Midwinter - Rainbird RRP œ29.99 (Strategy) Review by Roy Sims Any game which claims to be "The Strategy Game Of The Decade" must be investigated, especially if it has been designed and programmed by Maelstrom, who are headed by Mike Singleton - the man who brought us the excellent 'Lords of Midnight' and 'Doomdark's Revenge' on the Spectrum back in the early 80s. In many ways Midwinter might be considered a 90's equivalent to Carrier Command. Both use 3D graphics, both have strong strategic and arcade elements and both allow the player to move about in a number of different vehicles. A new Ice Age grips the world and the game is set in the last habitable Isle in the world, Midwinter. You can ski, hang-glide, snow-buggy or travel by cable car across the glacial landscape, shooting, sniping at and sabotaging the intruders. The intruders in question are a force commanded by Colonel Masters. Their aim is to take over the entire island by controlling all of the heat mines and taking as many prisoners as they can along the way. You start the game with just one character, Captain John Stark. His starting position on the game map varies, but he's nearly always placed right in the thick of things near enemy planes or buggies. The snowy landscape is displayed in solid 3D and the effect is very good. Skiing is achieved by pressing the mouse/joystick button to start the move off, then steering left or right. The contours of the landscape determine how the player speeds up or slows down whilst moving. As a skier, the player can just ski or snipe. Sniping gives you a view from the gun sight, which is always moving shakily in a circular motion. This makes it difficult, but not impossible to accurately fire a shot at an enemy plane or vehicle which is nearby. You have a limited number of shots before your ammo runs out, but these can be resupplied by visiting stores scattered throughout the map. Garages contain snow buggies. These allow much quicker travel across the landscape, although I found it much easier to crash the thing than it is to fall over whilst skiing. Locating a buggy quickly is a must if you want to get anywhere fast. Some characters aren't very good at skiing and it speeds the game up considerably if you can get them to a buggy. Hang gliding can only be done from very high points. I only found them wherever a cable car was, and flying in a hang glider is not easy. I crashed all too often. Fortunately, you can save at any point so I was able to continually practice my flying technique, not that it made any difference! The map is where most of the planning takes place in the game. It can highlight all of the features on the island (buildings, people etc.) and it also shows how rugged the terrain is. This is very important if you are to plan your route carefully, as characters tire very quickly if they always have to struggle up steep slopes when skiing. On the surface, Midwinter looks really good, both visually and from the number of options available. I have to admit that I haven't made much progress in the game yet, so there might be things to come but from what I've seen so far, Midwinter has been a slight disappointment. The only time you see the enemy is when a plane or buggy comes near. Sometimes, you can get up to 10 planes in succession flying nearby. As you knock each one out with your sniper's bullet, you get the distinct feeling that there isn't any real intelligence behind the enemy's moves and that there is a certain random element. This is the only instance that you see the enemy. At the end of each 2-hour turn, you synchronise watches with any characters you have recruited and you get a list of what each side has achieved. You're told what the enemy has done, but because I hadn't seen any real evidence of it I was less inclined to believe it! This uncertainty in the enemy's tactics diminishes the ability (for me anyway) to get really involved in the game's tactics. The second thing that disappoints with Midwinter is the soap style sub-plots that are used to describe each character's background. The idea is that some characters will refuse to be recruited by certain other characters because they hold a grudge of some kind. For example, Tasker blames Revel for his son's death. Presumably, if Tasker was to ask Revel to join he would refuse. However, I did it the other way around. Revel asked Tasker and he agreed! That makes a ridicule of this extra strategic sub-plot and turns it into a pointless trivial feature. Surely, Revel would refuse to try and recruit Tasker? To conclude, Midwinter is technically impressive but I still think that I prefer 'Lords of Midnight'. Troop casualties and the fact that you saw the enemy as a real force make it a better game as far as I am concerned. It's a shame as I was really looking forward to Midwinter. Perhaps it was a case of too much hype, too early?