The Perfect General
| Developer: White Wolf | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Ubi Soft | Sound: |
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| Year: 1991 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Strategy | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 2 alternating | Rating: |
7/10 | |
Adapted from a tabletop wargame, Perfect General tasks you with commanding 14 battles set in the latter half of the 20th century, their locations left deliberately vague. In fact, there’s practically no context provided at all—no briefing, no characters, no “atmospheric” illustrations, not even a snippet of text to link the missions together. It’s like a board game, which makes solo play against the computer feel a bit sterile. For the sociable, a two-player mode is available, either on the same computer or via a cable (or even a modem).
Each match is played over two rounds, where you take turns as the attacker and the defender (some scenarios are intentionally unbalanced). The number of turns per game is preset and varies by mission. You start by deploying your units on the hex-based map (the grid is invisible): infantry, tanks, artillery. There are no naval or air units, but engineers are available to mine or demine areas, and to destroy or build bridges. You then decide where to move, which towns to seize or defend, whether to attack neutral zones, and how best to plan your route, taking into account terrain types, weather conditions, and enemy positions.
Good performance—like controlling key towns—earns you points, which can sometimes be exchanged for reinforcements. Ultimately, these points decide the victor when the final turn is over.
The soundtrack is minimal but gets the job done. The game itself is easy to grasp and remains clear (if not particularly attractive).
Perfect General requires installation on a hard drive. During setup, it will ask you—twice—to select an installation folder. Why? No idea. Just make sure you choose the same folder both times.
An expansion was released the following year, featuring 15 new World War II scenarios, titled World War II Battle Set. I believe there’s a second expansion available for PC. Plus, a sequel followed in 1994 (PC).
Still hungry for more? Check out Second Front (2023).
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