Roadwar 2000 [rétrograde]

Nous étions extérieur juste de Pittsburgh quand les mutants ont attaqué.

Nous les avions vus équeutage nous depuis le C.C. ? Bien, senti leur plus que vu, vous savez comme ce que sont les mutants. ? Ils ont sélectionné outre de trois de nos escortes dans la première vague, mais puis nos commandos et gardes du corps ont-ils apporté leur puissance de feu pour soutenir, et les avons-nous détachées. ? Ils nous ont seulement attrapés parce que nous avions perdu deux de notre nord juste de voitures de sport de hardtop de Bethesda, où une certaine anté troupe locale de penny obtenue chanceuse avec quelques projectiles sur nos pneus. ? Heureusement, Pittsburgh est la ville en acier, et avons-nous compensé les pertes par le boulonnage sur l'armure à notre autobus à une fonderie. ? Nous avons également trouvé quelques véhicules de construction. ? Ceux viendront dans maniable pour transporter nos approvisionnements. ? Il prend beaucoup de nourriture et d'essence de garder une troupe comme le mobile de coureurs de rhum, et nous avons beaucoup de chemin à faire avant que nous obtenions aux ruines de Chicago.

Roadwar 2000 est un jeu de stratégie qui emprunte les piégeages du Maximum fou and Road Warrior movies to simulate life and combat in a post-nuclear apocalypse United States (or, in the case of Roadwar Europa, a post-nuclear apocalypse Europe).? It’s a world where abandoned cars, guns, and ammo are plentiful — and death is just around every corner.

Life in Roadwar is nasty, brutish, and short.? Every turn you can decide to move (if you have sufficient fuel), or search for loot, vehicles, or people.? The people you meet might be weak refugees, willing to join you in exchange for food, or they might be seasoned gangsters, eager to either join or kill you.? Every possible stereotype has been thrown into the blender here, and it works well.? Mutants, Communist invaders, born-again Christians, Satanists, renegade National Guardsmen, and other groups all pick on the corpse of a devastated continent.

Your job is to survive, and as they say, the best defense is a good offense.? As you travel around the country, you’ll acquire vehicles and gang members, and even take over a few towns if you’re lucky.? Become strong enough, and you may be contacted by a secret underground network, the remains of the legitimate government.? They want you to … well, that would be telling.? Let’s just say you’ll want to stock up on gasoline.

The graphics are serviceable but sparse ? think Ultima II ? and the user interface is daunting, one of those “a different letter for every function” approaches that dominated the mid-80’s.? Print out a reference card from the internet and keep it near your keyboard.? Complicating matters is that the game offers not one but three different systems for resolving car-to-car combat.? There’s a full-on turn based tactical combat (similar to Steve Jackson Games’ Car Wars).? There’s also “quick combat”, which is somewhat faster and requires fewer decisions, and “abstract combat” which is even faster and requires no input at all.? Early in the game, you get a bonus for winning a full tactical battle (your gang can manage an additional car), so it’s worth going for the gusto.

For being so hard to beat, Roadwar 2000 is wonderfully approachable.? It has a wonderful setting (Fallout fans will feel right at home) and crisp, if sometimes arbitrary gameplay.? It’s not for everyone, but I have been playing Roadwar 2000 off-and-on for 20 years now, and I don’t think I’ll be stopping anytime soon.? If you’re handy with an emulator and willing to get your hands dirty, give Roadwar 2000 or Europa a try.

Roadwar 2000 and Roadwar Europa by SSI, for Amiga, Apple II, Apple II GS, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS.? Occasionally available on eBay.