Armored Fist 2
By Al Giovetti, 12/21/96
Price:
Genre: Tank Combat Simulator
Release: November 1996
Developer: Novalogic
Producer:
Publisher: Novalogic
Phone: 818-880-1997
Website: http://www.novalogic.com, http://www.novalogic.com/af2.htm
Requirements: 486 DX4 (Pentium recommended), DOS or Windows 95, PCI or VLB video SVGA, 16 MB RAM, 2X CD ROM drive, sound card, controllers,

History: Novalogic has been around for many years producing some of the nicest simulations and graphics around. Armored Fist was the first tank game to use Voxel Space graphics, with incredibly detailed terrain texture. Over the years Novalogic has remained in the game and viable, consistantly producing simulators that many describe as dressed up arcade games. The simulators deliver non-stop action and excitement that makes them fun.

Traditionally tank games have been a hard nut to crack. Since there are three seats to control the tank, the gunner, the commander, and the driver, many games never mastered the ability to simulate each position correctly. An effective artificial intelligence is needed for the other two positions while you sit in the third. This is a more difficult design decision than a flight simulator or sub simulator, and often designers make the game to automatic or too manual for most tastes. Novalogic met the challenge in the first Armored Fist, we look forward to more of the same in Armored Fist 2 (AF2)

Plot: You play the part of a tank commander.

Game play: You drive the General Dynamic's M1A2 Abrams tank, the latest, fastest, and most destructive tank in history. The enemy are smarter and react better.

Missions and Campaign: Missions are linked to each other with a narrative storyline or play the quick mission scenario mode. Fight against Russian T-80 battle tanks, BMP troop transport, enemy Hind helicopters

Interface: The virtual displays of the stations in the tank are based upon the actual tank areas.

You drive the M1A2 Abrams tank., which weighs 69.54 tons, moves at from 4.1 mph up a 60 degree slope to 42 mph maximum speed on a road. The M1A2 tank is equipped with a 120mm M256 smoothbore cannon, two 7.62mm M240 machine guns, and a 50 cal M2 machine gun on the commanders hatch.

Enemies: Russian T-80 tanks, Hind helicopters, BMP transports.

Graphics: The new Voxel 2 game engine makes texture maps highly detailed, texture mapped polygon objects placed on Voxel 2 three dimensional terrain imaging and longer line of sight without a trace of pixelation close up. The game supports three dimensional terrain that is fully rendered and augmented by the Voxel Space which renders terrain detail on the fly. The best thing about Voxel space is that it immediately adjusts pixel size as you move nearer or farther from an object, almost totally eliminating the blockiness of pixellation.

Voxel 2 uses textured polygons instead of sprites making the game terrain much more realistic. Everything that is on the real M1A2 tank will be in the game. In order to insure the tank was accurate the design team spent days with the M1A2 tank at General dynamics 29 Palms facility.

Animation: Smoother three dimensional animation than the original game. Live action segments are used for mission briefings and actual footage of armored vehicles are used between missions as animated cut-scenes. Object animation is surprisingly realistic

Voice actors: Internal tank voices and radio chatter with human voice actors who sound realistic.

Music score: 16-bit music with Dolby Surround Sound

Sound effects: Enriched virtual sound environment with advanced M1A2 sound effects.

Utilities: The one thing lacking in NovaLogic's games is the ability to create your own scenarios and edit the game.

Multiplayer: Four to eight players playing cooperative missions with special head-to-head missions over null and phone modem and network. Supports voice over IPX network or parallel, with two to eight players, but not serial or phone modem.

The game supports larger battle fields than seen in previous games making the game more of a challenge for human players.

References:
Editors, Computer Player, volume 3, number 3, August, 1996, pg. 87
Editors, Computer Player, volume 3, number 5, October, 1996, pg. 30.
NEXT GENERATION, Aug 1996, p. 62-63.........9 pictures!!!
PC GAMER (UK), Aug 1996, p. 18-19...........4 pictures!!!
PC Games, volume 3, number 8, August, 1996, p. 38
PC FORMAT (UK), Aug 1996, p. 6-7
Strategy Plus, issue 68, July, 1996, p. 72-76
Strategy Plus, issue 69, August, 1996, p. 36
COMPUTER PLAYER, October 1996, p. 30
Glenn Broderick, Computer Player, volume 3, number 7, December, 1996, pg 44-47.