Contributions > Descriptions by Raphael (1245)

The sequel to Europa Universalis adds new provinces, new empires, more control over your empire (examples: free subjects/serfdom, Centralized/Decentralized government, Defensive/Offensive Doctrine, etc.), new religions, 100 more years (1419-1819), new music, and the ability to control any empire and annex any empire.

The economic part is basically the same as EU I, but some of the technology levels have changed. Many new random events have been added, and also historical empire-specific events are now possible (in other words, things that happened in real history can happen and you must choose one of several options that will determine the way your empire will progress).

It's 2160, and the Eastern Alliance has launched a surprise attack on the Western Coalition's fleet and decimated it. The call has gone out for volunteers to become Alliance fighter pilots, and you have signed up with the 45th Volunteer Squadron.

Designed by Chris and Erin Roberts, the creative force behind the Wing Commander/Privateer megaseries, this space fighting simulation features the genre's standard mission types: escort, fighter sweep, interception, attacking space stations, fighting in asteroid fields, etc.

12 pilotable fighters (you can choose which you fly as well as missile loadout, but not all are available in the early missions), 9 enemy fighter types.

You are a 17th Century pirate in the Caribbean. You can do all kinds of pirate things: rape, pillage, capture ships, receive letters of marque, burn towns, kill civilians, loot houses, recruit other pirates, look for buried treasure, sell stuff you capture for pieces of eight, etc. :)

This expansion set to Aces of the Pacific is premised on what might have happened in the pacific theater if WWII had not ended in 1945. Based on research of the allied war plans and documents, the player is given the chance to fly in the campaigns that might have been.

Some of the aircraft that were being prototyped when the war ended are included. These are the Grumman F7F Tigercat, the Grumman F8F Bearcat, the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star (a jet), the improved Goodyear F2G-2 Corsair, and for the Japanese Navy the Kyushu J7W Shinden, the Nakajima Kikka (a jet), and the Mitsubishi Ki-83.

Dynamix/Sierra's answer to the Lawrence Holland Air Combat Trilogy. This game includes an incredible amount of aircraft and ships. In contrast to BattleHawks 1942, this game features ground attack missions and land-based aircraft in addition to anti-shipping strikes and carrier-based aircraft. You can fly for the US Navy, Army Air Force, Marines or Japanese Navy and Air Force.

You can fly in single missions (dogfighting, fighting famous aces, escorting bombers, etc.), or fly a career spanning major battles or the entire war. The game also offers several realism options including blackouts, weather effects, sun blind spot, no collisions, etc.

US aircraft featured: F4F-3, F4F-4, F6F, F4U, SBD, SB2C, TBD, TBF, P38F, P38J, P39D, P40E, P47D, P51D, B17D, B17E, B24J, B25D, B25J, B29A.

Japanese aircraft featured: A6M2, A6M3, A6M5 Zero, D3A Val, D4Y Suisei, B5N Kate, B6N Tenzan, Ki27 Nate, Ki43 Oscar, Ki61 Hien, Ki45 Toryu, Ki84 Hayate, Ki100, Ki21 Sally.

Relive the infamous Battle of the Bulge as the Germans or Americans. This entry, fourth in the Close Combat series, introduces a Strategic map, features new units, and includes airstrikes.

The year 1942 is the subject of many computer games that deal with World War II. The reason: this was the year that many pivotal battles were fought including Midway, Stalingrad, N. Africa, and... Guadalcanal. This game deals with the desperate battles fought in the Solomon Islands, specifically in and around the island of Guadalcanal, in which the Allies tried to stop the Japanese from their drive to Australia.

In TF42, you can play as either the Americans or Japanese. All the major ships that participated are represented, including the infamous Yamato and devastating Iowa. It features individual historical battles, as well as the whole Guadalcanal Campaign.

