Force 21

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Review: Force 21

But grognards beware: Force 21 is not a sim. Good gameplay is favored over realism, so you have to be forgiving of things like tanks cruising on hills at angles that would cause them to topple in real life. The game slides between several genres: It's action without first-person control and real-time strategy without building and resource management (unless you count platoon leaders as a resource).

Force 21 focuses on the strategic elements of battle, and gives you plenty to sink your teeth into - including air and artillery strikes, radar and radar jammers, mines, and bridge layers. And, of course, the 40-plus units--based on existing designs or those in development-- include choppers, tanks, anti-air and other light vehicles.

The game forces you to employ different strategic styles for given mission parameters, yet offers enough flexibility that your personal tastes can come to the fore. You can wage huge battles or stealthily sneak near an enemy base to designate a target for an air strike or artillery bombardment.

A nice intro sequence sets the stage: It's 2015 and China, hungry for resources, invades Kazakhstan. The Russians immediately respond, and American troops are on the way. The rest of the story is occasionally inconsistent and on par with a B-grade action flick, though the first few missions of each side's campaign do run nicely in parallel.

If you've played Rainbow Six, you'll be familiar with Force 21's presentation: voice-over briefings outline plot points and give mission objectives and a tactical overview--all set to a catchy military soundtrack.

The briefings for the US campaign were excellent-the actors sounded like military men-while those for the Chinese missions were an embarrassment.

Here, Red Storm seemed to require just a Chinese accent, not any acting ability.

During the briefing, you assign leaders with different values for Combat, Movement and Detection to the predefined platoons-the extent of Force 21's pre-planning-and then go to battle. The missions themselves, 15 for each side, are well-paced and offer variety of objectives, from search and destroy to escort to defending your position or a structure. The first few didn't take much strategizing. Point your troops toward the enemy and you'll do fine.

But when I got to the fifth US mission-guarding a space shuttle while seeking out the enemy's artillery-I had to start using every capability at my disposal.

Force 21 became significantly more challenging, and I ran into several missions I was convinced I'd never beat. Play them enough, though, and you learn the AI's scripts so that you know a platoon of Abrams is just over that hill or a squad of Apaches is hovering over there and about to attack.

With up to 16 (though usually around eight) platoons roaming the battlefield, it could have been a confusing control nightmare, but Red Storm did a commendable job with the interface. The non-configurable keys are logical, and it's easy to track platoons and assign way points or patrol routes via the rotatable, 3D strategic map.

There are, of course, shortcomings--gimme a "guard" or "follow" command and a hotkey for each platoon - but on the whole this game is much easier to pick up than its competitiors.

What really puts Force 21 ahead of those competitors is its multiplayer mode. Out of the box, it performed flawlessly over the net (it's available on Zone and Mplayer), and the multiplayer structure is excellent. During the planning phase you buy units, make your own platoons, assign leaders, and set deployment positions. When everyone's ready (up to four can play) or the briefing clock runs out, you enter one of the 10 missions.

Unfortunately, there are only 10 missions, and the "escort" and "escape" missions aren't too thrilling because all it takes is a couple shots on the convoy or escapee and it's game over. The "kill the flag" (defend your base, attack theirs), king of the hill and defend or attack missions are a blast. With the included map/mission editor, there should be plenty more good single and multiplayer missions soon, and Red Storm is considering releasing more missions based on feedback and game sales.

That should provide longevity to a game that, by today's standards (or even yesterday's, if you compare it to Battlezone), isn't jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Sure, the explosions and flying debris are pretty, but I was disappointed with the bland terrain (I got sick of seeing the same Swiss-looking houses), short sight distance and bitmap trees that rotate to face you as you move.

But this game isn't about trees, is it? It's about waging war, rolling over the enemy with coordinated attacks from different flanks, springing traps. It's about getting a taste of what it would be like to be a commander on the modern battlefield. In that, Red Storm has succeeded admirably and this is an excellent first strike for a potentially great franchise.-- Willem Knibbe / GamePro