Hacker Chronicles 2/HACKER2.BIN/1926.NORTH.REV

Text File | 1990-11-23 | 12KB | 193 lines

 NORTH AND SOUTH

 NORTH AND SOUTH is a French import that presents the U.S. Civil War from a
unique perspective: that of a popular Belgian comic strip. Given its origins,
it's not surprising that the game is hardly a serious simulation of those bloody
years. However, if you're not offended by a humorous depiction of that painful
conflict, nor turned off by arcade sequences, NORTH AND SOUTH is a surprisingly
enjoyable _divertissement_. (This review is based on the IBM-PC version; Atari
ST and Amiga version notes follow.)

 NORTH AND SOUTH can handle one or two players, with the main portion of the
game played out on an area map of the central and eastern portion of the United
States. For the most part, area boundaries correspond to state boundaries (some
of the smaller northeastern states are lumped together). The two sides maneuver
soldier icons (representing armies) across one map area per turn, each turn
representing a month. The objective is simple: Destroy all of the other side's
soldiers. This can be achieved only through pitched battles fought whenever an
army from one side is moved into an area occupied by an opposing army.

 Players may simply maneuver their armies to fight one another, but most efforts
will focus on the long rail line: It runs west from Pennsylvania to the Dakotas,
then south through Kansas to Texas, and finally east to Alabama. Along this line
are five forts. To obtain gold (needed to purchase new armies), you must
maintain a rail line between two of your own forts, which requires you to
control both forts and all of the territories in between. If you do this, you
will receive some bags of gold at the end of each turn; the quantity varies,
depending on the number of territories you control. Each five bags of gold is
automatically cashed in for a new army, which you must then place on one of the
territories through which the rail line runs.

 Players will direct much of their strategic efforts toward the rail line and
the five forts. The opposing player's forts can be captured by moving an army
into the territory containing the fort. The line can be blockaded by placing an
army in one of the territories the rail line must pass through between the
opponent's fort. This army is then given a chance to intercept the train as it
carries the gold for the opposing player at the end of a turn. If the
intercepting army is successful, the bags of gold are captured and placed in the
interceptor's vault.

 NORTH AND SOUTH offers two basic modes: strategy and arcade. Players who have
an aversion to arcade games will opt for the strategy mode, but will be
disappointed. In strategy mode, pitched battles are resolved internally by the
computer using a simple odds/ratio table. The results are modified based on the
difficulty level selected. All things being equal, the outcome of any battle is
a coin-toss, with a slight advantage awarded to the _attacker_ (contrary to the
reality of most Civil War conflicts).

 In the strategy mode, attacking enemy-held forts is resolved randomly, with the
player being given no opportunity to affect the results; ditto for intercepting
the train. Given the small map, and the randomness with which engagements are
resolved, most players will shun the strategy mode.

 Fortunately, NORTH AND SOUTH was really not designed to be played in the
strategy mode. In the arcade mode, players resolve battles, fort captures, and
train interceptions through different arcade sequences.

 Pitched battles are fought on a tactical map that reflects the terrain of the
area in which the battle occurs. Each side is given a small icon to maneuver for
each artillery piece, calvary unit, and infantryman present in its army.
Artillery can fire a long way with devastating results. However, it's slow, and
it can never move from the edge of the map. Calvary moves very quickly, but has
no ranged fire capability, rendering it vulnerable until it closes with opposing
forces. Infantry has powerful massed fire, but moves slowly and has little
range. Players switch between their three unit types, moving and firing them in
real-time. On most maps, there is a central bridge that must be crossed in order
to come to grips with the enemy. Battles tend to be frenetic, rather short
affairs with very high attrition.

 The fort capture sequence resembles that of many current scrolling background
arcade games. Your start your soldier at the far left of a long fort interior.
You must run to the right, overcoming enemy soldiers, guard dogs, and explosive
traps in order to reach the enemy's flag. If you do this before the time
expires, your soldier will lower the enemy flag, raise your own, and the fort is
then yours. If you fail, your army retreats to its originating territory, but
suffers no losses.

 The train interception is similar, but players run alongside a moving train
rather than a static fortress. Again, players start at the far left (the rear)
of the train and must make their way up to the front. Given the train's motion,
this sequence is somewhat harder than the fort sequence, though otherwise is
very similar.

 Play is controlled via joystick or keyboard during the arcade sequences. NORTH
AND SOUTH also allows you to re-map the keys used, a very handy option. Players
may toggle a variety of random events, including Indians, Mexicans, and storms;
these attrite or destroy armies at irregular intervals. European reinforcements
may be added, which gives the player who controls North Carolina (incorrectly
called South Virginia) an extra army every few months. This option tends to
dramatically impact strategies, while the other three are merely annoyances.

 You may also adjust the difficulty for each side. This allows less skilled
players to fight more or less evenly against more experienced players. The game
also offers four scenarios: 1861, 1862, 1863, and 1864. The number of armies and
their deployment varies between each one.

