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Force 21
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Graphics & Sound:
I was very impressed with the graphics. The vehicle detail and the terrain textures were great. The tanks leave tread marks in the ground, the tires sink into the mud, and the explosions really bring the game to life. They also did a terrific job on the different land elevations. The animations are smooth, and the detail is right on target. Using D3D, the graphics are nearly flawless. If opting for 3DFX, no textures are lost, but the overall appearance suffers a bit. The game seems to be a bit too bright and slower when using 3DFX Glide drivers. The overall details, however, remain the same. I also loved the ambient sounds. I just can't get enough of an idling tank.
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Gameplay:
>From the opening credits, to the end of the game, I was reminded of Rainbow Six - one minus for lack of ingenuity on the part of Red Storm. Basically, it's 2015, and China is on the move. Who else will stop her, but Big Brother? You get to choose which side you want - the good guys (USA) or the bad guys (China). I liked playing China more than the Americans, because the US missions were just plain boring. Defending villages and waiting for China to attack becomes cumbersome. The first thing you do is assign your units to squads and pick commanders (. have I done this before). After that, you plan out your actions before finally getting into the game to play out your planned attack (. I could swear I've done this before). During game play, there is a freely rotating third person view of the action with a point and click interface (. at least that's not rehash). There are many options available for your units. Some key features are patrol, rally, deploy camouflage, fortify, call artillery, launch air strike, and deploy mines. There are also 35 ground vehicles and seven air units, adding plenty of variety to your forces. I did like the fact that you start each mission off with a certain amount of units and cannot generate or call for more once play has started. No more mining ore or calling down energy from the gods when you need one more ATV. Be warned, the game is very slow in the beginning; however, by the end of the game, the action is fast and furious. If you can make it to the end, it's almost worth it; tank on tank warfare can get old fast, but throw in some copters, and now your talking. The multi-play is great. It plays like a real time strategy game, only no unit generation or resource management - nothing but hack and slash (or should I say bomb and burn). Each of the players can be assigned to the same or different teams - Co-op or deathmatch, anyway you like it.
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Difficulty:
This game is not too difficult. The first few stages are easy and extremely boring. The last few missions are difficult, but not enough to make you run out and buy a guidebook. The hardest part of the game is keeping up with your units once you spread them out. I would say the game is too short, but playing both sides through doubles the game time, so it works out fine. I also noticed that the first few missions are harder for China, and the last few missions are harder for the US. Interesting irony.
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Game Mechanics:
Simple point and click mechanics makes this potentially tedious game more bearable. You can click on the viewable screen or the mini map to move your units. Selecting units, giving orders, and group formations can all be done by clicks or hotkeys. The arrow keys rotate and zoom the camera. To attack an enemy, just click on him (or have your units set to fire at will). Blow up his tanks before he blows up yours. This simple but effective approach to the game mechanics adds a fun factor that can be lost in a more complicated key command entry + mouse + joystick + thick manual type game. Kudos to Red Storm on the concept and design, but next time, put a little more originality into it.
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-Storm, GameVortex Communications AKA Jeremy Kelso |
Minimum System Requirements:
Windows 95/98, Pentium 200/Accelerator, Pentium 233 MMX/software rendering, 32 MB RAM, 150MB HD Space, 4MB SVGA card, 4x CD-ROM, Sound Card, Mouse, Keyboard, DirectX 6 |
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Test System:
P2 450, Windows 98 SE, 128MB RAM, Diamond Viper V770 Ultra w/32MB RAM, 2 Voodoo 2's SLI, 5x24 DVD-ROM, Monster Sound MX300 |
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