Good game. Worth playing if you like a combination of Tomb Raider, Resident Evil though not as good as either. I kid you not it is worth playing. I did a playthrough of the first few parts (4) of it and while I had to stop for other reasons, I enjoyed it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2gcXXIc3is
If you like the previously released 5 Star games (aka the General games) then this is a must, especially if you like the modern (for the time) setting. The game engine and GUI is more refined than ever and it plays really well. The game plays in the known semi branching campaign way and it is a joy to play if you like the setting. If there is one thing I never liked with the more new games of the series was the more "realistic" map design/graphics. I always prefer the way the maps show in the original Panzer General, Allied General, Star General. Still, I admit this is a great game in the series and a must for any fun of turn based strategy games, or wargame genre. You won't be disappointed. I haven't played the GOG version yet as it was just released and I just found out about it, but if there is nothing wrong with this release from a technical point (and I have no reason to believe there is any issue), I highly recommend it. The only reason I don't put 5 stars is because of my preference for the map style/presentation. I can't take half a star off, so...
When the game was brand new I didn't get to play it as it wasn't released on my computer of the choice. I got to play it a couple of years later (94ish) and liked it, even though I didn't have much time to really get to know it. From what I remember it was good. Gameplay wise it was basically a game similar to another classic of the era, Empire (and) Empire Deluxe. More detailed, more units etc from either of them. If you like strategy games, go for it.
Pure mid to late 90s arcade rail shooter, updated for modern systems with upgraded looks. I played it last night for my twitch stream and was expecting something longer, but then again I didn't know it was going to be a pure arcade game. Even the lives you have are called credits, which you can win more when you finish a level, depending on how well you played. I played with the mouse and kb while there are more options. You control the camera angle for shooting with the mouse, but you HAVE to use the keyboard too to swap around the four quadrants, forwards, backwards, left and right. Think of it as picking different turrets only that you have one person. There is a radar helping you showing you where the enemies are and even the danger level of them, with red being the higher. The enemy shoots you and you can shoot the enemy missiles down, if you want to eventually defeat the whole game. You see the actual movement of your flying dragon is very limited. It is an on rail shooter after all. You can avoid some enemies, obstacles, missiles, but for the most part you are a sitting duck than a flying dragon. I am not complaining, just explaining how it plays. Each credit you have is good for one life and you can't replenish your health. You earn more credits as you play. I managed to defeat the game on my first go, at normal difficulty. It felt the right amount of challenge, as soon as you learn the game. To shoot the enemies you have two ways of shooting, one click for each shot, or hold the fire button to lock on targets and release to shoot them with homing missiles at the same time. Most targets can be done with the easier way (lock), but enemy missiles and at least one boss, you have to use the click per shot way. It's not easy, but it is not very hard either. The game is very well balanced and totally worth buying IMO, even though the length of a single "campaign" is around an hour length. Here is my stream, uploaded on yt. https://youtu.be/IknCOJyBTiY
I recently played for the first time this game, completed the offline campaign as a Valkyrie and had a great fun doing so. Here is the playlist of the stream, stream was done on Twitch, playlist is on Youtube. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtpqh8ebqvxd58U2BPKvdplEGMuP4dyUa I was NEVER a fan of the old Gauntlet games. I found them just a sucker's game to feed more coins to it and even the home ports I found lacking in the fun factor. Mind you I am referring exclusively to single player experience. I read reviews of this game and found the reviews so off putting that I avoided buying and playing this game for years. Only a couple of weeks I made the jump and decided to play the game for my twitch channel and get something out of the money I paid for it. For me it is 100% worth the money. Even more so of course if you buy it on sale. It's a Diablo light game so if you like dungeon crawling in a Diablo themed game, this is for you. There are multiplayer options but I never touched them as I don't care for that. There are three I believe ways of playing the game single player, I played it with the campaign/story mode. Basically you play single levels, with some branching for extra side levels, during which you destroy your enemies and collect treasure. Treasure which can be used to buy different weapons and "spells" which are not better one than the other, just different way of playing. The extra armor, helmet, cape are just cosmetic. If you want to keep buying more powerful weapons, this is not for you. I tried all different weapon/spell combinations for my character, I liked one in particular for most, but still ended up defeating the final boss with the original weapon you start the game. Take it as you wish. I liked it. I played with mouse & kb control and while it took a while to get used to it, by the end I was fine. There is gamepad control too, but didn't try it. Each lvl can take from 3 to 15min not including restarts. Great game.
