Cannon Fodder
| Cannon Fodder | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio |
 Sensitive software |
||
| Publisher |
Virgin Interactive
|
||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1993 | ||
| platform | 3DO , Amiga , Atari ST , Atari Jaguar , Acorn Archimedes , DOS , Sega Mega Drive , SNES , Game Boy Color | ||
| genre | Real time strategy game | ||
| Game mode | Single player | ||
| language | English with voice output | ||
| Age rating |
|
||
| information | Indicated in Germany until July 2019 | ||
Cannon Fodder [ ˈkænən ˈfɒdəʳ ] (English for cannon fodder ) is a computer game from the English software manufacturer Sensible Software for the home computer Commodore Amiga , which was sold from 1993 by Virgin Interactive . The game mechanics combine elements of a real-time strategy game with those of a shoot 'em up .
Game content
The original version of the Commodore Amiga is taken as a direct example; differences to other versions cannot be ruled out.
Cannon Fodder is a real-time strategy ( RTS ) game, but it differs greatly from later RTS games such as Syndicate , whose mouse controls are similar to those of Cannon Fodder.
The campaign consists of 30 missions in both parts. A mission is an entire operation in a specific area. Before each mission the player receives a supply of 15 infantrymen who line up in front of a door. One officer lets in the soldiers necessary for the upcoming phase, the rest remain as reserves.
A mission comprises a variable number of phases between one and more than five. A phase is comparable to a level : a small or large map on which one or more mission objectives have to be fulfilled. Mostly they are simply "Kill all enemies" or "Destroy all Buildings", later also "Protect Civilians" and other things. If all objectives have been met, the next phase comes. When all phases of a mission have been completed, a list of all fallen and surviving "heroes" appears. If all soldiers die within a phase, it is the turn of the next load of cannon fodder and the phase is restarted. The survivors are promoted depending on the number of phases survived and rewarded with smaller bonuses such as increased firing range, accuracy, etc. They stay in action until they fall. Most players will remember the names of the first two soldiers, Jools and Jops.
The fight looks like this in practice: The player is assigned a squad of variable size. The camera focuses on the leader of a group and there is only limited viewing around, which reinforces the impression that you are controlling the soldier. All other soldiers on the team follow the leader's route exactly. With the left mouse button this is sent around and always runs exactly in the direction of the mouse, so obstacles must be bypassed manually. The right mouse button fires and while this is held down, all soldiers of the selected team fire in the direction of the mouse pointer, so it is up to the player to aim. The enemies behave erratically and sometimes they lurk or chase the player's soldiers. When they are in range, they will give off single and inaccurate shots. In terms of precision, the player has a great advantage, but luck plays a major role, because every soldier dies after exactly one hit. You can divide your soldiers into smaller teams to better cope with extreme situations. For example, you can reduce the risk of the entire squad being wiped out by a missile. The unselected team is meanwhile controlled by an AI, which is strongly superior to the enemy depending on its rank. For special situations like destroying buildings and tanks, grenades and rockets are needed, which can be found in boxes. As useful as these can be, they do carry a certain risk, as they explode when hit and can be very dangerous in combat. The game is later expanded to include vehicles, bunkers, mines and swamps. Coincidence is always typical for Cannon Fodder. Just as with bullets you can never be certain whether they will hit exactly, the towers of tanks fall, the rotors of helicopters and the roofs of houses that can kill a soldier or an entire team. As in real war, the soldiers' lives should always (if often in an absurd way) be endangered. Cannon Fodder went down in history as one of the most difficult games for no reason.
The soundscape of Cannon Fodder has a high level measured by the standards of the time. There are crowing birds, babbling rivers and countless other sound effects. The same applies to the main theme , which is originally set to music by the Amiga with vocals.
Versions
Released in 1993 on the Amiga home computer , it also appeared on Atari ST , Atari Jaguar , Acorn Archimedes , MS-DOS , Sega Mega Drive , Super Nintendo Entertainment System , in 2000 even on the Game Boy Color and only recently as Mobile game . In 1994 a successor was produced with Cannon Fodder 2 . An announced new edition of the game for the PSP was not completed. Also on the C64 there was a game called 'Cannon Fodder', but this is not directly related to the game of Sensible Software, which is described here. In early 2011, Codemasters and the developer Game Factory Interactive announced that the successor Cannon Fodder 3 would be developed for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 . The game was released on February 9, 2012 for Windows, received rather poor ratings and achieved a Metascore of 49. Development of the Xbox version was discontinued.
influence
Along with Dune II , the game is one of the first real-time strategy games and has greatly influenced later classics of this genre such as Command & Conquer .
controversy
In the year of publication, the first part was indexed in Germany. The game has been indexed in Germany for its portrayal of violence (with the exception of the Game Boy Color version), and the Royal British Legion has officially opposed the game and advised players not to buy this game. The title picture of the game is adorned with a poppy flower, which in the UK is a symbol of the fallen and veterans in what has been perceived as an extreme dishonor for the soldiery. At the request of the publisher Virgin Interactive , the veteran symbol actually disappeared from the game's packaging. The indexing was finally lifted again in July 2019.
The second part of the game has been defused a bit, but has still been indexed. On the one hand, the previously fictional, but nevertheless quite realistic scenario was replaced by a science fiction scenario. The earth is a crater-strewn wasteland there with some highly developed cities. Only in the first mission do you fight against soldiers who are reminiscent of current conflicts (soldiers with headscarves, possibly an allusion to Libya), later you fight against aliens and knights, among other things. Yet all enemies behave like normal people and bleed and scream like common soldiers. In addition, the tombstones were replaced by impaled skulls, in the Amiga version even completely removed. Despite the changes, the game was indexed even faster by the federal inspection agency for media harmful to minors than its predecessor.
Rating mirror
- Amiga Joker : 85% (Amiga)
- ASM : 10/12 (Amiga)
- Mega Fun: 75% (Sega Mega Drive)
- Power Play : 82% (Amiga)
- Power Play: 79% (PC)
Reviews
"Despite their peaceful-sounding name, the mercenaries from Sensible Software have now presented a game whose grim butchery humor is only found funny by the British - but we also liked the gameplay!"
“The addictive traits of this tough war persiflage are highly contagious. The initially small shooting with the apparently meager gameplay soon turns out to be an ever more complicated action game brimming with new game elements. "
Web links
- Review from DOS Games Archive
- Cannon Fodder demo in the software archive - Internet Archive
- Cannon Fodder 2 in the software archive - Internet Archive
- Cannon Fodder at MobyGames (English)
- The band PressPlayOnTape plays the soundtrack to Cannon Fodder live on game controllers
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://www.schnittberichte.com/news.php?ID=14895
- ↑ Hanno Neuhaus: Cannon Fodder 3 - successor announced after 15 years. In: Gamestar . January 18, 2011, accessed June 13, 2019 .
- ↑ Cannon Fodder 3rd In: Metacritic . Retrieved June 13, 2019 .
- ↑ Cannon Fodder 3rd overview page. In: Gamestar. Retrieved June 13, 2019 .
- ↑ bpjm (confirmation required → indexed → computer games) ( Memento of the original from May 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ https://www.schnittberichte.com/news.php?ID=14895
- ↑ Max Magenauer: Cannonfodder. In: Amiga Joker , issue 12/1993. December 1, 1993, accessed December 1, 2012 .
- ↑ Knut Gollert: Cannonfodder. In: Power Play , issue 01/1994. January 1, 1994, accessed December 1, 2012 .
