March 15^th, 2004 (12:00am) - Matrix Games and Panther Games have released the first update for the award-winning Highway to the Reich. This new version serves to provide additional features and enhanced gameplay for owners of Highway to the Reich and enhances support for the Battle HQ online gaming community.

More than twenty improvements have been made to the already acclaimed Highway to the Reich AI routines, which provide a challenging fight as the computer opponent and also model your subordinate commanders and unit behavior. Improvements made to unit establishment information and scenarios enhance historical accuracy. The new Battle HQ feature allows owners of Highway to the Reich to more easily find opponents online and seamlessly transition from creating a match up to playing the game.

Highway to the Reich is the second wargame released by Panther Games in their critically acclaimed Airborne Assault series. The new release covers the famous WW2 Operation Market Garden, a daring airborne operation designed by the Allies to breach the German defences and end the war before Christmas of 1944. In Highway to the Reich, players get to take on the role of either the Allied or German commanders and pit their wits against either a computer controlled opponent or a human opponent via LAN or the internet.

Highway to the Reich is receiving rave reviews in the USA and Europe. It is being heralded as “revolutionary”, “extraordinary”, “the new future of wargaming”. At its heart is “the best AI ever seen in any game”. For the first time, players can command like real operational commanders. Or as the GameSpot reviewer puts it “It’s hard to convey just how cool this system is, because not only does it eliminate the massive amount of micromanagement inherent in most wargames, but it does so in a way that makes it feel like you’re really commanding forces in the field.”