OVERALL RATING		3.0
Presentation		3.0
Control		4.0
Gameplay		2.5
Fun factor		3.0
User Rating		4.0

The original Stratego board game was my first-ever taste of capture-the-flag-style game play.  Now common throughout many of today’s video games, I would tend to think it was about time one of the first strategic titles of this sort finally got its just desserts.

The Stratego mobile game plays very much like the original where you command an army in the field of battle.  Each of the 40 pieces in your army has varying ranks and moving them carefully around the board, you must eliminate the opposing army’s pieces to capture their flag.  Like a chess game, the piece with the higher rank will win an encounter but there are special pieces that will be more effective against others, even if they are of lower rank. 

For instance, a Spy is the lowest ranked piece of all and will always lose a battle but he can effectively take out the highest ranked piece, the Marshall, if he commits a surprise attack.  Also, the Bomb, though it cannot move, can take out any piece on the board if it is attacked, except for the Miner, who is a bomb expert.  To make matters more critical, each piece moves only one step at a time, therefore making it almost impossible to figure out what piece you’re going up against till the very end.  It’s situations like these that make the game very interesting.

At the start of the game, there are two modes to choose from.  Battle mode places all 40 pieces on the board for each army and allows you to choose one of many formations for them.  Do you hide the flag in plain site on the front lines or do you store it back behind a wall of bombs?  Surprise is always the key since there are so many pieces to choose from.  Duel mode is a quick 10-piece skirmish for those who have less time to play.  In this mode, you can set your own formations out of the pieces available.

As I mentioned, pieces will have a varying rank and it’ll be pretty common for you to forget which one is more powerful.  You’ll need to have a good memory since the pieces are small and difficult to distinguish easily.  You can always read the Help mode to memorize the ranks.  Also, a Yard has been included so you can go view what pieces have been eliminated from the board.  This is helpful when you get down to the final pieces.

I’ve always had fun with Stratego but I’m disappointed that this is only a one-person game against the computer.  There’s no pass-and-play mode for two players that could have led to greater enjoyment, but the game play still maintains a large amount of its appeal.  Those who played the game in their youth or still do so, would most likely be interested in this mobile form.