Twilight 2000

Set in the aftermath of a futuristic third world war, Twilight 2000 is an inventive game that was introduced in 1994, likely influenced by the Cold War. The premise of the game is surviving the nuclear consequences of a conflict between the United States and NATO versus the Soviets and the Warsaw Pact. All of the characters are basically survivors of a massive nuclear fallout.
Twilight 2000 has some basis in projected fact as well as some historical accuracy. Granted, with the year 2000 come and gone, Twilight 2000 now presents more of an alternate ending to life on Earth, but at the time it was created, it was a very solid idea.

It is one of the first role playing games that moved above and beyond the Dungeons & Dragons subject matter and projected the user into the future with metal adversaries and lasers instead of rapiers.
Since the writers were clearly making an attempt at realism, there is an enormous selection of true-to-life weaponry to be used throughout the game. Most of the specs on these warheads are accurate. Twilight 2000 features over 40 classes of ground vehicles ranging from tanks to emergency or civilian vehicles. Aircraft include fixed wing aircraft and helicopters from multiple nations. There are naval vessels from six major countries, several lesser factions, and civilians. Weaponry offers a choice of artillery, numerous small arms (rifles, pistols, etc.) and tons of infantry weapons (explosives, rocket launchers, flame throwers, mortars and so forth).
To make the game even more customizable and replayable, the character possibilities are endless. All characters have diversified backgrounds, giving them various strengths and weaknesses. Twilight 2000 does a fairly good job of maintaining balance with its characters by trading skills for attributes. Basically, there is a trade off between knowledge and physical prowess. Characters can be trained in any number of professions, or given military knowledge. These choices affect the way the character develops and what he or she will be able to add to your team once the conflict begins. The time the war begins is fairly randomized, adding a sense of urgency to the game and requiring the teams to be as prepared as possible at any given moment.
Overall, Twilight 2000 is a game of nearly endless possibilities. Characters can be changed around and the ability to control so many military vehicles is awesome. The user interface is fairly simple to figure out, although it requires some getting used to and the graphic displays are okay, especially given the release date. T2K is definitely a solid play and well worth the time of a download.