The objective in the Campaign is to take over both bases on Guadalcanal, but as you are the Naval commander, you do not have direct control over the land battle. Your main objective is to keep the marines on Guadalcanal supplied and bring reinforcements to them, to shell the enemy base, and to stop the enemy from bringing supplies and reinforcements to their troops. These 3 tasks are accomplished by assigning the ships available to you into Task Forces and Task Groups, and send them on Patrol, Supply, and Bombard missions. More ships become available as time progresses.

The game has a strategic mode in which you can order your fleets around and monitor the overall situation, and a tactical mode in which two fleets meet and you can actually command the battle in real-time and "jump into" any ship and fire the guns or torpedos.

You also have air support. The planes can patrol or, if you have fighters/dive bombers/torp bombers available, attack enemy fleets! The air units and amounts of planes available to you change as they did in the actual war.

You can create your own "Dream Matchups": Yamato vs. Iowa; North Carolina vs. Nagato; A group of New Orleans Heavy Cruisers vs. small but fast and deadly torpedo-armed Japanese destroyers... all the ships are available.

WCS lets you design and play turn-based strategic battles. You can create scenarios in many different time periods including modern day, ancient times, 1800's, and in the future. You have complete control over all the units, and can customize their firepower, movement points, strength, aggressiveness, etc.

Supports 1 or 2 players. Comes with 8 pre-made scenarios.

In this game, originally written in Altair BASIC, two to four players become stock market sharks, trying to amass a huge fortune by buying stock in interstellar shipping companies and increasing the wealth of the companies they own stock in.

Privateer 2: The Darkening is a follow-up to Wing Commander: Privateer. The player takes control of Ser Lev Arris, who is searching to regain his identity and memory. Like its predecessors, the game combines space combat simulation with exploration and trading. Along the way, the player can trade commodities, go on missions, attack strange mutants, rescue damsels in distress, meet weird characters, and visit unusual planets. It is possible to hire wingmen and cargo ships, as well as upgrade the current ship or buy new ones. Live-action movies advance the story.

It's the Final Four, and you can lead your team to the NCAA Championship. You can customize players and create new ones.

It's time to drive the hated Smoke Jaguar Clan from Port Arthur once and for all! You take on the role of the commander of a lance of the First Davion Guards. Through a series of missions you must carefully plan your attacks, spend Resource Points wisely, and keep your people alive.

Mech Commander is a real-time strategy game that introduces eighteen different types of mechs, several types of vehicles, repair bays, artillery barrages, mine fields, forests that you can burn down, highly explosive containers, mechs that limp when their legs are damaged, missile and autocannon turrets, and other features.

During each mission, you can capture buildings to get weapons. You can also salvage enemy mechs if they aren't too badly damaged. You are awarded Resource Points which you can use to repair mechs and buy new mechs, weapons, and Mechwarriors. Your Mechwarriors will advance in different skills (gunnery, piloting, jumping, and sensors) as they use them in battle. They can also be injured or killed.

The opening movie features live-action acting.

European Air War is an action based flight-sim which features 20 flyable aircraft: On the American side, P-51 (B, D), P-38 (H, J), P47 (C, D); For the RAF, the Spitfire (I-A, IX-C, XIV-E), Hurricane (I), Typhoon (IB), and Tempest (V); and for the Luftwaffe, the Bf-109 (E-4, G-6, K-4), Bf-110 (G-2, C-4), FW-190 (D-9, A-8), and Me262 (A1). Also, the game features several non-flyable aircraft: B-17 (F, G), B-24, B-26, Mosquito, Ju-88, He-111, Ju-87 Stuka, and Me410!

The game is meticulously detailed. The physics of flying are accurately modeled, the markings on the planes are historically accurate, and the map takes into account the curvature of the earth.

Your wingmen speak German if you fly for the Luftwaffe, and speak with an English or American accent if you fly for the RAF or US. When you play a "career", the choices of units to fly in are actual historical units and you will attack the same targets they attacked. Your unit will even refit with new types of aircraft when they did historically (P-51B to P-51D, for example)!

The game is highly customizable. You can turn on or off: wind, stalls, the torque effect on single-engine planes, black/red out, engine overheating, structural limits, mid air collision, etc.

