Toy soldiers at its best (Cannon Fodder)

Member Name: ermintrude

Product:	Cannon Fodder
Date:	10/08/00 (146 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Downright playable; excellent graphics/sound; good learning curve

Disadvantages: A bit controversial?

Cannon Fodder is, quite simply, one of the most playable and addictive games I ever played on the Amiga. From the cartoony-yet-realistic feel of the graphics to the extremely intuitive control system, even the way sounds fade in and out according to how close you are to their source - everything was put together incredibly well and shows how much thought went into the game.

The premise of the game is that you guide your litte troop of soldiers through a series of increasingly tricky missions: in the jungle, arctic and desert, among other locations, picking up weapons, jumping into all kinds of vehicles, and of course blowing up the blue (enemy) guys at every opportunity. Things can get incredibly complex as you send half your troop off to go and bagsie a skidoo, while the others sneak up on the enemy and bazooka them to smithereens, but there's always a nice sense of satisfaction when you accomplish your little mission.

This pride is sadly often tinged by the loss of one or more of your troop members. All the soldiers have names (despite looking almost identical), and gain rank for completing missions successfully. It really is heartbreaking to suddenly lose an original team member (probably because you walked them over a mine or something equally stupid) and see their gravestone appear on the game's "Boot Hill". The sadness is not diminished by the fact that the game's authors were evidently running out of names as they got further down the list of soldiers, and replacements for Colonel Bob and Lieutenant Steve might have names like Prawn and Cheese.

As the missions get harder, you get better and better weaponry and vehicles. The first time you use the bazooka, you find yourself grinning inanely... until bits of whatever you blew up land on one of your guys. You soon learn where to stand. The helicopter is tricky but satisfying once you master it, and the skidoo is damn good fun, although it has a lethal ability to
skid out of control and kill your entire troop by sinking in the icy waters of the Arctic.

In fact, the learning curve is never too steep with this game, which is one of its main strengths - there's usually chance to practice with new firepower or wheels in a non-critical situation, and by the time you come to rely on it, you've got it sussed. The levels get gradually craftier as well, with more and more hidden snipers, near-invisible mines, and booby traps disguised as baby seals, among other things.

Gore is everywhere, as you would expect in a game like this. You often have to shoot bad guys twice, as they sometimes lie writhing on the ground, bleeding and going "argh" after one shot. This can apply to your own team members too. Dead guys in the river float downstream, which is a particularly, um, realistic touch. This sort of thing got the game much bad publicity when it was released, such as claims of glorifying war, and there was some hoo-ha with the Royal British Legion over the use of a poppy. However, I don't want to get into that whole debate - Cannon Fodder is a damn fine, fun, addictive game, and that's really all I care about.

Summary: