About Panzer Front

Panzer Front was first released in Japan by Enterbrain in late 2000. It was a hit there, mainly because PC gaming, and therefore PC tank sims are almost non existent in The Land Of The Rising Sun. It was then released in the USA, Oceana and Europe in the middle of 2001. Unfortunately, it was not given the attention it deserved, due to a lack of promotion, and the fact that it was a PS1 game in what had become a PS2 world. It was released almost as an afterthought.

Panzer Front is a no holds barred, realistic (as possible for a PS1 game) WW2 tank simulation. It features over 40 WW2 era tanks--US, UK, Germany & Soviet Union--all with their own different attributes, abilities and weaknesses. It also has 4 'fantasy' tanks and 2 modern MBTs.

Panzer Front has been described as being in the middle of 'Saving Private Ryan' in a tank. No other game, before or since, has combined action and strategy so well. It's almost like having 2 games in 1. You must operate your tank and manage your battlefield at the same time. This makes for a very busy and tense game. You don't know what will be hiding behind in the bocage ahead of you, or in the next town. What will be hidden in the night, only to be revealed by the light of a flare? This is not a game, this is a hardcore simulation. There's no power bar, if you get hit you will most likely die. And these are not race cars, like a real 30 ton tank, they take a while to build up speed and can be difficult to manouver. All part of the simulation.

Panzer Front has 25 historical missions, based on real events, from Normandy to the Russian steppes. It has Michael Wittman's destruction of a British armored column in 'Villers-Bocage' and the US Army's defense against a ferocious German counterattack in 'le Dezert'. Not to mention the defense of the Reichstag by 2 desperate Tiger II's in 'Berlin' and several based from the Battle of Kursk.

Not resting on their laurels, the designers of the original game released an updated version, Panzer Front Bis, in Japan around the same time that the original Panzer Front was released in the rest of the world. Bis (the French word for 'improved') features all the original tanks and missions of Panzer Front, with additional tanks, including Japanese tanks and the venerable JagdPanther, 10 more missions and most important, a mission building feature. Yes, you could now build your own missions. Unfortunately, Panzer Front Bis was never released outside of Japan. It was due to be released in Europe in the middle of 2002, but JVC, PFB's UK developer, shut down it's video game branch before PFB could be converted and released to the western world. Breaking many hearts in the process.

Will there be a PS2 version of Panzer Front? Yes! In early October, 2003, Enterbrain announced Panzer Front AusfB! While details are sketchy at the moment, what is know is that the game is set in the North African Theater, and it's graphics are amazing! It also seems to have several new camera angles. There is no information about a mission constructor.

Whether or not AusfB is released outside of Japan is yet to be determined.

There is no other series of simulations like Panzer Front. It is a true sleeper and a cult classic. And one of the best console games ever created.

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