Matrix Games

TAKE STALINGRAD. HOLD STALINGRAD. THE CHOICE IS YOURS.

The Lock 'n Load franchise comes to the PC with Lock 'n Load: Heroes of Stalingrad. Designed by Mark H. Walker and programmed by elements of the team responsible for bringing you Panzer General Online, Heroes of Stalingrad remains faithful to Lock' 'n Load's ease of play and immersive format, while incorporating all the advantages of playing on your office flatscreen.

The game features two, branching campaigns with a total of 33 scenarios (15 Soviet and 18 German) based on the battles for Stalingrad. One that is playable from the Soviet side and one from the German point of view. The campaigns are story driven, using graphic novel-type panels to propel the plot. A turn-based game, Heroes of Stalingrad retains Lock 'n Load's engaging impulse system while adding features, such as flanking fire, hidden units, and residual machine gun fire, that would just be too fiddly for the boardgame. 

In each campaign gamers will not only need their tactical wits as the fight company-sized battles in, and on the approaches to, Stalingrad, but will also need to manage their troops in the campaign interface. It is in the campaign interface that they decide who to take into to battle, how to spend their precious resource points, and whether to lead a tank-heavy force, vulnerable to enemy infantry in the streets of Stalingrade, or a less mobile, infantry only, contingent.

Heroes of Stalingrad ships with 15 stand alone missions for those who want to jump right in to the fighting. There are bridge seizures, Partisan ambushes, and even a reprisal of several of the scenarios from Lock 'n Load Publishing's fast-selling Not One Step Back.

Fully integrated multiplayer support means easy player matching, no extra configuration required and seamless head to head play with 9 balanced multiplayer scenarios.

As you have come to expect from Lock ‘n Load Publishing, the art is superb. David Julien, Marc von Martial, Nicolas Eskubi, Gabriel Gendron, Guillaume Ries and Pete Abrams have combined to make soldiers, tanks, and maps that pull you into the conflict and won’t let go. An engaging soundtrack written and performed by Jeff Edwards adds to the immersion. The game includes, Soviet Guards, Rumanians, Partisans, and about a quarter-jillion types of German squads, not to mention (but we will) MG34s, DP28, T-34s, T70s, PzIIIj, on and on.

• Two (2) story-driven campaigns with Thirty-Three Scenarios (15 Soviet and 18 German) based on the battles for Stalingrad in 1942.
• Campaign interface which allows you to manage your forces across the linked campaign scenarios and improve key units
• Eleven (11) tutorial scenarios to get you acquainted with the game
• Fifteen (15) stand-alone scenarios that let you dive right into the action.
• Nine (9) multiplayer scenarios balanced for exciting head to head play
• Beautiful map art by Marc von Martial, the map artist for the Lock 'n Load board game series, as well as some winter map work by Guillaume Ries
• Luscious "counter" art by David Julien and Nicolas Eskubi, depicting the men, women, tanks, weapons that fought in the battle that marked the highwater mark of the Third Reich.
• Icon and counter art also by Gabriel Gendron and Pete Abrams
• Razor-sharp artificial intelligence that will challenge even the most clever tactical gamer.
• More Stalingrad than you can shake a Stuka at!

Review at Armchair General
91% "Mark H. Walkers Lock N Load: Heroes of Stalingrad is an involving, tactical-level wargame that is just plain good fun to play. It has high (nearly infinite) re-playability, is nice to look at andonce the player learns the rulesis a real challenge."

Review on ReadandPlay.be
The game will challenge you with many different situations and possibilities that require specific approaches. As a result the gameplay could look complicated during the first sessions and not appeal to the beginners.

Review at Historia Games (French)
85% "..should be please any gamer that prefers thinking than jumping into the action.

Czech review on Games.Cz