Titans of Steel: Warring Suns

Titans Of Steel the latest strategy outing from Matrix Games, puts the 'bore' back into boardgames. The premise of the game is simple: you command a squad of between one and four mechanised war machines fighting on a hex battlefield against anything up to three computerised opponents. What’s more, the game allows you to build your own customised vehicles - thus making your own compromises between speed, armour and technical ability.

It all sounds rather good on paper. The reality, though, is a lacklustre affair that’s little more than another boardgame-to-PC conversion, which makes practically no use of what a computer can offer - smart Al, good graphics and intelligent gameplay. In fact, the only difference between it and a boardgame is a pathetic animation during movement/combat, a very cheesy thrash-rock track during installation and the vehicle construction section.

Now, the last bit is noteworthy -making your own personal mech fighting machine is fun and the developer has put in a reasonable database of things to tweak. But once you hit the battlefield, all this evaporates. The changes you’ve made produce hardly any difference visually and all the other perks - improved Al, better weapons, etc - end up being no more than simplistic combat modifiers. Titans Of Steel is a wasted opportunity and is unlikely to appeal to any discerning hex-gaming fan. The developer could have produced a gem; instead it’s an arthritic anachronism.