Remote Assault

RA takes place far into the future and basically presents another American Civil War with the North and South battling it out. (This time the North includes Canada! We’d never let that happen!) Nothing shattering in the plot department but it is a good setting.

RA is a wargamer’s version of Heaven. For a neophyte like me, I spent some time in purgatory before I could fully appreciate the game. Reading through the manual provided enough clues that I might be in over my head. "They want me to think? Really think? I’m in trouble," I said getting to the section covering "AI and Behavior." I installed RA and dug right in.

There are no flashy intro FMV cutscenes or metal music tracks to get to the options screen. First off, the option screen is very easy to navigate, change settings, etc. and you can be jump right into a scenario in under 20 seconds. I tried that and it didn’t work – I failed the mission faster than a speeding mortar. I headed to the Tutorial Campaign and spent the next hour and a half getting a handle on things.

HT255, and MLRS, what their armaments are, how fast they can move over specific terrains, their firing range, etc. can be daunting. Fortunately, this is alleviated to some extent by the interface (which lets you view their stats with a minimum of fuss).

The interface can make or break a strategy game such as RA. There’s been a tremendous effort to make it easy to use and intuitive. But I do recommend learning the keyboard short cuts, especially if you forget about the "pause" button. There is one innovation (I call it an innovation because I’m used to a different style of RTS) presented with the interface: an extremely useful view function. You can easily set up to ten viewing areas, which you can be accessed at the press of a button. It limits the amount of scrolling terrain you have to watch trying to get from point A to point B. You can still click on the overhead tactical map and get there but it’s just easier to hit a key and be there instantly. The Tutorial Campaign is very good – giving the ins and outs of all the functions available, including unit behavior. There are several factors involved in unit behavior and they can all be modified (on the single unit, squad and group levels), including Stealth, Ammo Preserve, Self Preserve, and Caution Level. For example, boosting the Stealth levels will make your units take the path least likely to attract attention – even if they have to take massive detours. You’ll always know where they’re going since their path is clearly drawn out, as are their lines of sight when attacking. It’s also possible to have your group move in formation such as columns and wedges. Most of the unit movement occurs in groups or squads but it’s possible to give commands to a single unit. And bringing up stats for each group is simple, and necessary because you have to watch their ammo levels. They can replenish their ammo by a quick visit to a resupply vehicle – be warned though, even the resupply vehicles can run out of ammo. Most everything can be accomplished with the mouse, but to be successful I’d suggest learning the keyboard shortcuts.

Gameplay – tons. Some battles can be long, drawn-out affairs, which is more often due to the excessive use of the pause function in order to plan more effective attacks and issue orders. There’s a slider bar that controls the game speed. Setting it lower than 1 makes the game play like you’re experiencing stop motion animation, setting it to 2 (doubling the default speed) makes issuing orders and coordinating attacks impossible without suffering huge loses. The enemy AI, as the manual says, "doesn’t cheat." I never noticed the AI cheating. I had units hiding behind trees in preparation for an ambush and the enemy units didn’t notice them because they couldn’t see them. However, the helicopter it sent over the trees did notice and the area was quickly suppressed with artillery fire. Line of sight and terrain elevation is very important! There are two campaigns and more than 10 single skirmishes (more than 30 missions) to test yourself against. And then, if you can find a human opponent, you can also play a head-to-head match via the Internet or LAN.

Graphically, RA isn’t a slouch but it’s no Emperor: Battle for Dune or MechCommander 2. (Although the camera control is similar. Hopefully you’ve got a wheel mouse by now.) Considering that the bulk of RA was developed by one guy, Brian Gantt, I’m willing to let this slide. The environments are solid and they are completely 3D as are the units. You can also differentiate between them, so there isn’t a lot of confusion. Explosions, smoke screens, and water all complement the experience. Although, there are some weird quirks if you set the graphic resolution to 800x600, like being able to pan out to infinity, turning the battlefield to little more than a speck.

There are some downsides to RA, mostly because it reminds me of mowing the lawn – you know that it will make your yard look better and you could use the exercise, but it’s so much easier to go to the beach. I’m not saying that RA is work, but you should be prepared to really exercise your brain. There’s no mid-mission save feature either so don’t bother looking for one. And if you want RA you’re going to have to visit Shrapnel Games to get it since it’s not available through retail. This somewhat limits chances for head-to-head matches, but if you can find an opponent there’s some good fun there too.

In the end, this is a game for the converted (i.e. already into the deep gameplay style of wargaming) and those that are looking for something new in their RTS games while not demanding the highest production values.

- Omni

One More Thing:

Just after this review was written a missive came through from Shrapnel Games "that certain non supported video cards (ie like Voodoo 2, where 3dfx has gone under) are having display issues with the textures in Remote Assault."  The problem doesn't kill the game, just makes the units look rotten.  They are working on a fix. (Never saw this problem as I've got an ATI card.)