M1 Tank Platoon
| Developer: MPS Labs | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: MicroProse | Sound: |
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| Year: 1990 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Strategy-action | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
8/10 | |
Here’s the reference tank simulation from the PC game library. But this title doesn’t just put you in a box, so to speak. You command a platoon of four American M1A1 Abrams tanks, along with their crews (four soldiers each). The campaign takes place in Central Europe in contemporary times, facing the Russians.
Make decisions on a real time tactical map: choosing objectives, routes, and means of implementation (taking advantage of terrain or weather conditions). At any moment, you can “jump” from one tank to another, either as a spectator or as a driver, or even take the place of the gunner or commander (to play with night vision binoculars and targeting systems). Meanwhile, other crew members continue to follow your orders autonomously. It’s this complementarity that distinguishes this game from previous ones, as not only do you supervise four tanks and 16 people, but you can also call upon artillery or aviation services, or request helicopters to perform reconnaissance for you.
Six types of randomly generated engagement missions are offered, along with a campaign mode where your successive missions (successful or not) influence the course of the war. With each victory, distribute medals to survivors and observe with satisfaction how your crews become more efficient as they gain combat experience. The difficulty level is moreover extensively customisable.
Obviously, diligent manuel reading is essential. The MicroProse folks weren’t known for their accessible games. They were, however, known for their 200-page detailed instruction manuals! Their title, extremely well-documented and realistic, neglects no detail: laser telemetry, ammunition selection, smoke generators, firing techniques (hull-down, or the art of positioning to offer the least visible surface to the enemy while keeping the cannon in firing position). In short, don’t dive in if you don’t enjoy reading.
Two fairly well-made training missions support this delicate (and prolonged) initiation phase. Even I managed to muddle through … not without destroying one of my tanks, the wanderings of learning… Apologies to the families, and all that.
The result is a simulator of unexpected depth (fitting on a single floppy disk) that has probably influenced the development of modern 3D tank games.
Its sequel was released in 1998 on PC-DOS.
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