After a series of previews here, Spearhead has broken out
of the motor pool and is rampaging through your local
software store. We've been curious to see how the tank game
that tries to appeal to both twitch and sim gamers would
finally turn out.
Spearhead does indeed score on a few points, but there are
a number of other things that would make players simply
shake their heads and ask themselves, "Why?"
Spearhead offers training missions, single missions, a very
linear campaign in the deserts of Tunisia, multiplayer
missions, a simple to use mission editor, and several
levels of difficulty. The controls and basic motion are
very simple to learn, and players should be able to engage
in their first battles in after a very short period of
familiarization.
Crew voices and mechanical sounds are quite good and very
authentic-sounding. Your crew may not say much, but at
least they sound much better than the grating voice acting
from iPanzer '44. Better to do a little well than a lot
poorly.
As for the mechanical sounds, Spearhead outdoes all the
competition. The sounds for powerpack ignition, shutdown,
and idle are all right on target. Treads make an awful
racket once you launch into motion. The grinding sound from
the turret serves as a reminder of the many tons that are
rotating on the ring. The CITV's servos buzz and whine as
you scan the horizon. The turbine whine from other M1's
driving by is also nicely implemented. It's just a shame
that the gun-related sounds (especially the commander's .50
cal) aren't as good.
The CITV is an exceptionally well done part of the game.
While you don't have the typical CITV control screen as
M1TP2 models, Spearhead does model the "meat" of what makes
the CITV valuable. You can spot a target and hand it off to
the gunner. The gunner will call out "Identified!" when he
recognizes the target and from that point he'll track the
target automatically, leaving you free to hunt another
lucrative target. Unfortunately, the gunner does not lase
the target or fire by himself. Indeed, you have to supply
the range data for him from the CITV - which is rather odd
considering that the CITV doesn't have a ranging laser.
Just a couple steps short of greatness here.
Unfortunately, visible distances in Spearhead are
dreadfully short. Spearhead appears to have a maximum
horizon of 2500meters. That means that the entire horizon
is well within the engagement range of the M1's gun.
Furthermore, it puts players uncomfortably close to enemy
vehicles - not a good place to be as one of the facets of
the M1's survivability is being able to outrange its
opponents. In practice in Desert Storm, M1's frequently
engaged targets as far out as 3500 meters. Not only is the
enemy always well within your gun's range, you are also
always very close to their effective range against you.
Compare this with the incredible depth-of-field in M1TP2.
Against stationary targets, M1TP2 players have occasionally
managed to hit targets just shy of 6000 meters distant.
Furthermore, the battlefield is visible over quite a long
distance, sufficiently far enough to allow the possibility
of spotting units before they move into range - 8000
meters. Perhaps the thing to keep in mind here is that
Spearhead really falls into the lite-sim class of game,
where such details are usually winked at.
While the visible area may be very small, the drivable area
is not. This is a very significant advantage. In M1TP2, you
quickly learn that the safest way to reach your objective
when you're on the offensive is to skirt the edge of the
map and therefore have to guard only one flank. Spearhead's
maps are so large that this tactic simply isn't practical.
Indeed, one can spend quite a long time driving from one
end of the map to the other.
The IVIS is a clear example of something that's a really
good idea in theory, but just didn't work in practice. The
idea was that rather than have the normal "strategy map" to
switch to for planning and giving orders, just emulate the
commander's actual tools. So your IVIS is very similar to
what a real M1A2 commander would have in the real tank. In
practice though, the strategy map of most tank sims are
designed around the fact that players don't actually have
voice communication with allied units and that allied AI is
usually not good enough at working as a team if left to its
own initiative.
These weren't design issues in designing the actual IVIS,
so the result is an interface that is very cumbersome to
use and limited in scope and flexibility. Ground warfare
sims simply require the fastest, most flexible strategy map
possible to make up for that lack of a radio and
sophisticated AI. However, one key point to the makers'
credit - in escort missions you can order vehicles being
escorted to form up on you so you don't have to race after
them while you're supposed to protect them. This is
something all too often overlooked in even some of the most
well respected games.
Spearhead features what is arguably the most realistic
driving in a tank sim. It features all the commonly used
transmission settings, an ignition switch, a parking brake,
and an engine governor override. Hills and terrain can
create quite a bit of fluctuation in your speed. Various
kinds of soil are modeled, including the fact that soil at
lower elevations tends to be softer - slowing you down. You
can even roll down a hill if you don't set the brake.
One of the most frustrating things is the game's
inconsistency. Some of the obvious problems are so basic
that one can only wonder why other areas received so much
attention. Driving can be done by rudder pedals or
keyboard, but the steering is so ponderously slow for
keyboard users that your tank can hardly dodge a glacier -
why have realistically modeled driving then? The gun
stabilization system appears to be very well modeled and
the fire-control computer seems to work reasonably well -
yet wire-guided missiles act more like heatseekers (they
still track on their target even if you kill the launcher).
The strangeness goes on. Commands as fundamental as the
smoke grenade launch button and engine governor switch were
left out of the key reference card. There are no formation
commands. The range of orders you can give to allied units
and tanks is terribly limited. Enemy units don't seem to
behave with any semblance of cohesion or follow any combat
doctrine. The AI doesn't seem to understand the meaning of
the words "hull down". In fact, they seem to do only
whatever the mission originally told them to do - then they
just turn their turrets at you and fire if you get spotted
- is the good mission editor actually acting as a
substitute for missing AI? Furthermore, why put infantry in
the game yet completely leave out the coax machine gun?
In all fairness, even as our previews hinted, the part of
the game that had the most merit is the multiplayer
support. While multiplayer campaigns are unfortunately not
possible, Spearhead's SIMNET-based multiplayer technology
does an admirable job allowing players with even humble
33.6 modems to play rather smoothly over the Internet.
Even this has serious flaws. Unfortunately, all the
2D-based screens, such as the chat screen, engine displays,
and IVIS, all ran at one frame-per-second on the test
machine. There is no provision for chatting while you
fight. You must switch to a chat screen while the battle
rages - in the meantime, your tank is totally helpless
until you return.
There is also no provision for regenerating after you die -
the game simply boots you right back to the main chat room.
Here you sit until you can join another game, reload the
mission data, and start over again. To make matters worse,
in one engagement a T-72 took seven direct hits in the rear
armor from an M1's gun at 2000 meters - from both HEAT and
SABOT ammunition - yet sallied on completely unfazed.
Most "lite-sims" make up for the lack of subtle gameplay
elements with plenty of eye candy to keep the more
"action-oriented" gamer happy. Unfortunately, the graphics
in Spearhead have a distinctly unpolished look. Many of the
3D models are hideous - the Apache and Kiowa are nearly
indistinguishable from each other. The special effects from
explosions, smoke, and gunfire all look very artificial.
Even the framerate chugs along at times despite the modest
graphics.
Spearhead is a special challenge for the reviewer. "Who is
it for?" For tank sim enthusiasts, there are too many
fundamental flaws for it to be worthwhile. The action gamer
would lack the eye candy he's come to expect. The only
sensible market, then, would be the tank sim players
desperate for multiplayer gaming or action gamers who
aren't very picky about graphics. Hopefully iMagic can
salvage the multiplayer code and use that as the foundation
for putting together a truly deserving ground combat sim.
Spearhead shows moments of excellence, but these are
isolated from the rest of the game. Sadly, the game as a
package is hobbled by too many weak points.
