G4TV

"Silent Storm" has one of those titles that conveniently reveals nothing about the game. It sounds like a hurricane simulator with a lazy sound team, but in truth it's a turn-based World War II strategy game tactical junkies will love.

No, wait, come back...
We know, the WWII theme has been played out, but "Silent Storm" has a few surprises. First, it's not just some run-of-the-mill sim that strictly adheres to history. About halfway through the game a sci-fi twist changes the balance and play of the game.
In this alternate-universe WWII, you run into strange new technologies, including superpowerful sniper rifles and laser blasters. Eventually you run up against the Axis' top-secret Panzerkleins, the nature of which won't be spoiled in this review. Suffice to say, this is not History Channel approved.

Elite and highly-trained... as usual
There are two campaigns, one for the Allies and one for the Axis. You create a team leader from a varied set of faces and assign him or her one of six jobs, soldier, grenadier, sniper, engineer, scout, or medic. After a tutorial mission you assemble a six-man squad out of a roster of rough-and-tumble warriors.
HQ then boots you onto a large map of Europe. From here you choose your missions by region. The missions can take an hour or more and usually consist of finding top-secret papers or rescuing captured VIPs. "Silent Storm" features more than two dozen main missions, along with an endless number of random encounters with enemy squads, so the conquest or liberation of Europe will take some time.

A thinking man's 'Max Payne 2'
"Silent Storm" delights with a rag doll physics engine and fully destructible environments. When you kill an enemy soldier he'll flop over dead. If he's leaning over a balcony, he'll fall off. If your laser blast destroys the floor beneath his feet, he'll fall through the roof and into the building below.
The physics wouldn't be so enjoyable if you couldn't destroy just about everything. Locked out without a lock pick handy? Just blow the door away with your machine gun. Don't feel like taking out the gaggle of guards at the entrance to the warehouse? Have your sniper tag the explosive barrels near the door to blow them up.
The slightly uncooperative camera can hinder your view of the pretty explosions, but it's workable. The catch-all solution is to zoom out further, but it's a shame to miss out on the detailed graphics.
Strategy matters, too. If you're looking for a particular scrap of info or trying to rescue a VIP, you probably shouldn't indiscriminately blast apart buildings. Even worse, you could end up causing the floor to collapse while your team is on it, which is bad for everyone's health.

Malpractice makes perfect
Health management can be too complex at first. When a character's shot, he loses vitality points (VP). Depending on how badly he's hit, he may bleed, leading to progressive health loss over the course of several turns. A medic can stop the bleeding or recover VP, although he'll need the right skills to do it right.
As your characters gain experience and levels, their medical and survival skills improve, but early on a few lucky shots can literally stop your team dead in its tracks. It can be frustrating until you learn how to properly use your medic, especially when wounded characters spout lines such as "I bleed like a leaky sink!"

Voices and the question of self
Indeed, you may want to turn off the character voices. They're weird. The characters chatter constantly, and not always appropriately. Gunning down an enemy often elicits, "I'm getting a bad feeling." Perhaps best of all, if you order the angry Scottish grenadier to do the impossible, he asks, "Are you real?" They were probably trying for "Are you for real?" Regardless, "Silent Storm" marks the first time my existence has been questioned by a fictional Scotsman.
Despite being turn-based, "Silent Storm" is action-packed. That you can only see and hear what the characters see and hear keeps you on your toes. There are surprises around every corner and behind several doors. This forces you to take it slow and plan out your moves. With the physics of falling bodies providing the slam-bang payoff for a successful assault, it's easy to fall into the old "one more mission" trap and suddenly realize it's 4 a.m.

The waiting game
Unfortunately, enemy turns can last up to two minutes, often with nothing visible happening on-screen. With no way to skip this, you'll have plenty of time to reflect on your upcoming moves, whether you want to or not.
Even if you're sick of World War II, "Silent Storm" is well worth a look. It's accessible, fun, and technically impressive, making it one of the better strategy games we've played in quite some time. Plus, it has laser weaponry and an angry Scotsman.