In the late nineteen eighties, Lucas Arts developed yet another war strategy in Strike Fleet. Electronic Arts published this lightweight, beer and pretzels style of war simulation, and it was released for play on many formats, most notably the variety of home computers, but especially the personal computer running the MS-DOS operating system. Some of the other available formats include the Commodore 64, the Atari ST, and the Apple II. Strike Fleet relied on the keyboard for an input method, which created a favorable blend with its interesting interface.
Strike Fleet is the unofficial sequel to the more well-known, but not as good, war simulation PHM: Pegasus.
In the game of Strike Fleet, the user will have a choice of controlling either the British or American navies and will tackle historically based missions surrounding the histories of either faction. There are ten different scenarios or missions available. The last scenarios playable by each respective factions are linked together, giving the gamer the option of playing them as a type of mini campaign, or individually, the way the other missions were played. The enemies that the user will face include the Soviet Union, Iran and Argentina.
The scenarios are pretty simple to get the hang of, and although Strike Fleet is historically
based, it is not terribly complex. Most of the missions are linear and straightforward. For example, one mission involves the defense of the Persian Gulf in America’s conflict in Desert Storm. The user will have to defend the other units, but is directed not to exacerbate the conflict. The British will have to destroy enemy Argentinian submarines that are performing maneuvers near the Falkland Islands. You will be charged with crippling the Soviet navy to prevent possible future attacks, and can also serve as an escort for Kuwaiti tankers. All of the missions involve realistic possible conflicts between the various forces that are involved.
The game play is in real time, so the user has to stay on his toes and pay attention to the action around him. The interface is pretty simple, however, so the user should not have too much trouble keeping up with the missions. There is quite a bit of weaponry to keep track of, and that will be one of the biggest challenges of the game.
Overall, Strike Fleet is historical but will not dwell on the minutia of every single battle. It is a very lightweight play, but is still challenging enough to be entertaining for most fans of classic war simulations. The historical aspects of the game make it more deep, interesting and playable.