You can attack tanks, trains carrying guns and tanks, ships (freighters and destroyers!), halftrack/car convoys, and lots of other types of ground targets. Pretty much everything can shoot back.

It also features several newsreels that show familiar black & white footage from WWII documentaries, complete with narration.

Yet another Real Time Strategy game... Yet another WWII game... but unlike most WWII games, this one takes place on the Eastern Front! It is 1941, and Germany is launching Operation Barbarossa: the invasion of Russia. Finally, a game that captures the magnitude of this epic, 4-year-long battle that ultimately sealed the end of the 3rd Reich!

As with the previous CC games, this one is incredibly researched. The sounds of the dozens of different weapons, the hundreds of unit types, the terrain... it is just amazing how much work went into drawing the sprites and the maps. Units can panic, be pinned, suppressed, surrender, regroup... you name it. There are flame tanks, snipers, bunkers, city fighting, winter/summer battles, different weather conditions, mine fields... pretty much anything that might normally happen on a battlefield can happen in this game. And the best parts: it covers the entire Eastern Front battle from 41-45, and it has good multiplayer support.

I mean... if you play the Germans, your guys speak German, and if you play the Russians, they speak Russian. You just don't get more realistic than that. :)

The war between the human resistance and the evil robotic Cybrids renews! Prometheus has built a base on the moon and is producing Cybrids by the thousands. As a member of the human resistance, you pilot your HERC ('Mech) against the Cybrids. You have up to 3 wingmates. This entry in the Earthsiege series features 9 HERCS and something not found in many Mech-type games: an aircraft you can fly!

The licensed game of the 1998 Football World Cup held in France from June 10 to July 12 and the first World Cup licensed game distributed and developed by Electronic Arts features a tweaked FIFA 98 engine, with all 10 stadiums accurately designed and all 32 teams (plus 8 teams that failed to qualify but still deemed too important to leave out) featuring real names and close "look-a-like" kits. Changes done to the 3D engine feature include on the fly in-game management with better player positioning AI (including the goalkeeper), and faster gameplay. An editor to change all player information is included, which affects simulated data: the team with higher ratings has a better chance of progressing through the next stage regardless if it is Brazil or China.

It's possible to play with the groups as determined by the real draw, randomize or customize them to the players' likings, mixing both qualified and additional teams. Once the player wins a trophy, the first of the Classics matches is unlocked. These are eight final matches in the competition's history which are unlocked as the player beats them one by one. Friendlies, training matches and practice penalty shootouts close the modes available.

Imperium Galactica is set sometime during the fourth millennium and you, as a human, must rebuild the Human Empire. You start out as a young lieutenant and are given a series of missions to complete. You then advance to the next rank and are given more ships to control and more available commands, but you have more area of the universe to police and more colonies. This continues until you reach the rank of Grand Admiral, where you are able to view the whole map.

When you are in command of a region, you must worry about its economy. Ensure that taxes are collected and that the people are well-fed and reproducing. 75 new scientific discoveries can be made over the course of the game.

Your enemies are a bunch of alien races. They each have their own style of architecture, ships, and land-based units. However, some are more inspired than others. Diplomacy options ensure that all-out war is not the only way to victory. In combat you have ships to protect and mercenary pirates to deal with.

There is a plot-driven interactive movie element to the game, with an opening movie, and cutscenes appearing whenever you advance in rank and also at certain other points in the game. Voices used in these are computer generated.

The player has to refit every single ship manually. The land battles resemble Command & Conquer , though with only vehicle units.

The Civil War covers the American Civil War from the years 1861 to 1865. You can play as the North or South, and the object is to take over a certain amount of cities of the opposing side before the war ends. It features both strategic and tactical parts in a turn-based format.

This game has about 45 difficulty levels (9 different "strategy factors" like supply, unit types, fatigue, etc. x 5 realism levels each). However, even with all 9 set to the highest difficulty, the game can be won in a few hours.

