hey are huge targets, move slowly and make no military sense, but gamers love them. Since FASA's BattleTech took the world by storm in the early '80s, little has been designed for the science-fiction gaming world that doesn't include some type of biped weapon chassis. Konami's Ring of Red is no exception.
Unlike much science fiction, Ring of Red is set not in the future, but rather in the past. It is a past, however, unlike any taught in our country's middle schools. At the emperor's bidding, Japan held on till the bitter end of World War II. The Soviet Union's incursion into the Kurile Islands blossomed into a full invasion of the Japanese mainland. The West countered by landing troops on the southern tip of Japan. The two sides fought through the land and met in the middle, dividing the country into a communist north and democratic south. It's 1960-something, and hostilities have simmered for 20 years. Suddenly, a crack northern 'Mech pilot (Ring of Red calls them AFWs, but a rose by any other name ... ) steals the south's prized experimental AFW. As Masami von Weizegger, it is the gamer's job to lead a motley crew of infantry and AFWs to recapture the stolen AFW.
The recapturing takes place on a turn-based operational, and real-time tactical, battleground. Gamers move their AFW/infantry teams about the operational map, striving to capture objectives and destroy enemy teams. Since longer encounters would exceed the AFW's heat limitations, tactical battles arrive in 90-second slices. Players move their infantry into position to attack the enemy, and utilize their footsoldiers' special attacks, while their AFW attempts to lay a bead on the enemy AFW or accompanying infantry. Destroying the enemy levels up the AFW pilots and meeting the mission objectives brings on a fresh scenario. There is no multiplayer.
Who needs sleep in the Ring?
Ring of Red is one of the better console strategy games on the market. The game's unique blend of cerebrally rich planning and heart-pounding tactical battles brews a concoction that will keep gamers up late. Do not confuse Ring of Red with the Mechwarrior series. Ring of Red is not a simulation, and quick reflexes and keen eyesight are not prerequisites for excellence. This is strategy, pure and simple. It does, however, require a quick mind, and that quickness starts when the briefing stops.
Missions are briefed in the pilot's tent, and then the player assembles teams. One AFW and three squads make up a team, and the composition thereof is critical. Infantry squads come in several flavors. Some are good against enemy AFWs, some excel against the bad people's infantry, others repair or strengthen the morale of friendly forces. Nor are the AFWs generic bags of bolts. Those armed with 88mm canon can take down the enemy 'Mechs from afar. On the other hand, other AFWs are good at closing and ripping the enemy asunder with their metal hands. Placing the proper combination of teams with the correct AFW is lot of fun and half the battle. But the other half is the battle itself.
Make no mistake, Ring of Red's tactical battles are a blast. The manner in which gamers approach the enemy determines at what range--long, medium or short--they begin each encounter. Once the battle is joined, players must move their AFW within optimum tactical engagement range while managing the accompanying squads. The battles play out in what can only be labeled a cinematic view. In one instant the player's view hovers above and behind their AFW, in the next it tracks the cannon shot as it screams toward the opponent, and in still another gamers watch their infantry riddle the enemy with rifle rounds. It's intriguing; it's beautiful; it's creative.
Coincidentally, those adjectives describe the entire Ring of Red experience. A creative game, laced with beautiful graphics, and an intriguing take on strategy, Ring of Red is one of the best console strategy titles currently available.
I play this game till 4:00 a.m. ... and I'm an old man. Need I say more?
--Mark
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