Scorched Earthis a spell - base ballistics - oriented strategy game that started life in the PC - DOS era and has spawn unnumerable imitators over the yr ; Isotope 244 has dusted off the construct forAtomic Cannon , which has been ported to several unlike platforms , now include the Mac .
The thought is simple : You confront off against an foe tank . You conform the angle of your cannon and the amount of forcefulness you use to shoot different kinds of weapon at your enemy , who fires back at you .
Like I said , this is an old plot concept , so Atomic Cannon ’s clothes designer have tarted it up with a ton of options to keep you busy . you could play against up to eight computer - curb opponents or other masses ( you each take twist on the same computer , hot tail expressive style ) . Unfortunately , there ’s no multiplayer capableness for LAN or the Internet . you could also act through a set bit of rounds , or deathmatch - fashion , where you try out to destruct the other tanks before they get you .
When it ’s your turn , you’re able to select what weapon you desire , set its trajectory and great power , and fire . Alternately , you could grease one’s palms or betray weapons using the credit you amass by successfully inflict damage on other opponents . you may also move your armored combat vehicle and increase your armour or shields .
Atomic Cannon — so call for a dark period of our late history when nuclear powers in reality did develop battlefield gun capable of delivering a atomic lading — features a tremendous variety of pick to fine-tune and pecker performance accommodate for your machine , and has some really nice special force . I get it on the graded and shaded plume effects when you launch a missile , for example , and some explosions have downright nifty corpuscle effects .
You also have control over which landscapes Atomic Cannon displays , tank epithet and colour , font options , and more game scene than you may stimulate a stick at — a dizzying number of selection ranging from how many fight per deathmatch or how many rounds you ’ll diddle to how often the wind changes centering , how hard the computer - controlled opponent are , how magnificent the explosion are and much more . In retrospect , maybe there ’s a few too many — sometimes it gets a bit consuming deciding how you ’re going to configure the plot .
Having said that , the game ’s art are n’t really that exceptional — they’re flatly drawn colouration computer graphic that are effective enough for what they are , but are n’t spectacular . Then again , Atomic Cannon is a Scorched Earth clone — straying too much from the simple sample - and - true rule is asking for trouble .
One place that I think Atomic Cannon did run into hassle is the soundtrack . I found the retro-’80s colonnade game music get to almost right away , and went to switch it off in the game ’s choice projection screen justly out .
What ’s particularly neat about this game is how portable it is . In plus to Mac OS X , Atomic Cannon bunk on Windows , Pocket PC and smartphones , so you’re able to take the same game with you on a variety show of different twist .
Did I mention Atomic Cannon is Universal ? That ’s right , you may take it with you on your MacBook or any other Intel - found iMac .
The bottom line
Old schooling strategy gamers may prefer Scorched Earth , but outside of the annoying soundtrack , Atomic Cannon is a welcome update of the Greco-Roman theme .
