*Because units automatically report all new sightings, often the first indication you have of a unit arriving at a destination is an “Unidentified grunts approaching from the SW”-type message from another unit in the area. In RC at least as much effort goes into answering the question “WTF is going on out there?”. In most computer wargames you spend the vast majority of your time attempting to outthink and outmanoeuvre the foe. In veteran mode - by far the most demanding and rewarding way to play - units sometimes get lost or misread map coordinates. Even then it's possible you may end up with a misleading tactical picture. To keep tabs on US units it's necessary to transmit regular position requests, constantly monitor spontaneously generated spotting reports*, and manually adjust the chits on the annotatable map. We've grown accustomed to not knowing where our enemies are in digital battle sims, but not knowing exactly where friendlies are – a central plank of RC – remains startling. When issuing instructions requires real effort, inevitably you find yourself considering those instructions carefully, and reflecting on the real process of command as you do. As Peter Turcan's creations proved thirty years ago, there's something to be said for an unapologetically awkward orders system. *There is an option to input coordinates by clicking on the map, and shortcuts for mission-defined locations like bases.Īlthough a lazy part of me baulked at these digit-wearying mechanics at first, the resentment quickly passed. First I cursor where it says ECHO PLATOON then I dab ORDER followed by MOVE, type in or mouse-wheel the coordinates of the clearing*, choose a rate of travel (normal, cautious, or double-time) and finally press SEND. Let's say I want to send echo platoon north to a heli-friendly clearing two klicks away. In practise, most players, initially at least, will probably opt to use the rather laborious order menus in the GUI. In theory these instructions could be barked into a real microphone. In RC you move your warriors and war machines about and check their status by sending them instructions via a virtual radio set. Units that always know precisely where they are? AWOL. Counters that fill screen panels with helpful data when selected? AWOL. Cartography sprinkled with counters that automatically move when the units they represent move? AWOL. The Polish studio has transformed a fairly primitive 'RTT' (Real-Time Tactical) game with a disappointingly short (nine missions) and failure-intolerant campaign into an uncommonly engaging command sim simply by removing most of the labour-saving conveniences forty years of computer wargaming has conditioned us to expect. Ho Chi Minh kicking seven shades of sherbet out of a blind busker outside Tottenham Court Road tube station on a wet Thursday morning in October.Ī competively priced (circa £15) turnless Vietnam War wargame, Serious Sim's daring debut effort would be very ordinary were it not for its spectacularly unhelpful maps, acute musophobia, and brave if not always entirely successful storytelling. It's John Wayne dressed as a coelacanth conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. It's arriving at the firing range and finding all the rifles in bits at the bottom of treacle barrels. Radio Commander is a lit thunderflash tossed through a barracks doorway at two in the morning.
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