 NORTH AND SOUTH supports EGA/VGA (320x200x16), CGA (320x200x4), and Hercules
monochrome graphics modes. It requires 512K of RAM for PCs and compatibles, and
640K of RAM for Tandy 1000s. The game may be installed on a hard disk, but it
employs key-disk copy-protection (which is _not_ documented). Both the mouse and
the joystick are supported, as well as the keyboard. Note that even mouse users
_must_ use the keyboard for the arcade sequences. No sound boards are supported,
though good use is made of the PC's internal speaker.

 The rules for NORTH AND SOUTH caution that the game does not attempt to
"reconstitute history," but instead tries "to capture the overall strategic
conditions and atmosphere the Civil War." Frankly, even this last is dubious.
What NORTH AND SOUTH _really_ attempts to capture is the flavor of the Belgian
comic strip upon which it is based. Perhaps it succeeds at this, but without a
sample of the strip, it's hard to tell. At any rate, it's impossible to take the
historical accuracy of a game seriously when its rules claim that Richmond is in
Maryland!

 For all of this, I found NORTH AND SOUTH to be surprisingly enjoyable. The
arcade sequences are fairly simple, with the pitched battles being the most
interesting. The graphics are serviceable, but not nearly as sharp in EGA as the
Amiga screen shots on the box. The strategy mode is unsatisfactory, but the
arcade mode is fun. However, with only three simple arcade sequences (two of
which are virtually identical), the game could quickly wear out its welcome. As
an occasional diversion, however -- especially with two human players -- NORTH
AND SOUTH can easily provide a lot of fun.

 ATARI ST VERSION NOTES

 The Atari ST version of NORTH AND SOUTH plays much like the IBM version
described above. Why the Belgians have any interest in our Civil War (much less
the desire to make a comic strip out of it) is a silly question best answered by
the Belgians; this game is silly enough. The ST version requires a color monitor
and a 720K disk drive. Single-sided disks are not now and never will be
available. NORTH AND SOUTH (and DRAKKHEN) are Data East's final releases for the
ST; fortunately, both are worth purchasing.

 The graphics of this version are a bit more serviceable than those on the PC.
They're bright and colorful; the characters are wonderfully drawn and even more
wonderfully animated -- Infogrames is tops at creating realistic animation. The
digitized sound effects are silly, always appropriate, and never overwhelming.

 In a two-player game, either player can use the joystick, an option that is set
at the Main menu. The NORTH AND SOUTH package comes with one 720K disk that is
copy-protected, and an instruction manual for all versions.

 Stuart's assessment above (that N&S is a pleasant diversion) is accurate.
Strategy is minimal, at best, and there are only three arcade sequences. Still,
N&S is perfectly programmed and assembled, funny to watch and listen to, and
great fun to play -- even if it is just a diversion. The characters are
humorously exaggerated, as are their actions. You probably won't want to play it
all the time. It can't be considered a major package, but it's useful as a break
from all the serious cockpit simulations and important martial-arts epics
currently hogging the software racks.

 AMIGA VERSION NOTES

 You may not be tempted to duck for cover when your opponent fires a cannon
blast in NORTH AND SOUTH, but it might be a good idea to make sure there's empty
space beneath your computer desk just in case you do decide to hunker down.
That's how great the sound effects are in the Amiga version of NORTH AND SOUTH,
an arcade and strategy game based on the Civil War. This delightful conversion
is made even more enjoyable by the fact that the programmers took full advantage
of all the Amiga's sound and graphics capabilities.

 For those who own both IBM and Amiga machines, this version is definitely the
format of choice for NORTH AND SOUTH. The sound effects are almost too numerous
to list -- from a dog barking, to an alarm clock going off, to men crying, to
sleepy Indians suddenly awaking and zapping one of your soldiers. You can hear
your troops' horses whinny as they're about to be ridden off of a bridge, and
there is a sweet clunk when one of your troops lands in the water.

 The visuals also are impressive. Apparently, they outstrip the graphics in the
IBM version; the tipoff is that the screen shots on the back of the game box are
from the Amiga.

 None of these comments is designed to take a knock at the IBM edition. But the
Amiga counterpart clearly represents a better value because of its enhanced
graphics and sounds. However, there is at least one source of frustration here:
Although the Amiga supports two joysticks, the program allows for only one. This
means that in the two-player mode, one player must use the keyboard, usually
putting that player at a disadvantage.

 Also, the game has on-disk copy protection, so backups cannot be made. This is
a potential problem, because Data East offers only a limited 90-day warranty,
and makes no provision for replacing a defective disk (even for a modest fee)
after the 90-day period has expired; extra care must be taken to safeguard the
disk. NORTH AND SOUTH runs on A500s, A1000s, and A2000s; A1000 owners must have
Kickstart 1.2 or 1.3.

 Overall, NORTH AND SOUTH looks and plays terriffic on the Amiga. It's a great
addition to any collection of parent-child gaming products.

 NORTH AND SOUTH is published by Infogrames and distributed by Data East.

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS [phone]