Str: Radioactive [by Cornutopia]

Game Review:  Radioactive
Release: April 2001
Genre: Strategy
Developer: Cornutopia
System Requirements:  Windows, DirectX7.0, 200Mhz CPU
Players: 1-4 (vs)
Price: $15.00
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Radioactive by Cornutopia Software recreates the experience of the famous scene from the movie "War Games". In fact, this is the sequel to their previous title, Thermonuclear Domination. From the moment it asks you if you want to play a game to the wireframe graphics, you become immersed in the War Games mindset while destroying the world through nuclear superiority.

There isn't much of a story to speak of in the game though. You take turns as one of four major world powers launching missiles from submarines or silos, sending out aircraft, or defending yourself with anti-bullistic missiles. In order to make such attacks, you need to pick an angle and distance to attack, so it is kind of like a 3D overhead view of Scorched Earth. Your targets are basically cities, factories, airfields, submarines or carriers. Cities don't do anything by themselves, but they may double as the headquarters of the Army, Navy, or Air Force. Taking out those specific cities will also take out surrounding infrastructure and turn the tide of the battle in your favor.

You can play hotseat multiplayer or play against the computer with a few tweakable options. It could act like a human player by taking its time making its attacks, inching towards the target, or act very computer-like and be cold and calculating. You could even adjust the type of opponent by making the computer player highly aggressive, highly defensive, or decide a preference between ships or land attacks. It was fun watching four computer opponents aggressively attack each other in the Arcade speed mode. There are also other speeds that can run between super fast for quick games to "tactical" speeds which allow you time to make decisions.

There are a number of options that the game provides for your wars. Fighting can take place on various worlds, so besides the basic Earth from 1999, you can also play on an Archeapelago or in the Great Lakes, among other areas. I was disappointed that your shots couldn't wrap around the world, though. If you shot something too far off the west end of the map, for example, it would just keep going rather than wrap around and appear on the east side. Still, I found it useful to shoot targets that were closest to where I was shooting from, since your attacks would be highly effective and also less likely to be destroyed by ABMs. Longer range attacks can be easier to defend against, and by the time your attack reaches its target, the enemy might have been able to use that target to launch multiple attacks on its own.

Submarines can shoot three missiles at once, which provides a nice spread at the target site. If you target the center of a few clustered cities, your submarine will likely hit a large portion of them. Single shots and planes can only hit once. Missiles are very fast compared to planes, so there are some advantages to having them in good supply. Factories help replenish your supply periodically, but if you lose them, you will eventually run out of missiles. Airfields and carriers are then very useful to have since you only lose your attack ability when you lose either the plane itself or a place for it to land on its return.

Defending against shots is difficult since you have to manually launch ABMs. Usually this will be your only chance to move, so you need to decide whether defending yourself against an attack is more important than sending out your own attacks. As more shots get fired, your ABMs become less effective, since they lock onto only a single inbound attack. When there is only one missile heading towards you, it is easy to defend against. When a submarine lobs three missiles your way, and you already have two planes bringing you some special gifts, a lone ABM won't do much to protect you.

It can get quite involving when you play the game, even though it seems fairly simple. Grab some friends, and you'll definitely have some fun.

Graphics: 7
The wireframe graphics are not comparable to most games, but they do look authentic. It's like watching the big screen while at Defcon 5. The control interface matches with the game, but unfortunately there are no real ways to determine what damage is being done during the game. You can only check and see if you have more cities of your color than the opponent does, but it would be nice if there were some numbers or bars on the screen to give you a quick visual cool. Only when the game is over do you find the number of casualties and who the winner is.

Sound: 6
The intro/menu music and speech is fairly cool, but the music during the game isn't very memorable. The sound effects aren't of very high quality either.

Game Play: 7
The controls are innovative. There are two wheels, one for the angle and one for the range. To increase either, you need to turn the appropriate wheel to the right. Once you get used to it, it makes sense, but you may find yourself struggling at first. Also, turning off the beginner mode means you remove the crosshairs, which means you have to do a bit more work with estimating the accuracy of your shots.

Value: 7
I think that this game has enough variety to make fans of Scorched Earth and similar games happy. It can get boring playing the computer opponents, but the different difficulty levels extend the gameplay for some time. In certain situations, a win against the computer opponent means you can unlock certain modes.

Concept: 8
Being able to play the home version of Global Thermonuclear War is fairly cool, especially for fans of the Matthew Broderick movie.

Fun: 6
I think that this game is fun, but even with the different AI levels and other options, it is still fairly limited. I think it is more fun with multiple players. Single players will find some enjoyment here, too, and with the right settings it is interesting to watch a world get destroyed by four computer opponents in less than five minutes.

Overall:7
I think Radioactive is definitely a cool concept for a game. This game isn't as good looking as Cornutopia's previous work Flatspace, and the gameplay isn't as involving as Outliner. Still, for a mix of real-time and turn-based strategy, this game pulls it off well. It's definitely something to check out, especially if you fondly remember games like Scorched Earth or Gorillas from QBasic fame.

Added: January 10th 2005
Reviewer: Gianfranco Berardi
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