Falklands 82 (1985). C64

 Falklands 82 is my next game. The cool part about the randomizer is that it introduces me to games that I would never have chosen to play. I am sure I missed some real gems! If I think about it, I probably played or saw about 500 different Commodore 64 games in my life. The C64 has over 5,000 games! That means that I only experienced 10% of its games. This is truly an adventure!

Here is the cover:

My biggest fear is that because it is an old-school wargame, it will be too complicated and primitive, so I will bounce off it. There is no manual available. But Jack Alien cracked the game and provided some instructions in the opening screens, so that is certainly better than nothing. Falklands is a wargame. I fear that it is a jingoistic romp, but maybe the gameplay will save it!

 

Status: Played it

Thoughts: This game is mediocre. Even if we ignore the subject matter of the very real war between the United Kingdom and Argentina, this game makes almost no effort to bring the wargame to life. The battleships are bizarrely offscreen. Air battles are briefly referenced via text messages that show up on your HUD. If the majority of the action will not be graphically represented AND we have no control over it, this isn't really a wargame anymore. A game of chess is infinitely more a wargame and more satisfying than Falklands 82. This game is unacceptable for 1985. Where are the hexes?!

A text-only wargame would have handled this far better. All we get for "graphics" are a handful of sprites that aren't even animated. Each round plays out almost identically with nearly no drama, considering that enemies can absorb a lot of damage and have no visible health bars. It is not a game that you want to play to the end. It is a game where you keep wondering why the developer made these decisions. A positive outcome from playing this game is that I look forward to the SSI wargames! They are high art in comparison. 

Rating: 1.0 out of 4 Imperialists