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The game starts off in the early days of the war and puts you in a Panzer II where you begin by learning the ropes of being a track commander. As your skills increase you gain control of additional forces and from then on will push forward into enemy territory with your own tank platoon.

First Battalion is designed to be more of an arcade style game rather than a tank simulation. You control your track in 3rd person mode throughout the game and have two to three additional tanks in your platoon that will follow your lead on the various missions.

The controls are fairly simple, and there are not very many of them, which makes the game fairly easy to learn in terms of controlling the tank. The controls for your platoon are just as simple, you can either send them forward to scout ahead and engage the enemy, or have them follow you in a wedge or line abreast formation.

As you progress from mission to mission, you are given newer and better tanks and at the beginning of each mission you are also given the basic stats to the tanks. This part of the game is fairly interesting as you get the chance to learn a little more about the development of the German Panzer technology throughout the war.

Throughout the game there are numerous “health” and “stockpile” points where you can “heal” any battle damage on your vehicle, or send your platoon in to get “healed”. And the “stockpiles” will reload your depleted ammunition. This aspect, more than any other, gives the game an arcade feel.

The missions are fairly simple, you have a point on the map that you either have to capture or destroy and you drive there and capture or destroy it. There is no great tactical aspect to the game or ability to use the environment to your advantage, like going hulldown to make it harder for the enemy to see or hit you.

Throughout the game there are planes that fly around in circles overhead, usually an enemy aircraft being chased by a German aircraft. I know they are there to give the game more of a battlefield feel, but the fact that they fly in a constantly repeating pattern makes them more of an annoying aspect than an aid to the esthetics of the game.

The graphics are good and the sound effects work well to enhance the play of the game.

If your looking for a WWII tank game that is not difficult to learn to play and does not require a lot of tactical skill, or a game that you can sit down and play for half an hour at a time for some mindless destruction, First Battalion is a good choice. Just know that this game is not a WWII battlefield simulation or tank simulation.