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Updated November 20, 2004
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Troopers
(Aspect Productions)
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
"Realism is the Name of the Game!"
War can be an ugly, ugly thing. But when the
enemy has you cornered and the only measure left is a counter-attack, it's
up to the troopers to cover the land, survey the territory, and take out
enemy troops, no matter how outnumbered or dangerous the mission has become.
This is to the time to turn the tide; manipulate
up to three squads and plan a rigorous military campaign, strafing past
enemy lines, passing through rivers and forests, and aiming to take out
as many enemy soldiers as you can.
Game
Review
Graphics
(n.)
The
use of animation and visual effects to stimulate the senses |
vvvv
(Very
Good) |
Beautiful. Troopers
is an example of how a great-looking tileset can really increase the quality
of a game if it's used correctly; each map made by Aspect Productions is
fairly intricate in detail, showing landscape that are laid out for aesthetic
as well as practical reasons, with neither flicker or any other graphic
problem in sight.
As for the animations,
Troopers pays attention to the subtle details. The soldiers are well-animated,
walking on foot and swimming on flowing water according to where you take
them. Other effects, which are exclusive to war-type games, include the
rotting of corpses as soldiers are hit to the ground. If you wait long
enough, you can watch your fallen comrades deteriorate.
While the package
overall is impressive, Troopers could use just a little more firepower
when it comes to special effects, especially in relation to weapons. Explosions,
which is so common to modern warfare, don't occur in this game at all.
This and other details that could bring the overall atmosphere of the game
closer to a real war could not only help the graphics score, but potentially
help the sound/music score as well. |
Sound/Music (n.)
The
smooth blend of atmospheric sounds and original harmonies |
vvv
(Good) |
The sound overall
is okay, but the sound effects need work. While Troopers features BWSB-backed
music and sound effects, the sound effects chosen don't live up to the
war setting this game conveys. The game needs a little more atmosphere
somehow, whether it be through jungle sound effects or through in-game
music. To make matters worse, rifle fire sounds like popcorn popping. |
Gameplay (n.)
The
precision of control and involvement of character within its universe |
vvv
(Good) |
In the tradition
of the 16-bit days, Troopers is a one-player military strategy game that
concentrates on the battle aspect of an RTS. The game is stage-driven,
meaning you're given new terrain, a preset number of troops, and an objective
to accomplish (usually killing all enemy troopers on the map).
To move and attack
with your men, Troopers make excellent use of the mouse. Control is very
simple. Clicking with the left mouse button will direct all the troops
in your squad to the position clicked. Press the right mouse button and
all the troops in your squad will fire at the point selected. It's a combination
of this strategy and the ability to switch trooper squads by clicking the
appropriate tab at the left of the game screen that will allow you to take
out as many enemy soldiers as possible.
As a military game,
the expandability of weapons and items in Troopers is fairly limited. Your
only weapon is the rifle, which gradually increases in accuracy and range
depending on the rank of your trooper (troopers raise in rank for each
level they survive). As for items, health items aren't necessary because
your troopers are killed instantly by a single gunshot.
Besides this, other
examples of realism abound in Trooper's gameplay. You can't move a little
slower and can't move while moving through water. You also have to pay
careful attention to terrain and battle movement, using the move to strafe
behind hills or trees, where you can be safe from enemy fire. Even enemy
soldiers behave realistically to some extent; their accuracy isn't perfect,
but they will chase you around if you're seen, and even gang up on you
when you put yourself in bad position. They won't however, shoot upon hearing
rifle fire or continue to chase you if you've travelled far enough from
their starting point. |
Story (n.)
The
creativity and presentation of the game's critical plot |
v
(Poor) |
While there isn't
anything in print, the setup of Troopers is enough to allow one story point.
Multiple trooper and squad names, along with some well-timed text and mission
briefings, help paint the picture of a complicated military operation. |
Replay Value (n.)
The
timelessness of the gamer's delight, such that the experience can be repeated
again and again |
vv
(Average) |
Average. This early
version of Troopers lacks in game levels, but the gameplay is good enough
that it isn't much of a problem. However, the lack of a save feature really
hurts Troopers, especially since a few of the situations on the map require
a little bit of luck to get through. If Aspect Productions intends to add
more game levels (which I bet he will), a save feature for a stage-based
RTS like this one is a must. |
Challenge (v.)
To
strike the mental nerve in such a way as to stimulate human thought and
reflexes |
vvvv
(Very
Good) |
You can't pump up
your troops in this real-time strategy game. Like the single-player mode
of a Warcraft game, you're given a limited number of military units at
the beginning of the stage, and you have to overtake the opposing army
with what you have. And in these scenarios, the enemy almost always outnumbers
you by a vast amount.
Troopers requires
good positioning and a quick pull of the trigger. Luckily, your line of
sight is a lot better than your enemy, and in general enemy soldiers won't
be startled unless you're within firing range. Use this to your advantage
by sneaking up to the weakest link in a clump of soldiers; take out the
front line, and repeat gradually until the entire enemy unit is down. |
Fun Factor (n.)
The
overall entertainment value as maintained throughout the adventure |
vvvv
(Very
Good) |
Troopers is not
fun because somebody will look at the game and say "Oh my gosh! I never
thought QB could do this!"-- QB games have evolved enough that it would
be pretty tough to surprise anybody with something they couldn't conceive
the language to do. But Troopers is a great-looking game and the fun factor
is authentic-- it's been a while since I've had so much fun clicking a
mouse in a QB game. I only wish Aspect Productions could add a few more
weapons and some complicated mission objectives to the game's later levels.
People who aren't
really fans of real-time strategy games like WarCraft or Microsoft's "Age
of Empires" series needn't panic-- Troopers skips all of the economic army
setup stuff and goes straight to the military aspect of strategy games,
offering a sharp contrast to Piptol's QB strategy game Kingdoms, which
offers a lot of economic and diplomatic features and an auto-battle system.
While this lack of financial freedoms may lure away strategy game fans
who like economical aspects, wargamers and even arcade gamers who like
top-down shooters will find something to like about Troopers. Fans of the
Genesis game General Chaos in particular will flip out, as this QB game
actually takes that great classic one step further.
Troopers Reviewed
by Vance Velez |
Players |
1
player |
Genre:
Strategy Game |
Rating |
|
To solve: 3-5 hours Final Rating:
21/35 |
Download
To
download Troopers (315KB), click here.
wIf
you're unzipping this program in DOS, you may have to use the -d option.
wThis
game requires a 100% compatible Sound Blaster sound card. Make sure you
run "SETUP.EXE" to set the game's sound settings.
wAfter
changing the settings, to play Troopers, unzip the file and run "TROOPERS.EXE". |
Back to Strategy
Games Page |
Game
Summary
Coding
Group
Aspect
Productions
Genre
Strategy
Homepage
URL
N/A
E-mail
benbosco@hotmail.com
Players
1-player
Final
Rating
21
out of 35 points
The
Highs: Great graphics and fun factor make
Troopers one of the best mouse-driven games QB we've ever seen.
The
Lows: The coding of the game could use
some stability. In every computer we've tested, Troopers has been prone
to hang.
V Planet! Archive
This is an archive of V Planet, circa November 2004, when the site was last active. This is read-only, and preserved here as part of the QB Zines Archive at Pete's QB Site.
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