heavy machine guns and mini-submarines can all be used to the best of their specialised ability. Heavy tanks can now bulldoze trees in their path but weak bridges may collapse if they try to cross them. There are more than 50 hand-crafted mission maps, constructed from over 150,000 unique objects. Deep gameplay requires players to think carefully about their strategy for each mission, learning the strengths and weaknesses of their own forces and those of their enemy. Carefully designed AI will try to oppose there every move with shrewd and logical decisions.

The first game was tremendously popular with the online strategy community, and online playability has had much development time devoted to it. Up to 12 people are able to play online, all controlling forces of up to 1000 units, on huge, beautiful maps. The game’s 50 maps will no doubt be supplemented in time by modded maps made by fans, as the old game was. All this makes the suggestively titled Hidden Stroke II a very sound proposition for really megalomaniacal strategy fans. more