Joint Task Force Strategy

War, huh, what is it good for? We're not sure, but we seem to be fascinated by it, given how we recreate it in films, TV programmes and computer games.

Maybe we're addicted to the drama or maybe it's the camaraderie of people facing insurmountable odds together. Either way, epic scraps from history have been the subject of some of the best computer games of our time.

Actually, Joint Task Force Strategy eschews replicating set pieces from historic conflicts and heads straight for Stereotype Casting Central, pitting your Western forces (read NATO) against Middle-Eastern and Russian armies, and throwing in some unintentionally humorous enemy generals for you to face in battle.

A turn-based strategy game, Joint Task Force Strategy gives you and your CPU opponent a chance to manoeuvre each unit before taking a shot at the enemy.

There are a range of unit types, including infantry, tanks, Hummers and helicopters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The Hummer, for example, can move further than all units except the helicopter, but it's only effective against infantry and can only fire into adjacent squares.

For each enemy army you defeat, you'll be awarded credits that enable you to purchase reinforcements. As well as more soldiers and tanks you can also order off-map support in the form of bombing runs or artillery that can be devastating to your opponent. Joint Task Force Strategy isn't particularly challenging, so you'll use the latter more just to save time or in multiplayer games, but it's nice to have and fun to deploy.

The main campaign is made easier still if you can keep your three elite units alive, which, over the first few levels, gain experience that gives them more movement and firing range. You will need to keep your forces organised, however, because as you cross the battlefield you'll want to meet each enemy unit with as many weapons as you can bring to bear on it.

Although Joint Task Force Strategy may not be particularly taxing, there's still a huge amount of action and interest to keep you playing. The main campaign is spread across 15 levels and, as you progress, you'll unlock extras such as Survival Mode, Time Attack and Warlord, as well as the chance to replay previously beaten levels.

The best of these bonus games is definitely Warlord, which sets you and the CPU up with a total of 45 different units. Each round, you must whittle down your rival's forces using a small subset of your 45-strong army, until you've defeated every last one.

Joint Task Force Strategy joins an already generously catered-for genre on the mobile platform, the best of which is the Ancient Empires series. Though it's a great game, it isn't quite polished enough to topple the medieval swords'n'sorcery romp from the top spot. But for anyone who's played the alternatives to death and is looking for a new challenge, Joint Task Force won't disappoint.

Joint Task Force Strategy

Solid, fun and packed with extras, what it lacks in graphical polish it more than makes up for in value for money
Score