Developer: One Games, Inc.
Publisher: Shrapnel Games
Reviewed by Cat91 on 10/24/01

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First Impressions:

Graphics:

I generally expect low-end graphics from Shrapnel's designers. Games from these guys tend to emphasize game play at the expense of eye candy. RA follows that tradition, however, its fully-3D graphics are a cut above what I generally expect from a small independent developer, despite being limited to 800x600 resolution. In-game, a toolbar at the top of the screen allows full panning of the view camera in all aspects. The look of the game is similar to MechCommander 2 in many ways, though players will have to use the interface controls to pan the camera unless they have a current generation mouse. When action gets hot and heavy, and it does in RA, this view system can be counterintuitive and clumsy until the gamer gets used to it. However, the game graphics look nice: maps are full of roads, hills, and trees, and all are in glorious 3D. Explosions are crisp and bright, as shown in the exclusive screenshots at right. On a mid-range system, they should run crisply and smoothly; the game does require DirectX 7 to operate.

The game is set in 2063 during a long civil war in the Southern U.S., and the colors tend to be drab, dark, post-apocalyptic palettes that add to the mood. The units are fully articulated: take a look at the Multiple Launch Rocket System firing in the screenshots. The missile racks will elevate and turn, much like actual MLRS firing units currently in U.S. Army service. Firing rockets and missiles looks like just that: the MLRS battery reminds me greatly of the real thing, which I saw being tested at Fort Bragg in 1987 before its adoption. Artillery includes self-propelled 155 mm guns that I found similar to the Paladin self-propelled howitzer, which is also currently in Army service. Two or three of those will lay down a suppression barrage halfway across the game map, and if the enemy is being observed by reconnaissance vehicles, the fire is deadly accurate. The scene looks a lot like a World War I movie as the artillery rains down. It's not state of the art, but it's good, and should run cleanly on a wide range of systems.

Sound/Music:

Again, these are middle of the road. Artillery sounds muffled: I'd have expected a sharp "boom" rather than the "boomf" that sounds more like a 40 mm grenade launcher than a heavy cannon. The units talk back to you in standard RTS radio chatter, but it seems that in 2063 only men are fighting...it seems the Army of the future has no place for women in the front lines. Machine gun chatter sounds much better by comparison, as do helicopter sounds.

Gameplay:

This, as usual for Shrapnel's efforts, is the high point in the game. This one was bug-free in Windows 2000, at least for me; few other games can stand up and say that. It ships with a large number of training missions that are not voice-overed, but they do explain in exhaustive detail how to operate the interface and get the most out of your units. These include light, medium, and heavy tanks, both rocket and cannon artillery, attack helicopters, armored cars in reconnaissance, anti-aircraft, mortar carrier, and anti-tank variants, and an odd all-terrain walker called a "Remote Assault Biped." This last is a dog-legged walking robot that has anti-tank, anti-aircraft, mortar carrier, sniper, and scout variants, and is used similarly to infantry in other games. While not entirely original (see the aforementioned MechCommander series), it is interesting and fun. The ones armed with anti-tank rockets will sneak out of forested areas and pound even the heaviest tanks before you can get them taken out; no other units can enter forests. The best way I've found to deal with light anti-tank rocket equipped vehicles and walkers is to use helicopters-in the game, as only dedicated anti-aircraft units apparently can take out helos. It's easy to pick up the basics of unit movement and control, and one can control single units, squads, and groups of squads with just a few clicks of the mouse. Once the armchair commander has two or three missions under the belt, he or she will be moving fire teams like an old pro.

Speaking of infantry, RA has none, and that's one of its weak points, as is the apparent fact that machine gun-equipped vehicles can't take on helicopters. Further, air support is limited to helicopters alone: there is no A-10 or its equivalent in RA. This is offset by the variety of artillery that's present and accounted for, and with 155 mm and MLRS support, along with the mortars equipped on lighter vehicles and walkers, close air support won't be much missed. The missing infantry is another story. It's hard to believe that in 2063 the military doctrine of Vertical Envelopment with helicopter Airmobile forces or parachute infantry will be a thing of the distant past, and that in my mind hurts RA's tactical breadth. Also missing from the otherwise plentiful multiplayer elements of the game is the ability to play cooperatively. For many, this will also be missed. Finally, along with the missing infantry is the fact that there are no mines in the game-an interesting oversight since the game is about fighting vehicles and creative use of minefields will act to funnel the enemy into killing zones. MechCommander 2 is a great example of how one can use minefields to effect.

