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By Al Giovetti04/29/97
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Genre:flight simulator
Release:Summer 1997
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Publisher: Blue Byte Sofware
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Website: www.bluebyte.com
Requirements:486 DX 4/100, VESA compatible graphics card, Local Bus, 16 MB RAM, Double Speed CD ROM drive Recommended: 133 MHz Pentium , Hi-Color graphics card, PCI Bus, 16 MB RAM, SoundBlaster 16/AWE 32, Joystick, Pentium processors are fully supported
Extreme Assault
History
Blue Byte Software are the same guys that brought us Archemedian Dynasty, one of the most highly rated games of 1996. Blue Byte is emerging as one of the most respected independent developers and publishers with titles like Settlers and Settlers II and other hits. Extreme Assault continues in the tradition of high quality and fun games produced by Blue Byte.
Company Line
You're at the controls of a powerful 21st century attack helicopter. Cruising just above the tree tops, you see a military convoy down below. Maneuvering into position, you start blasting away with your laser cannon. Suddenly the aircraft is rocked by hostile fire from a lethal enemy helicopter!
Jamming the throttle forward you make a quick 180 and get your butt out of there. He gives chase, but with a few hot moves you shake him. You pull a 6g turn and go after him for some major pay-back. Firing one of the radar guided missiles, you blow the wimp into a thousand pieces!
You then spot an entrance into a mountain cave and charge right in. Flying through a network of underground tunnels, you fight-off swarms of vicious attackers. Landing at an industrial complex, you jump into your state of the art, heavily armed tank and start pulverizing everything in sight.
Your destructive efforts are cut short when rounds start slamming into your vehicle. Spinning around, you pound the offending tanks until they're history. Out of the corner of your eye, you catch a glimpse of a large strange vehicle just before it disappears into the darkness. Your heart racing, your hands sweating, you start down the corridor not knowing who or what waits around the next corner!
If you are looking for a good adrenaline rush, then you're sure to enjoy this intense action game from Blue Byte. Aliens have secretly set up operations on Earth and it's up to you to put a stop to their sinister plans. Blow `em away with your Sioux AH-23, a high tech attack helicopter, and the T1, the next generation battle tank.
Almost 20 different types of tenacious and cunning opponents will be gunning for you from the air and the ground. Increase your killing power and strengthen your defenses with bonuses found in secret passages and hidden rooms.
Experience awesome real time 3-D graphics as you journey through mountain ravines, subterranean caves, Inca ruins and underground alien complexes. This breathtaking, lifelike world will unfold before you smoothly and quickly, thanks to a highly advanced 3-D graphics engine that does not require any accelerator cards.
Aggressive game play and quick reflexes are required for the short, fast-paced missions. Simple controls means there's no time wasted learning complicated systems. Right from the start you'll be immersed in an intense, heart-pounding, action packed world of deadly beauty!
Game Play
Extreme assault has a more arcade like feel and less of a flight simulator, as the plot would seem to imply.
You choose whether to pilot a 21st century attack helicopter or drive the next generation battle tank. There are about 50 different scripted missions that are short and sweet, but filled with action. Missions are set in six enormous operation zones with diverse terrain, including underground caves, manmade tunnels, narrow canyons, deep volcanoes, tropical jungles and a frozen tundra.
Flight simulator games need a good number of views to increase the situational awareness in real life where pilots' heads swivel like Linda Blair. Extreme Assault has a new "Dynamic Cockpit View," where the point-of-view automatically changes, simulating realistic head movements in turns, climbs and descents. This new viewing system is expected to help improve the situationalawareness.
Each vehicle has three weapon systems, each with 9 different levels of complexity. Like an arcade game your vehicles can collect extra energy, weapons and ammunition to fortify your defenses and increase your destructive power, with powerups and weapons you collect from the battlefield.
Goof villians are essential to any computer game. Extreme assault has about 20 different opponents and one almost invincable and extremely lethal Boss (final opponent).
Plot
In the 21st century, a race of aliens has come to earth and established secret bases. You pilot either a futuristic tank or helicopter to travel to their bases and locations and wipe out the alien incursion.
Graphics
Extreme Assault sports stunning real time 3-D graphics that don't require any expensive 3-D accelerator cards, but may require a high speed pentium processor to get the full effect rather than the 486 minimum configuration that Blue Byte recommends. The terrain is higly detailed with a lot of work into the tiniest little things such as structures in addition to the ground itself. Unlike other flight simulators you will explore Inca ruins, underground alien bases, and go spelunking in caverns deep beneath the earth.
Like Origin's Crusader series, anything and everything that you see can be blown up. Laser burns appear on alien craft. Trees burst into flame when fired upon. Virtually everything is changed into slag when targetted and torched. The graphics use transparent effects seen in only the best graphic games, holograms, explosions and laser beams. Revolutionary 3-D technology to fit the horsepower of your system. You can choose from video resolutions of VGA 320X200 pixels in 256 colors all the way up to 640X480 pixels in 65,000 colors (Hi-Color, SVGA). Adjustable resolutions make the game playable on lower speed machines, but at the cost of most of the graphic detail.
Animation
The three dimensional environment is fully animated and scrolls smoothly as your attack chopper or tank skims along the surface of the planet or beneath the surface.Voice Actors
Mission briefings with human speach use the actual battlefield, in real time 3-D, to illustrate the next deadly objective. Verbal warnings from your on-board computer, tell you when your vehicle is in danger of being toasted.Music Score
CD audio and MIDI tracks enhance game play with themed music.Sound Effects
Digital and CD audio include music and sound effects which rival those of the best games.Utilities
Multi-player Features
Extreme Assault (EA) supports LAN (IPX/NETX) and popular Multi-Player networks, where up to 4 players can play simultaneously. Both competitive head-to-head and cooperative "pair-up" play make the game more versitile, where you can play with and against your friends. Special levels specifically designed to take advantage of multi-player play are included with the game. You can also use special modes where you can make up your own rules.Cheats, Hints, Walkthrough
Journalists
References
Shane Mooney, Gamecenter, 02/24/97GamesMania Preview
Adrenaline Vault Preview