But I can't. Why? Because the game has the rotate camera (rotate in all directions) glued to the mouse middle button without an option to use any other button or key or combination. Which means when the game starts with the camera at almost level angle, you are stuck there. You also can't centre the camera, but that's like small potatoes. I have problem with using the MMB in all games no matter what mouse or Windows I have been using for like the last 20 years, so it is nothing new for me. But to not give the option to at least use something else, makes the game basically unplayable for me so I have to rate it accordingly. Why there are still developers who don't allow to change the bindings is just crazy. You could do it in games back to the 80s, but in the 21st century there are still some who don't allow you to. Stupid stupid stupid. Otherwise the game might be good, I will never find out. What a waste of money. No, I can't ask for refund of my money as it has been a while since I bought it. I do know though that I won't buy another game from these developers.
So I am rating it at 4. Why you may ask I am then reviewing it. There is another game with the same exact name and I am not talking about the 1989 version. There was a remake/reboot of the classic game before this one. In fact when I clicked to leave a review for this game, I was certain it was going to be that other remake. So I was surprised to see a totally different remake. My point is, in case you know that game and you haven't checked the screenshots or video of this one, they are not the same! I made a video of that game few years ago if you want to check. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlo4jJ3O5ug Anyway, looking forwards to buying this version too.
I played this game when I first got it when it was originally released on the Atari ST and on a friend's PC. There are differences in graphics and sounds, but nothing important. The game is absolutely fantastic as a single player game. You get to pick one of 4 IIRC starting dates, pick side (North or South) and A.I. difficulty setting if playing single player. You can have two humans playing or even two A.I. playing and you watching. You can enable the real time mini games, or play it completely on the main strategic map (think of RISK or Chess or other board game). You can disable them if you don't like them, or if you are very bad at them, or whatever. For example after the first couple of years of playing the game I became so good I disabled them so that I don't demolish the A.I. in the mini games. The main strategic map is made up of territories which you can capture by moving an army. Five territories have forts which if they belong to the enemy have to be attacked even if there is no enemy army stationed there. There is a railway line going from bottom right (map) to left to up to right. The 5 forts are spread out on it. If you own at least two forts which have direct connection with a line (no enemy fort between them), then when it is your turn a train will bring you income (gold bags) to spend on your armies. If during that cutscene there is an enemy army in between the two forts, there is a mini game of train robbery. Action game where you have to go up the train, and all the way to the engine to stop it. The AI/Other human tries to stop you with limited soldiers they can spawn. Problem for the attacker being the time limit. Fort assaults have very similar mini game only it is obviously not a train. The third mini game is a real time strategy battle when two opposing armies meet. Keyboard or joystick controls only for it. Direct control of a single unit at time. VERY FUN. I did a review of the ST version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHbuUtGmX6w
I played this game almost exclusively on the Atari ST. Very similar version to the DOS one, with differences mainly in the music and graphics, but not enough to matter. Having said that, this appears to be the CDROM version of the PC version, so it has better overall presentation. The game was never an impressive looking game, but it was better than average for the genre. In terms of gameplay, you have 5 missions to complete with a limited pool of available soldiers and limited number of weapons/accessories you can use for each mission. If a soldier (or more) die, they are not available to pick for the next mission, etc. While this strategy/business theme is not exactly UFO Enemy Unknown or Jagged Alliance, it does provide an extra incentive to WATCH OUT! The GUI while simple, is different than most games had and if one is only accustomed to modern games might find it a bit weird. Not difficult (as long as you read the manual), just weird. So, after you pick your soldiers and their weapons/accessories, you enter the mission, picking where to start each soldier depending on the map, the mission, your plan, etc. After that the mission starts in a turn based format. You play first, followed by the other one or two sides. Enemies and neutrals. The later UFO Enemy Unknown is close to this one in the tactical aspect. You spend action points for each action. Move, turn, operate, shoot, reload, etc. The number of AP per soldier depends on the soldier's stats AND how much they carry. Heavier load = fewer AP. There are fields of view for each soldier and each enemy character on the map. There are obstacles which can block the view and the shots, both friendly and enemy. You can choose how to shoot which can cost different AP, etc. Basically if you have played UFO or say Laser Squad, you will quickly feel at home here. It's a very good game, especially for the time. I did an unboxing/quick look of the ST version few years ago. https://youtu.be/lj6_9CYD8pg
I played the game when I bought it years ago, not from here. I played a few hours of the game. I stopped playing for reasons that have nothing to do with the game itself. It's a linear action game where you unlock by progressing in the story, more moves. The fights have a Asscreed vibe, in that there are moves which work an all, moves which work on certain times against certain opponents. There was nothing wrong with the game the few hours I played it. As long as you are not looking for an open world game, or 2021 graphics, there is a good chance you will enjoy the game and definitely not feel cheated for the price, especially if you buy it on sale.
