#real-time

'Tribal Rage'

[PC] [USA] [MAGAZINE, TEASER] [1998]

"Long known for their serious wargames, TalonSoft is still going in a serious direction—seriously different for them, that is—with Tribal Rage, a real-time strategy title due out this Spring. Set in the year 2030, the story is a mixture of Mad Max-style post-apocalypticism and Redneck Rampage over-the-top characterization. Earth is depleted and civilization is toast; all that's left are bands of the usual riff-raff: Bikers, Cyborgs, Amazons, Enforcers, those tiresome Death Cultists, and "gold ol' Trailer Trash." It's be your job to lead one of these bands of yahoos (except you're advised to never call your Death Cultists yahoos) through either a campaign game or sets of scenarios. The campaign is linked scenarios, but unlike most other real-time strategy games TalonSoft says it's different each time a new campaign is started. The scenarios recreate the rivalries present in the game's universe, so expect to see, for example, Bikers going up against the Enforcers (police remnants). The game will include a complete scenario/tribe editor that will let you build your own game experience from the vehicles up; TalonSoft is already planning an add-on CD with a set of new tribes. Up to six players can fight it out in multiplayer, either via LAN, Internet, or head-to-dead." ~Scott Udell, Computer Games Strategy Plus (#88, March 1998)

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SEGA unleashes a fresh look at Total War: Warhammer 40,000

'Seven Kingdoms II: The Fryhtan Wars'

[PC] [SPAIN] [MAGAZINE] [1999]

"Seven Kingdoms was one of the most pleasant surprises of 1998: an unexpected and original game that blended military, economic, and diplomatic strategy. Created by Trevor Chan and Enlight Software—the team behind Capitalism—Seven Kingdoms managed to build a loyal fanbase through word of mouth. Undoubtedly, this success drove Chan to work intensively on this new version. Simply creating a more advanced replica wasn't enough; the original game needed to be improved and expanded. Despite a few setbacks, Seven Kingdoms II is finally here. While fans of the original might find some of the new features familiar, there is no doubt that Seven Kingdoms II is a richer, more refined game. Every aspect of the original has been modified, streamlined, and expanded. It is a real-time strategy game that combines civilization expansion with real-time combat. The goal is to conquer the enemy using financial, military, or diplomatic means. However, executing this task is a highly complex—yet entirely manageable—process." ~Para PC Juegos y Jugadores (#12, November 1999) [BMT🤖]

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'Fallout Tactics'

[PC] [POLAND] [MAGAZINE] [2001]

"It turns out that it is indeed possible to release an excellent game—complete with superb presentation—and, what’s more, at a quite affordable price. Surely, no one needs convincing regarding the quality of the tactical Fallout experience. But should any skeptics remain, let them simply reach into their personal archives and read the review penned by the duo of Mamut and Frogger (SS 90). Yet our invaluable CD Projekt decided to take this "near-ideal" product and improve upon it further by fully localizing Fallout Tactics. The localization turned out very well. Compared to the flood of other productions hitting our market lately—bearing a "PL" tag in their titles, yet whose translation quality rarely rises much above the level of crude stadium banter—this one comes across as nothing short of sensational. Admittedly, here and there you might stumble upon a typo or a slightly ill-chosen word, and some lines have been left in their original wording. This applies mainly to the cinematic cutscenes; aside from the addition of Polish narration, they remain unchanged. Occasionally, too, a "brother in arms" might let loose a string of expletives in English. There are also various mistranslations (a little quiz: who is "Członkowy"? The answer can be found in the game manual!). Generally speaking, however, everything is in order. The Polish text is atmospheric, witty, and clear. Keep up the good work!" ~Krzysztof "Ator" Woźniak, Secret Service Magazine (PL) (#92, July-August 2001) [BMT🤖]

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'Five Generations'

[PC] [JAPAN] [MAGAZINE, SPREAD] [1999]

"This is a real-time, two-player competitive simulation game in which every unit action—including combat, construction, and more—is assigned a point value, and victory is determined by the total score accumulated by the end of the match. Battles unfold on a 24x24 grid, progressing through five distinct eras as time passes. Players must pre-construct a "deck" of units, designating which units will be deployed during each specific era. Once the game begins, players can no longer intervene; since each unit acts automatically, deck construction—much like in a card game—becomes the decisive factor in determining victory or defeat. On December 17, 1999, Five Generations: Second Age—which featured additions such as new units—was released exclusively via official mail order. Existing users of the original Five Generations were able to upgrade to the Second Age version free of charge." ~refuge.tokyo [BMT🤖]

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