RPG Twilight 2000 1

The world is at war. NATO and the members of the Warsaw Pact have been duking it out across the globe for years. Nuclear weapons have been deployed by either sides, and all superpowers, backed by their allies, have been fighting over territory. In Poland, a madman grabbed the power in Warsaw; Baron Czarny. His goal is to gain full control over Poland.

You lead a small squad of soldiers from your home-base in Czarny. You start the game by recruiting a squad of soldiers. This can be done completely manually, giving you complete control over their powers and abilities, their past work experience, nationality, etc. Or, alternatively, you can recruit randomly generated soldiers, where the computer determines their stats. Once you have recruited a sufficient number of soldiers, you will enter your office, where you have a few options.

Hint: To complete the first mission, ensure that you have snowshoes available, as well as someone who speaks Polish.

Using the radio will get you your first mission. Apparently the city of Zator is short on medical supplies. Luckily, the nearby town of Skawina has offered to help out by promising a crate of supplies. Your mission is to go pick up the crate and deliver it to Zator. You can check on the map where your objectives are, and use the filing cabinet to select who will participate in the mission. Once you have a team of 4 members assembled, use the lamp to go into the doorway. Here, you can return to your office, head into the supplies room, or enter the motor room.

The supply room will contain everything your characters initially have from their education, while the motor room will be empty. You'll have no other option than to walk. This can be achieved by clicking on the bright door opposite of you, after which the screen will switch to 2D mode, showing your squad, represented by a single soldier. Moving can be done by using the arrow keys, but it's a painstakingly slow process. It's easier to use the map (Right-click the mouse or use <space>, then select the map icon), and clicking the "Move" option. You will be prompted to select your destination by clicking on it. Do so, then press ESC and you will fast-travel.

Once there, you will need to locate the crate. Checking the map, you can see a hospital and a number of smaller buildings. The crate (for me) was in the house to the south of the hospital. You might have to press <V> while in map mode, if you do not see the door (because it's not on a side visible from the players' perspective). Once you have the crate in your possession, fast-travel to Zator. Use your map to locate the house with the NPC (represented by a small dot), and then hail the person to deliver the crate.



The character creation is tedious if you use the manual option, but might be necessary to ensure you will have every enough soldiers who speak every possible language available in the game, as you will encounter NPCs who only speak randomly selected languages. Movement is also cumbersome. The 2D screen is very zoomed in, meaning you have to move between a number of screens to move between buildings. Personally, this is not my type of game, as even the first mission took ages, and seeing I rushed through the character creation, I lacked anyone speaking Polish. I'm guessing the RPG part is what the game focusses on (after all, the game is based on the tabletop game with the same name by Game Designers' Workshop), but damn, it'd been nice if the game provided a bit more action, even in the first mission. Instead, you'll be stuck investigating buildings by moving between countless screens, in a cumbersome navigation setup.

I'd be happy to be enlightened by someone who played and enjoyed the game, though.