World War II is raging. The US has suffered an attack at Pearl Harbor, and most of its battleships are lost. The few remaining US carriers are fighting a desperate war against the Japanese surface fleets. But the US has a secret weapon: sleek, silent, deadly... you are a Submarine Commander!

The action is viewed from within the submarine. Watch out for your speed, direction and depth. This game features 9 types of submarines to choose from, 10 types of torpedoes to fire, 14 Japanese surface ships (9 warships, 5 transport), and the entire Pacific Ocean as your battleground. The seven missions all recreate real US navy engagements. Can you sink the Yamato???

The objective is the same as in the original Balance of Power: use your military, covert, and industrial forces to make your country the most prestigious in the world while avoiding nuclear war. However, it is now 1989, and the Communist Block is crumbling...

Chris Crawford, who rarely ever made a sequel to a computer game, was besieged by mails asking him to update his classic from a few years before to reflect the new state of the world. Russia was falling, the Iron Curtain was shattering, and smaller countries were beginning to assert their own regional power with more freedom from the bipolar world of the Cold War.

The result was the 1990 Edition. This game featured an updated database, but the most significant new features were: 1. The multipolar level, where small countries could go to war with their neighbors on their own. Of course, you could help them out (or encourage them!) by sending in military aid.

• 18 more countries, bringing the total to 80.

• A "Crisis Advisory Board" of four people, who would give you advice during international crises. The nice thing about being a Superpower is that the little countries do whatever you tell them, but you still have to watch out for your main rivals (USSR or the US)!

The year is 1986. You take on the role of the US President or the Russian General Secretary. You have the full industrial capacity, covert forces, and military might of your country at your command. Your job? To make your country the world's most powerful and prestigious over the course of your eight years in office. Sounds easy, doesn't it? It would be if the other guy didn't have his finger poised over a red button that could wipe out the world!

You must use diplomacy, make treaties, issue risky, covert CIA or KGB actions, or riskier, direct military intervention to prop up third world countries or help their insurgents and win them to your governmental philosophy: Capitalism or Communism. The world is a big place... and the other guy could start a nuclear war over a country as tiny as Tunisia. This game is the ultimate Cold War simulation. Every action requires careful analysis and the ability to judge your opponent (computer or human) and his reaction. The game features 62 countries, each carefully researched with up to date (as of 1985) information regarding their government, demographics, resources, etc.

Do 335 add-on for Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. Manual featured historical details about the plane.

He 162 add-on for Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. Manual featured historical details about the plane.

This is the P-80 add-on for Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. The manual featured historical details about the plane.

P-38 Lightning is an add-on for Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, adding this tough plane to the action. There are new missions featuring it, such as escorting or assisting bombing raids, and the chance to use it in missions you create in the Mission Builder. The manual featured historical details about and photographs of the plane.

Fly as an American or German pilot in the years 1943-1945 in this WWII air combat simulation. This game features several experimental German aircraft to try out. Can you alter the outcome of WWII with them? The experimental German planes include Messerschmitt 262, Me163 Komet rocket plane, and the Gotha "flying wing". You can also fly the traditional ME109 or FW190 piston engine aircraft.

As for the American side, you can take to the skies in the P-51 Mustang, P-47 Thunderbolt, or the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. In the B-17, you can not only control the plane itself, but also the gun turrets and the bombing sight.

Next to training missions for each aircraft, there are several historical missions available, recreating real air encounters of the war.

The Tour of Duty mode allows you to take your pilot through a set number of missions, gaining promotions and medals, with the ultimate goal of surviving the tour.

Finally, there's the strategic campaign mode where you can fight the whole war from either side, both planning and flying missions. As the Americans, the objective is to cripple Germany's industry through strategic bombardment. As the Germans, you have to survive by keeping the industry alive. As time passes, new aircraft become available, in accordance with history. For instance, the Mustang was not deployed until late 1943. For the German side, the jet and rocket aircraft have to be researched before they can be built. The German side can also build V1 and V2 missiles. Another option is to let industrial branches work in secret to hinder the American bombing efforts.

Other interesting features are a mission editor and a film playback option.