Looking back through my collection of old PC games, I become all nostalgic about the good times I had with old, long since forgotten classics. Simpler times meant games back in the 'olden days' were something you genuinely treasured; a smaller gaming industry meant developers actually took a great deal of care with the games they created in order for them to stand out. These days, with gaming now so huge and the choice so varied, it can be easy to let those unheard of, less publicised gems slip through your fingers and into oblivion. However, every once in a while you're lucky enough to catch something you've never heard of before that reminds you of the fun you had all those years ago.

Silent Storm may not be the prettiest of games, it isn't developed with the mega-budgets of some of the most talked about titles currently on release and it certainly won't win any awards for originality, but it's one of those games that doesn't need Grade A graphics, Hollywood voice acting and a stupendous amount of varied gameplay elements; it's just good, old-fashioned fun.

Bearing a lot in common with the golden oldie X-Com, Silent Storm is an old-school strategy game that uses the very old and now uncommon turn-based system. This is an oddity, given that the game has chosen the Second World War as its setting, while every other strategy game based in this period goes for the more direct, real time approach. At least it's original in that respect and giving credit where credit is most definitely due, Silent Storm isn't just another WWII strategy game; it's also got RPG elements in there as well.

As the leader of a commando unit, you must guide a group of secret agents around Europe during World War II and gather up various clues and intelligence items to help aid the war effort. At the beginning of the game you are given a choice of pre-assigned characters, separated by three different nations that fought in the war, although you may very well decide to design your own thanks to a neat and varied character customisation tool. An always-welcome feature, you can design your character's appearance, voice and attributes to your own wants and needs, with a generous selection of options to choose from.

The bulk of the game revolves around your HQ, the home base that you can visit when not participating in a mission. Here you all necessary facilities are available to keep your troops up and running; a medical bay heals all those many wounds, the armoury stocks a frighteningly large amount of weapons and munitions and the personnel office allows you to choose the other five members of your team. The HQ proves to be a vital necessity in the game and a much-needed haven in between the big battles you often find yourself in.

Missions themselves aren't just handed out; you have to go through the trouble of actually flying your commandos out over the battle map of Europe, which shows you current hot spots - areas where new missions have opened up and patrols wait that you may run into. It's a nice system, although the random battles you often get caught up in can become slightly annoying, especially when in some cases they can last for more than half an hour.

You can make use of these annoyances though; in fine RPG tradition, each member of your team, who will often be separated by different skills (medic, sniper, grenadier and so on) can gain new skill points that improve their attributes and make them stronger. This alone makes it worth sticking around for battles, even though the amount of enemies on the screen can be incredibly overwhelming.

Silent Storm uses a fairly old turn-based system for its combat, which despite making each encounter with an enemy patrol last longer than it would if you where allowed to gun down everyone in real-time, actually adds an extra amount of depth to the game. Actions have to be thought out in advance, as each move is vital. Shots aren't wholly accurate and when surrounded by four or five enemies you are forced to decide whether or not to try and risk putting a bullet between one of your enemy's eyes, or just turning to run away and find somewhere safe to hide.

The combat is further complicated by a realistic 'bullet trajectory' system that accurately measures the speed and direction of each bullet, meaning if they so much as skim the floor or chip a lamppost, their trajectory will be severely altered, leaving a more inaccurate shot. Environments are also destructive and while it's impressive to see the interiors of building completely shot to pieces, it's even more impressive to see a stray bullet shoot through the side of a wall and blow up a truck carrying oil drums nearby. The game even includes rag doll physics, again an impressive feature.

Silent Storm isn't perfect though and it's lack in gameplay variety and relentless random battles that can last an age can become tiresome. The combat engine also seems to be slightly off key; while the bullet trajectory is a nice addition and adds realism to the game, all too often shots that are measured accurately can miss their target completely despite high accuracy, when other times bullets can be dead on despite having low accuracy. It's a fairly unpredictable system and with combat limited by movement points, firing a shot you think will most definitely hit something only to find it doesn't, is an all too frequent annoyance in the game.

Whatever its faults though, Silent Storm is still a deeply engrossing and very enjoyable game that hearkens back to simpler times. It's certainly not one you'll complete over a weekend, thanks not only to the extended turn-based combat of the game but also to the second campaign that allows you to play the game from the Axis perspective. It's nothing revolutionary but it does provide a decent dose of strategic fun that's thankfully a little different to the hundreds of other strategy games currently swarming the charts.

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