Well for one thing, the world would certainly be a better place without it, but let's face it, it sure makes for some great games. It's kind of funny actually, how simulations and games about what is easily one of the WORST legacies of mankind, can be just so darn much fun! The wonderful, imaginative world of computers has allowed me to experience many different aspects of war. In my 10 odd years of computer gaming I've flown strafing missions over occupied France, I've sat silently on the ocean floor in a submarine while enemy cruisers passed unsuspectingly overhead, and I've pulled negative G's in F15's and augured them cheerfully into the ground. But the common foot soldier, the lowest common denominator of war, has somehow gotten overlooked in the piles of combat software (and NO, the lame AMIGA conversion of Microprose's AIRBORNE RANGER doesn't even count).
And so it is with great pleasure that I present, CANNON FODDER. Developed by Sensible Software and distributed by Virgin, CANNON FODDER is a 1 player war game that mixes strategy and arcade shoot 'em up almost to perfection. CANNON FODDER comes on 3 disks which DO NOT install on a hard drive and are Disk Copy-Protected (aww, man!). It will run on any AMIGA with 1 meg of RAM. One nice feature of CANNON FODDER is it's ability to recognize any extra memory, which means shorter load times for eager little soldiers like myself. A blank floppy is required for saving your missions, and the program is nice enough to provide the player with some humorous entertainment while it formats the disk for you (Not exactly crucial to the game, but a nice touch).
The idea is a simple one. You begin with 360 eager(?), pimply-faced, young jar heads who are coldly ripped from boot camp and thrust into various aspects of ground warfare. 15 men are available for each mission, with any survivors carried over into the next mission. Eventually your supply of FODDER is exhausted, and the game ends. Game controls are extremely simple, as the entire game is totally mouse driven. You move your pointer around the screen, left button click moves your rifle-toting grunts to the pointer, right button click turns your pointer into a crosshair and troops open fire at it (ammunition is unlimited so boys, let 'em rip!). Other weapons such as grenades and rocket launchers may be picked up and used with a combination right and left button, but as these are rare items they must be used with different strategies, depending on mission requirements. Many missions have different vehicles to use such as tanks, choppers and snow buggies, and utilizing them is very easy.
The scenarios start out VERY easy and this gets you hooked right away, but the game's difficulty curve starts to kick in with each mission, and it doesn't take long for the game to get down right tricky. There are 24 missions in all, some of which are broken down into multiple phases. These missions are extremely difficult, as you cannot save your game until all phases of a mission are complete, leaving you with a pile of dead soldiers. There are 5 different climates to trudge your troops though to victory; Jungle, Arctic Wastes, Desert, Moors, and the Underground Base, each one with it's own set of problems for your gradually decreasing number of young sharpshooters. Soldiers go sliding around on the ice, they plummet into deep chasms, they get sucked into quicksand, and they must swim vast rivers; all the while trying to avoid an abundance of enemy bullets. Some missions are all out "if it moves...SHOOT IT!" gunfire extravaganzas, while many require unique strategies and stealth, with your soldier's (and weapons!) being divided up and sent in different directions. One nice feature is the fact that you can't shoot your own men by mistake (well, sometimes you can, I'll get to that later).
The game's graphics, sound effects and music are all top notch, and the animation (although very small) is superb. The sounds of rushing wind and trickling water, as well as snapping twigs and chirping birds, really add an atmosphere to the game. When you're sneaking up on an enemy bunker with your last sorry grunt with only one grenade left, listening to muffled gunfire off in the distance and the wind whistling by you, you can't help but feel a lump in your throat. As I've said, the animation is quite small, with your soldiers about the size of characters from games like "Lemmings" or "Populous" (a couple of my personal faves), but done remarkably well. You can actually see the weapons kick in their hands and many other nice details.
But despite all it's cuteness and fun, CANNON FODDER does have a gruesome side to it that should be taken into consideration before playing. Remember kids, this is a WAR game, and ground warfare is about as up close and personal as war gets. When you shoot down an enemy MIG in a Flight-Simulator, you don't actually see the pilots body as the plane plows into the ground. In CANNON FODDER, you see it all. Enemy soldiers lie bleeding on the ground, an occasional corpse goes drifting by in the rivers, and (if you are so inclined) you may pump rounds into a fallen soldier sending him skipping across the terrain. Sometimes your own wounded soldiers will lie wounded and shrieking, and it's up to you to do the right thing and "finish them off", lest they attract the enemy. Grisly stuff indeed, but that's what war is. Enemies in the piles of platform games out there simply "disappear" after being shot, but NOT in real war, and NOT in CANNON FODDER. AS Sensible Software points out in the game's manual, war is a senseless waste of human resources and lives. I couldn't agree more, but boy is this game fun!
CANNON FODDER is a killer of a game (sorry, you know me and bad puns), it's only real drawback being the rapidly increasing difficulty and high frustration level of the higher levels. Hard drive installation would have been nice, but that's something computer gamers have had to tolerate since the beginning. CANNON FODDER's simple game controls and great atmosphere make it a great addition to any game collection. As the catchy intro song says, "War has never been so much fun". Well, I'm off to see if I can flush out a few more enemy snipers before my bedtime. Ah, that's what I love about computer games; the high intensity action of the front lines, without leaving the safety and security of my comfy chair.
Dr. Torgo
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