Force 21

By Peter Eley


Force 21

* * *

Red Storm

PC

$99.95 (M15)


In 1992 an American military think tank was set up to look at the future of war.

Known as Force 21 (for 21st century), it conducts a huge, ongoing war game at the United States Army's Fort Hood facility.

One theory is that future land wars will be carried out by small, high-tech tactical units. Red Storm has based this game around that premise.

Force 21 is set in 2015. China has invaded the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan to bolster its economic expansion.

The United States rushes to contain them, and the stage is set for the Third World War.

You can choose either side: the United States with its superior technology, or China with its huge amounts of troops and resources.

If you think it sounds like Command & Conquer with a PhD, you're not far wrong. It's a cross between a real-time strategy game and a war simulation.

And that does create a conflict: it's much harder than a typical RTS such as Tiberian Sun, and not as in-depth as a good war game like TalonSoft's Eastern Front.

But don't be totally put off. It's a nice game to look at and takes the standard RTS a bit further, especially in terms of realism.

Required: Pentium 200 with a 3-D video card and 32MB Ram.

* Send your comments e-mail to peter_eley@herald.co.nz