Abrams Battle Tank

Abrams Battle Tank, released as M-1 Abrams Battle Tank for the Sega version, is a video game developed by Dynamix and published by Electronic Arts in 1988 for MS-DOS. It simulates the American battle tank M1 Abrams.

Abrams Battle Tank
Box Art
Developer(s)Dynamix
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts, Sega
Designer(s)Damon Slye
Platform(s)MS-DOS, Mega Drive
Release1988
Genre(s)Vehicle simulation
Mode(s)Single-player

Publication history

It was later ported to Mega Drive in 1991 by Realtime Games Software. Designed by Damon Slye, the game is a 3D vehicle simulation of the M1 Abrams tank.

The first level

The port from MS-DOS to Sega Genesis was performed by Realtime Games Software Ltd in the UK using their own 3D games engine that was earlier used in Carrier Command with some tweaks to adapt it to the Genesis and the needs of the tank scenario.

Gameplay

Although the simulation depicts the four crew positions, and is advertised as a simulation, gameplay is not actually very realistic; the missions are arcade game-like with a fixed sequence of actions to perform.[1] The graphics were very good for their time, but reviews are mixed, with many players enjoying the "fun factor" introduced by the lack of realism, and others decrying it for the same reason.

Reception

In 1989, Dragon gave the MS-DOS version of the game 3 out of 5 stars.[2] Computer Gaming World gave the game two and a half stars out of five, stating that Abrams Battle Tank was a good game but a poor simulation. The magazine cited the commanding officer's briefings, at one point threatening failure with execution, as unprofessional and offensive to military personnel.[1][3] In a 1994 survey of wargames the magazine gave the title two out of five stars, stating that newer games had superseded it and criticizing the simulation of a single tank instead of a company or squad.[4] Compute! agreed that the game was not very realistic, but advised players to "accept the game as a graphically excellent, tactically complex simulation".[5]

In 1994, PC Gamer US named Abrams Battle Tank the 50th best computer game ever.[6]

References
  1. Brooks, M. Evans (June 1989), "High Powered Pillbox", Computer Gaming World, pp. 10–11
  2. Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (July 1989). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (147): 76–83.
  3. Brooks, M. Evan (June 1992). "The Modern Games: 1950–2000". Computer Gaming World. p. 120. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  4. Brooks, M. Evan (January 1994). "War In Our Time / A Survey Of Wargames From 1950-2000". Computer Gaming World. pp. 194–212.
  5. Scisco, Peter (June 1989). "Abrams Battle Tank". Compute!. p. 68. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  6. Staff (August 1994). "PC Gamer Top 40: The Best Games of All Time; The Ten Best Games that Almost Made the Top 40". PC Gamer US (3): 42.
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