Midwinter
| Developer: Maelstrom | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: MicroProse | Sound: |
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| Year: 1990 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Action-strategy | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
6/10 | |
“The nuclear winter is coming!” — Cpt. John Stark
2099. Following the impact of a meteorite, Earth’s temperature has plummeted, making it almost entirely uninhabitable. Mankind now occupies a small island called Midwinter. Two factions are battling for control: a military junta, led by General Masters (the bad guys), and a militia, which you lead. Your mission is to conduct guerrilla warfare against a far superior enemy in numbers, recruiting partisans, sabotaging their installations, and preparing ambushes, all while preventing them from gaining control of the “heat mines” (new sources of energy).
Now, this is an ugly game! And absolutely incomprehensible unless you’ve spent hours reading the 200-page manual. Because nothing is explained … and you’re greeted with missiles the moment you arrive!
Alright, don’t panic. Let’s recap. You’re a soldier in hostile territory. Like in Hunter, you can pilot various vehicles, but in first-person view, which can sometimes make it hard to understand what’s happening to you.
The game world is vast (over 400,000 km² of frozen land), but don’t worry, you’ve been equipped with top-notch gear: a map, a compass, and a pair of skis!
Of course, you have an arsenal to defend yourself: grenades and a sniper rifle (it’s amusing to watch missiles approach you in close-up).
Exploration and combat phases combine with a bit of strategy (choosing targets, gathering resources, recruiting, and managing a team, taking into account your troops’ abilities and their rivalries).
All of this makes for a rich and ambitious game, but it’s hard to grasp due to its lack of ergonomics and outdated 3D.
If snow’s not your thing, you can always try its sequel, Midwinter 2: Flames of Freedom, which takes place in tropical islands off the west coast of Africa…
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