143 lines
7.4 KiB
Plaintext
143 lines
7.4 KiB
Plaintext
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BREACH 2
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BREACH 2 is a combat-oriented, squad-level role-playing game from
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Omnitrend Software. It offers excellent graphics, smooth animation,
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digitized sound, ten scenarios, two skill levels, a scenario
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construction editor, mouse or keyboard control, a save option, hard
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drive support, and no copy protection. The Atari ST version, for
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which you'll need 512K and a color monitor, is the basis of this
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review.
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The original BREACH, released in 1987, was greeted by rave reviews
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which, if BREACH 2 is any indication, were well-deserved. B2 is
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marketed as "the next generation step in advanced role-playing
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combat." I don't know about that, but I do know that sequels are
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trendy these days (and they make programming easier), which is
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fine. Thomas Carbone, Maurice Molyneaux, and Haywood Nichols should
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continue to think in sequel terms (or in whatever terms they
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think), because BREACH 2 is an excellent program with a sense of
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humor and all kinds of neat details and nifty touches.
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The idea behind B2 is the advancement of your squad leader -- a
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soldier of the Federated Worlds Special Forces -- through the
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ranks, which move upward from grubby Ensign to squeaky-clean Fleet
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Admiral. He must lead as many as nine marines through the ten
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scenarios, each of which has specific victory conditions. The
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scenarios range in difficulty from Easy to Very Hard. You'll rescue
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Federated World personnel, recover important datapacks, encounter
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aliens, and sometimes do nothing more than slaughter the enemy.
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B2 starts at The Assignment Screen, a set of three windows for
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handling Available Scenarios, Squad Leaders, and Scenarios In
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Progress. You must create a leader, name him, and give him a
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scenario. Many squad leaders and many scenarios can be in progress;
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scenarios can be chained. You can use the scenarios you construct
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with the B2 editor, or those available from different sources, such
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as the Campaign Disk from Omnitrend; the Azarius Incident scenario
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and a seven-disk Federation Collection are available from Modern Day
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Publishing.
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Once you've begun a scenario, you're sent to the Game Screen, which
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consists of a 3-D map window, a marine statistics window, and a
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series of icons. The map window is where all movement and combat
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take place, and it displays the surrounding terrain and any objects
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or opponents in the vicinity. The current marine stands in the
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center of the display on the "entry square," the map point from
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which all marines enter a scenario. Moving a marine shifts the map
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so that he is again centered; selecting a new marine shifts the map
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back to the entry square. (When all marines are onscreen, of
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course, the entry square is just another square.)
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Each game round is two-phased: player movement/combat and enemy
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movement/combat. Each round knocks 30 seconds off the game clock.
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Scenarios last a specific number of 30-second rounds, although time
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is more important in some scenarios than in others.
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The stats window provides vital information about the currently
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selected marine: movement points, vitality, health, encumbrance,
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accuracy, detect, crack, and ammo. ("Crack" concerns a marine's
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ability to hack into a computer for floor plans: Omnitrend is not
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part of the drug trade.) Marine movement is effected by tracing a
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path from the current square to a destination square; general
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terrain, objects, and a marine's available movement points will have
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an effect on what constitutes a legal destination square. Since
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you're likely to find the 3-D movement tricky at first, either the
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map cursor or the grid (both of which can be toggled) will help
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out.
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Icons control the arming of weapons, placement and detonation of
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remote explosive charges, opening of doors, use of shafts to reach
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other levels, and the taking and using of objects, as well as the
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selection of the next marine and the next round of play. You can
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read mission orders and briefings, and save a game in progress. At
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any time, the scale icon provides a wide-angle view of the terrain,
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with more terrain becoming visible with further movement. At
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Beginner skill level, all 3-D map terrain can be seen; at
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Experienced level, walls and closed doors prevent a full view.
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Speaking of terrain, there are walls, doors, shafts, control
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panels, computer terminals, stun fields, transporters, bodies of
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water, grass, jungle, forests, and vegetation. Objects include
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datapacks, rocket launchers, grenades, shields, stun pistols, slave
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workers, medical kits, explosive charges, and crack units. Opponents
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include marauders, aliens, terradons, gun emplacements, tanks, and
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robots.
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Other than text entry at the Assignment Screen, B2 is completely
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mouse-controlled; there are equivalent keystrokes if you prefer the
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keyboard. Clicking on the icons invokes the appropriate routines,
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sometimes by way of a list of options. The "F6" function key toggles
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the map cursor; "F7" toggles the 9x9 terrain grid.
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With the scenario builder, you can manipulate every aspect of a
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scenario: from the layout and appearance of a landscape, to the
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types of objects and opponents, to the text of a mission briefing.
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While the excellent graphics and the ease of using a mouse make the
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B2 construction set more visual than most, it's no different from
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any other construction set: Creative thought prior to actually
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building a scenario will have better results.
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The game package comes with an instruction manual and unprotected
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program and scenario disks that can be backed up on floppies or
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installed on a hard drive. There is a documentation check. Also
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included are order blanks for Omnitrend and Modern Day Publishing
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scenario disks.
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The 3-D graphics of BREACH 2 are excellent; all terrain features
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and game objects look more or less like their real-real or
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imaginary-real counterparts. The multi-level compounds are
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labyrinths of rooms and walkways, and you can't always be certain
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where a transporter will send you. Animation is smooth, fast, and
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nicely done, the digitized sounds (screams, explosions, laser zaps)
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are used sparingly, and all graphic and control elements are
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integrated in a most comprehensible way. The 3-D map and the need to
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move nine marines around it may seem awkward at first, but the more
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you play, the easier it all becomes.
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While BREACH 2 might or might not be "the next generation step in
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advanced role-playing combat," it is definitely a major improvement
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on the usual war/strategy epic. It makes fine, full use of the ST,
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and it does so without the film graphics, slick animation, or
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special sound effects that usually just clog up the machine. The ten
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B2 scenarios, those available from other sources, and those you can
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construct with the builder will keep your brain engaged and your
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wits entertained for many days to come.
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Also of note is RULES OF ENGAGEMENT, a space-fleet CRPG that will
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link with BREACH 2 to form part of Omnitrend's Interlocking Game
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System. B2 scenarios can be entered into RULES for completion.
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You'll be able to play RULES without B2, although both games
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together become one huge space epic. Omnitrend is a small company
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that cheerfully supports the ST with meaty, competent, unpretentious
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programs, and ST users should respond in kind. BREACH 2 is an
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excellent place to start, if you haven't already.
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BREACH 2 is published and distributed by Omnitrend Software.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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