Seek and Destroy

"For the last 10 years, ever since the end of the nuclear third world war of 1998, the world has been a peaceful place. No other wars have started and people seem to live in relative harmony. Recently, North American Defense Intelligence has been following the actions of a group of individuals based in South America. These individuals appear to be amassing a collection of armaments from all over the world that could threaten our now peaceful existence. As one of the few surviving Vehicular Combat Troopers of the NAA Forces, you have been assigned to halt any further advancement of this potential threat and eliminate their arsenal. Your first mission takes you into the deserts of Africa. Good luck..."

Based on the original Amiga game released in 1993 comes the 1996 Dos release for the PC. This is more of a sequel than a conversion with all new missions, enemy gfx and additional features. New to this version is the ability to play as the Helicopter or a Tank with rotating turret. Each vehicle has its own weapon set with the tank having the additional ability to move and aim in a different direction and the Helicopter having the ability to side step. In the original Amiga game you had access to every weapon right from the start. In the PC game you have to unlock them as you progress through the missions by picking up and spending medals on weapon upgrades. Once a weapon is unlocked you configure your weapon loadout to have lots of one weapon or a few of each. A couple of missions force you to take the tank so keep it upgraded too. There are twenty missions to get through and they don't loop after the ending.

For the longplay, I am playing on Hard mode which slows the game play down and doesnt offer an alternate ending. On Hard you have very little armour and can be torn apart in seconds. Additionally Hard mode requires that you land to collect armour, fuel and medals. On medium you would only land to collect medals and on easy you don't need to land to collect anything. The most difficult mission for me was level 4-3 where you are forced to take a tank and the enemy infantry are firing heat seeking missiles you relentlessly. ideally I would clear them out with an Air Strike but a game bug means the Air strike has no effect!

Overall, it's every bit as enjoyable as the Amiga game and maybe more so if you like the weapon management for a bit of strategy or to play as a tank. However the missions are not all that varied and we don't get the sea missions at all, replaced by some night missions that only serve to hinder you as the enemy all have excellent night vision. A note worthy feature is that the game runs in 320x240@60 which is novel for a dos game and I don't think I've spotted this before.

00:00:00 Title Music
-------- Operation Heatwave --------
00:01:33 Mission 1 - Phase 1
00:04:16 Mission 1 - Phase 2
00:07:42 Mission 1 - Phase 3
00:11:10 Mission 1 - Phase 4
------- Operation Snowstorm -------
00:13:54 Mission 2 - Phase 1
00:16:56 Mission 2 - Phase 2
00:21:34 Mission 2 - Phase 3
00:26:42 Mission 2 - Phase 4
----- Operation Monsoon Fury -----
00:31:27 Mission 3 - Phase 1
00:35:56 Mission 3 - Phase 2
00:41:13 Mission 3 - Phase 3
00:46:50 Mission 3 - Phase 4
------- Operation Night Wing -------
00:52:20 Mission 4 - Phase 1
00:58:07 Mission 4 - Phase 2
01:04:27 Mission 4 - Phase 3
01:14:24 Mission 4 - Phase 4
------- Operation Assault HQ -------
01:19:54 Mission 5 - Phase 1
01:24:14 Mission 5 - Phase 2
01:29:50 Mission 5 - Phase 3
01:33:31 Mission 5 - Phase 4
01:37:16 Ending
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01:39:55 Game Over