One RTS from the past that my husband and I still play often is Eidos Games' Warzone 2100, and it combines many of the elements I missed in RA. Warzone is also set in the distant future, and has an infantry unit called a "cyborg" that can be air-transported. We play cooperatively, and it's always fun for IceWolf to pin the enemy down in front with tanks while I air-assault cyborgs into his rear area. I also enjoy constructing a forward area resupply point for vertical takeoff and landing aircraft to conduct air strikes, either for close support of IceWolf's engaged tanks, or for strategic strikes on the enemy's factories. Cyborg warriors can drop in and conduct Special Forces-type raids on selected high priority targets.

However, the majority of modern day RTS gamers I've corresponded with prefer vehicles over grunts, and for the wannabe tank general, RA is full of the best and most often requested features in RTS gaming. Brian Gantt, the principal designer, is himself a frustrated RTS gamer, and designed RA with the features he missed in other offerings topmost in his mind.

Thanks to Mr. Gantt's attention to these details, the game does well what it intends to do. An area that consistently brings bad press on RTS games in general is artificial intelligence. Bad AI makes for a boring game. In RA, the computer player is a cut above the rest. Particularly for the human player, there are several varieties of AI she can select, from aggressive to cautious to caution-to-the-wind, and about anything in between. Further, AI scripts can be edited by the player in-game, and therefore provide a nearly unlimited and customizable variety. The only weakness in the default computer-driven AI I've seen is the computer's reluctance to withdraw when it's under fire. The computer's units will take an artillery battering and never move out of the free-fire zone, and its light units will stand and fight when confronting your tanks at short range-in the screenshots at right you can see what happens when anti-tank walkers stand and fight medium tanks when they're out of missiles. I'm surprised to see no mission editor in RA: Shrapnel Games usually provides one for gamers, and if that were present the user could rectify the faults in the basic AI by user-tuning in the editor to suit his or her own preferences. It would really be good to see one released with a future update of the game-this would add immensely to its longevity. But its faults aside, this is a very good RTS game aimed squarely at the dedicated modern-day war gamer.

Enjoyment:

I like this game. It makes no pretense of being all things to all people, but Brian Gantt will tell you right up front that games from RTS greats like Sid Meier of Gettysburg and Civilization fame were his primary role models in the design of Remote Assault. That shows in RA, readers. Its game play is solid and it provides a satisfyingly bug-free, quickly-learned and fast-paced tactical combat game for the mid-level to hardcore audience.

Multiplayer:

Not tested. The Readme indicates the following: "Remote Assault supports play by two people over the internet or a LAN. To play over the internet, the side playing as the client must know the IP address of the person playing as the host. Your IP address can be obtained by running the winipcfg program that comes with windows. To do this click on the start menu, select run, type in winipcfg and hit enter. Note if you are using a dial up connection your IP address will likely change each time you log on to your ISP. The host can send the client their IP address by e mail or by instant messaging such as ICQ."

Overall Impression:

While not as detailed as Shrapnel's offerings from luminaries such as Patrick Proctor (of Brigade Combat Team fame), Remote Assault is good at what it does, and provides an engaging, fun experience. It models combined arms action very well. It's worth the $40 price of admission. If it had a mission editor, it'd really be worth the money. Eye candy is not everything: we've all seen poser RTS titles that promise the moon and beautiful graphics, but in actuality have game play that boots them to the shelf in hours. You won't get that here. You'll play RA for awhile, if you like squad-tactical action games.

Marketing Efforts Towards Women:

Well, I'd say that One Games isn't aware that women play these things. The total lack of women's voices in the combat team radio chatter sort of gives that away. I get that a lot. A couple of years back, when I corresponded with Keith Zabaloui (the creator of Close Combat), he was blown away that a woman was even interested in his game! I got much the same reaction from Richard Arnesen at Shrapnel when I corresponded with him regarding Steel Beasts when it first came out.

To its credit, however, Shrapnel has realized that women are out here playing war games and we in the WomenGamers.Com combat flight department (all one of us *giggle*) hear from them regularly when they get a new title. In fact, I'm looking at a couple of others from them you'll be seeing in weeks to come. Let's hope the news filters down to Shrapnel's development houses as time goes on. You WomenGamers readers out there can help get women war gamers noticed: hop over to their site and check out the offerings. If you're into real time strategy, give one of them a go: you won't regret it.