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Publisher:  Genre: Flight Sim
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Mac OS X: 10.2 Mac OS Classic: Not Supported
CPU: G3 @ 600 MHz RAM: 256 MB Hard Disk: 350 MB 4x CD-ROM Graphics: 16 MB VRAM |
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Enemy Engaged: Comanche vs. Hokum
January 20, 2005 | Tim Morgan |
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The ultimatum of war comes in Campaign mode. Here two fully armed, well-funded armies engage in total war, shipping in supplies and troops, and engaging them on the front. The player flies his/her helicopter in this environment, flying pre-planned missions alongside other troops in a complete simulation of war. Campaign mode is reminiscent of Falcon 4, whose total battlefield simulation sets the benchmark for future simulations. And while not as diverse as Falcon 4’s campaign mode, Enemy Engaged’s does provide tactical thinkers with an adequate environment to conduct their strategy.
In campaign mode, each side is assigned three major objectives. If your side completes all three objectives, or prevents the other side from completing there three by exhausting their supplies, the war is over. The battlefield AI then plans missions and mobilizes troops to complete these goals. Missions that the player can fly appear on his roster, and the player can choose to hop into a chopper and take to the skies.
For those who care to follow their pilot’s development, Enemy Engaged allows the player to assign himself to a tactical group, stationed on an airbase, taking missions as they are assigned to his/her group. Missions can be simple transfers from one airbase to another, or they can be intricate suppression-of-enemy-air-defense (SEAD) missions deep beyond the forward line of troops (FLOT). The player can save his/her campaign at any time (either to quit and get back to work or to simply hop sides), but there is no auto-save feature, which will leave some pulling their hair out if they forget to save frequently.
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Both the Campaign and Skirmish mode have a number of ways to view the battlefield, including a tactical map displaying the location of player and enemy forces on the theater, a force-balance diagram displaying the relative strengths of the two armies, and an intelligence log with a list of past troop actions. The tactical map further displays the waypoints and targets of player troops, and although the interface might lead one to believe that these waypoints can be modified, this is in fact not the case (much to the disdain of strategists everywhere).
Falcon 4 players will likely be intrigued by Campaign mode in Enemy Engaged, but will probably be disappointed by its lack of mission creation or waypoint modification. Still, the campaign mode offers a sort of persistence to the game, as the player can take the role of a single pilot and play it through the entire war. Your pilot is awarded real-life medals throughout the campaign, although being an idiot and injuring yourself can get you the Purple Heart. The player can create two pilots to play the same campaign, each on a different side, and switch sides if things start to get a little one-sided, creating an everlasting challenge.
Should your pilot die, he is immediately reincarnated with no ill effect (except on stats and the loss of the helicopter in the order of battle [OOB]), and purist players will have to simply delete the pilot to maintain the illusion of death.
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