Fall of the Reich, that's kind of like the finale of a TV show you thought would never end, the ultimate conclusion that wraps up all the loose ends, the last chapter of a tireless saga without the possibility of any kind of Christmas special appearing later on to kick start the thing back up again. Could it be, after all this time, that World War II is finally over? Well it appears to be for Blitzkrieg 2 at least.

This expansion typically introduces new missions, new vehicles, new… ah you know the drill, standard expansion pack fare, some new things to toy around with but ultimately just a couple of new tanks and missions to play. There are only two campaigns here, focusing on the Russian efforts to race to Berlin and victory and the German efforts to halt them and prevent their own inevitable defeat, both with a healthy selection of new famous skirmishes to fight, such as the siege of Budapest, one of the bloodiest battles fought during the war, and operation bagration, the Soviet offensive that severely crippled the German Wehrmacht and opened up the Eastern front to the ensuing red army.

It's a standalone expansion, so you don't need the full game to run it, but anyone coming here without having first experienced the intensity of its predecessor are going find themselves neck deep in trouble - this might be familiar territory but it's no easy ride. Although little has changed in the general set up of things, the mission difficulty has been ramped up to such a degree that if you do decide to come to Fall of the Reich before Blitzkrieg 2 then it's best if you have prior experience with running away with your tail between your legs, as you'll be doing plenty of that for the duration. The missions are as varied as usual, offering up numerous possibilities for tackling each objective, though often a good old fashioned 'charge with everything you have in the insane hope that at least some of them may make it through to the other side and complete the objectives before they're all turned into a pile of burning rubble' strategy works just as well.

When compared to other recent WWII strategy games, it's easier to pick on aspects of Blitzkrieg 2 that perhaps don't work quite as well now as they did before, such as the rather rubbish damage system in which tanks can be blown up by two shots from an anti-tank gun, which is annoying if you can't actually see said anti-tank weapon for being covered in the fog of war. There's no real sense of your tanks being more susceptible to damage from less protected areas either, as the action gets laid on so thick that you'll rarely have time to move a unit out of harm's way before it blows up in a giant orange fireball. The AI too seems to be something of a weak spot; it's basic in every sense of the word - your men charge, shoot and even kill on occasions, but they're far too eager to get themselves killed, ignoring pleas from you to stand still long enough to get repaired, attacking anything in range regardless of how strong their numbers may be. It wouldn't be so bad if you could replace your troops, but you can't actually build units, so if you lose them and lack any reinforcements options to call for more then you're pretty much screwed.

The graphics have also aged terribly - those explosions just don't have the impact they once had and with many recent strategy games adopting physics and destructible scenery, the lack of such features here really does feel a bit dated. Also, I don't know who produced the music for this game but they really should stick to writing tunes for elevators - its cringe-worthily bad, and for some reason twice as loud as the sound effects, drowning out gunfire with its wince-inducing melodies.

It's inevitable for games to lose their steam over time, but there are those that age gracefully and those that just can't seem to keep up - Blitzkrieg 2 is unfortunately one of the latter. Its campaign mode is still great though, once again putting you in charge of either of the two playable armies as you decide which operations to choose, depending on what upgrades they offer, upgrades that can then be used in future battles (air support, tank reinforcements and the like), while generals can once again be assigned to different areas of your army in order to make available other previously unelectable reinforcement options for future battles. It's still a nice feature - it should be, as it's an identical match to its predecessor. The missions on the other hand are quite considerably different in that they're incredibly more difficult; anyone unfamiliar with the previous game shouldn't bother with Fall of the Reich until they've tackled Blitzkrieg 2 first - without the knowledge of that game, attempting to get into the swing of its expansion's new campaigns is going to be a nigh on impossible task.

Blitzkrieg 2: Fall of the Reich is an expansion for the fans - it does little new, actually, it does nothing new, sticking to the traditions of expansion pack history. Everything's the same except for some new things to try out and new challenges to overcome. It's not an essential purchase, but anyone looking to expand on the original game, or those awaiting CDV's next WWII franchise, will at least find some meaty manuals here to chew on while they wait.

Reviewed by Kieron Giacopazzi for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).