Soldiers of Anarchy Review

7.4

Format PC

Developer Silver Style Entertainment

Publisher Bigben Interactive

Genre Sim / Strategy

Keith Pullin hunkers down in a bunker to play this post-apocalyptic RTS

A lot of people think biological warfare is just an excuse for a kind of futuristic fancy dress party with funny looking outfits and breathing apparatus, but there's a lot more to it than that. Contrary to popular belief, an act of biological terrorism (and that includes any children fathered by Michael Jackson) is very bad for the planet's health.

Soldiers Of Anarchy is a perfect example of the kind of mood you are likely to be in after surviving a global biological attack. And let's face it, if you've been living in a bunker for ten years, you're bound to be a bit irritable. Especially if you also happen to be part of the last surviving group of soldiers in the world, and have no idea how the rest of the population died.

NEW WORLD DISORDER
SoA is a gloomy RTS in which you must guide your sole-surviving squad of soldiers through 13 missions in order to discover exactly what happened to the human race.

There's a distinct Mad Max vibe going on, what with the earth now being populated by ruthless gangs who survive by trading humans. Needless to say, killing off these amply armed slavers is a major part of the gameplay. But apart from the bloodshed, there's also a sense of mystery arising from the struggle to find out the terrible Twelve Monkeys-like truth of ten years previous. So, as you explore the sometimes serenely beautiful, though often very bleak landscapes, you find a spirit of exploration as well as retribution that drives you forward.

Probably the easiest way to describe Soldiers Of Anarchy is as a cross between a full 3D version of Commandos 2 and something like Fallout or Jagged Alliance. The role-playing element is crucial to the gameplay as you have to recruit NPCs to join your cause, and also improve your team members' skills in areas such as heavy weapons, medicine, marksmanship and explosives.

As you progress, you find vehicles such as jeeps, APCs, tanks, jets and choppers. All this equipment, along with any other weapons and ammo you find, can be taken back to your base and used in later missions. One of the keys to SoA is deciding which troops and equipment to take into each level.

CHEMICAL BROTHERS
SoA's RTS and RPG mix works well, but overall the pace is a little too slow. Cumbersome interface problems such as not being able to cleanly select units also dampen the overall enjoyment. And then there's the poor clipping that mars an otherwise crisp looking game.

SoA isn't a doomsday classic, but if you want a thoughtful and relatively tactical blend of role-playing and strategy, and can put up with some niggly foibles, this should do the trick.

Keith Pullin