With a drastic increase in power, handheld gaming is rapidly becoming an avenue for creating highly accessible games that can literally be played almost anywhere, a development that should excite almost all gamers. Warhammer 40k: Squad Command is of this new breed, creating an enjoyable and highly portable gaming experience which offers the enjoyment of a tactical game but makes full use of the resources available in today?s handheld systems.

It is easy to play through the game a mission at a time with no more story than ?There are enemies here, we should kill them.? Those familiar with Warhammer will have no problem following what?s going on, but will likely wish that a deeper story was provided to enrich the experience.

In terms of the game?s content, there are very few things that are likely to offend most players. Profanity is completely absent, a beneficial side effect of the lack of storyline. Magic is completely absent as well, with characters relying on futuristic weapons exclusively to devastate their adversaries. Sexuality is also absent, as the characters are male and the game is not all that detailed anyway.Violence is the biggest issue someone could take with the game, but as with the rest of the game detail is very low. There is no blood to speak of. One other possible area of concern is in the message. The faction controlled by the player is a ?churchlike? system, with religious titles being assigned to various ranks. This is far more explicit in other Warhammer games, but nevertheless W: SC does portray the player?s characters as the ?faithful? and the enemies as ?heretics? (they are actually referred to as ?cultists? in the storyline as well).

Warhammer: Squad Command is a good game that distills the essence of a Tactics game and improves on it in several ways, producing a simple but enjoyable and unique game play experience. With minimal objectionable material, a highly accessible style of play, simple controls and a well designed interface, Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command is a good ?starter? tactics game that is appropriate for a young teenage audience and up.

» By Jesse Porch, Plain Games. Published 2/19/2008 11:03:21 PM.