Armour-Geddon II

Title           Armour-Geddon II
Game Type       3D Combat Sim
Company         Psygnosis
Players         1-2
Compatibility   All (probably)
HD Installable  Yes
Submission      msaupe@saale-net.de

Review
This game is a very special mixture of strategy, action and simulation.
Set in a post-nuclear-war future, the player has to build an infrastructure
of factories and sources for raw materials to enable his engineers to
build a rocket which will destroy a satelite in orbit that threatens the
remnants of civilization on Earth, while defending his installations
against the CPU controlled opponent, that has a similar goal; it's just
that he wants to activate that deadly weapon in space.

After starting the game you'll find your 3 bases on the battlemap as well
as a number of factories, research labs and mines. Capturing those
installations will speed up your R&D efforts and production rate and slow
down the enemy. R&D is vital because the vehicles you start with are slow
and clumsy. Later versions can cary much more weaponry and are more agile.
There are some sub-missions to fulfill during the game (i.e. to
destroy/capture certain buildings) which will, after a successful mission,
reveal more information, i.e. the position of more enemy factories and
bases. The strategy part has not the depth of a pure strategy simulation,
but this is no big problem, because...

... what makes this game different, is the fact that all those battles you
plan on the map are not just calculated by the computer, but fought by
yourself in a real time 3D environment. It's rather detailed for a game
from that time ('94) and can still be run on a bare A500. You can have 6
units at one time on the battlefield and you can instantly switch between
them via the F-keys. The vehicles you are not currently in control of are
controlled by an auto pilot, or even better by a friend connected via a
null-modem cable. This is definitely recommended because four eyes see
more than two, and two vehicles can take out more enemies than one. You
could for example control a fighter plane to protect your friend in a
light tank from enemy air attacks, while he captures an enemy factory. The
above mentioned units are only two out of a wide range of totally
different vehicles. You can choose between light and heavy tanks, a
hovercraft, a truck, a fighter, a bomber, a helicopter and even a
zeppelin. You can then equip your vehicle with different equipment; from
external fuel tanks, a cloaking device or a teleporter to lots of
offensive weapons like lasers, shells, bombs and different missiles. The
physics model is not 100% accurate, but still good enough to make you feel
the difference between all of the vehicles.

The game is difficult, but nevertheless a good mixture, and although
strategy purists won't be absolutely satisfied with the respective part of
the game, I can safely recommend it to everyone who doesn't absolutely
hate flight or tank-sims and strategy games.

Alphabetical list.