by Kevin Tan

Based loosely on the Six Day War of 1967 between Israel and several other Middle Eastern countries, the game features gameplay akin to Hills & Rivers Remain in that you have to shuffle troops about from base to base to conquer land and take out the enemy. The campaign has you playing as both sides on predefined maps in about 18 missions that make for quite a challenge. Rather than the simplistic elements seen in other games, Judgment Day War throws in quite a few additional elements to make it interesting.

Depending on the map, you can get access to either tanks or attack choppers. Tanks can only navigate via pre-defined roads though choppers can travel anywhere on the map. Another thing to factor in is the size and defenses of enemy bases. Some bases have a spiked icon surrounding it that indicates that it's heavily reinforced while other bases have anti-tank or anti-air batteries. All these factors mean that you'll have to time your attacks and pick your battles carefully. While the campaigns aren't too difficult, the meat of the game is in survival mode where you're pitted against increasingly ridiculous odds in randomly generated maps.

Assuming you survive a battle, you can choose special perks ranging from starting off with additional troops to impeding enemy reinforcements on the map. These survival missions make for a challenge and the random maps make for a ton of replayability. The main problem here is that the randomly generated nature of the maps means that on occasion, you'll end up stuck with an unwinnable scenario. The graphics are simplistic but relatively detailed and the audio is perfunctory at best, consisting of radio chatter and a torpid techno soundtrack. Average audio aside, the game is an interesting strategic nut to crack that'll last you a long time to come.