Panzer Knights Review

thesixthaxis.com:

I got way too excited when I saw Panzer Knights come across my feed – at a glance, it looked like the Valkyria Chronicles-inspired military action game I’d been dreaming of. Then, on 2nd glance, I realised the gameplay had way more of a Girls und Panzer: Dream Tank Match vibe and was all about piloting and battling realistic military tanks. Two of my obscure Japanese faves in one big combo felt right up my alley, so I hopped on the chance to review it. Coming away from it, though, Panzer Knights isn’t quite what I expected – and isn’t quite as polished as I’d hoped either.

The trailers and store pages for Panzer Knights try to keep it vague, but this isn’t a fictional military-anime adventure. The game places you squarely in the German army during the height of World War II, realistically re-enacting the actual moments and large-scale battles that make up some of the more well-known campaigns of that time – all from the perspective of the German army. Now, direct nazi-related references are almost entirely absent – no mentions of Hitler by name, no black-and-red or iron crosses, and no discussion of what happened back then that didn’t relate directly to tanks fighting other tanks. It’s a sanitised representation, but there’s still lots of talk about the führer, lots of untranslated German phrases tossed around, and a whole lot of German patriotism tossed around.

For my tastes, I feel like Panzer Knights puts you a bit too deep into the shoes of these characters. It isn’t a situation like Wolfenstein, where the game is full of nazi characters but ultimately makes them the butt of the joke and the losers. You’re playing as these German tank officers, and directly piloting them to success in each of their campaigns. If you’re a history buff then there’s nothing offensive or problematic happening here, it’s just historical accuracy – but it’s just a pinch too much detail that makes embracing the games otherwise arcade-y atmosphere a little hard. Plus, with dialogue scenes