3D tank power

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If there's one type of game I really don't like, it's a computer version of table-top wargames - all that map strategy just leaves me cold. What I want is a thinking man's shoot-'em-up like Elite - and Conqueror fits that bill.

I was given a demo version to review and what I got lacked many of the refinements that the draft manual promised, but even so was highly addictive.

In Conqueror, you are in command of one or more tanks on a battlefield against a set of micro-controlled opponents. Each battle level gives you greater numbers and more powerful tanks against increasingly menacing opponents with up to fifteen tanks on each side.

In each game you can choose between either having American and British, German or Russian forces, against one of the other two. Each Power has four types of tank - one light, two medium and one heavy - all based on geniune Second World War machines.

But the key difference between Conqueror and any other similar game to date is that you play in real time on a three-dimensional scrolling landscape with trees, houses and rivers. Does that sound familiar? Well, this game - written by Jonathan Griffiths - uses David (Elite/Zarch) Braben's landscape drawing routines.

The first game is referred to as arcade and consists of a series of battles with your group of tanks against the computer-driven ones. The first combination at level zero is an Amencan Chaffee - fast and light - against a Panzer III which is less powerful but the micro is a better shot. I found that driving round in circles with the turret facing in toward the enemy was the best tactic.

At all levels you can choose between manual or automatic tank strategy, In the former you control where the tanks on your side go; in the latter this is controlled by the micro but you can override it.

Tactical control is via the map, you select a tank and click the position you want it to move to. However, on the ground, the micro-controlled movement leaves a little to be desired and it is fairly common for tanks to either disable or even destroy themselves by running into objects. But for the most part they do manage to avoid these hazards and get on with the battle.

Water provides the greatest obstacle: I have yet to see a tank cross a river of its own accord.

For the more serious player there are the Attrition and Strategy games. In the first format you have a standard set of tanks - two light, two medium and a heavy - but the computer starts off with an inferior selection. In each successive battle, the computer's selection becomes more and more potent.

Finally there is the Strategy game in which you can choose the tanks you require from a fixed budget, and the micro does likewise. When you win a battle the budget increases. Within this game there are other options such as use of spotter planes and artillery fire which can be bought at the cost of some tank power.

Lazarus