Extreme Assault

Extreme Assault is a personal computer game developed by Blue Byte. It was released in 1997. The game revolves around the player assuming control of the fictitious Sioux AH-23 helicopter, and the fictitious T1 tank, to battle space aliens over several environments.

Extreme Assault
North American cover art of Extreme Assault
Developer(s)Blue Byte
Publisher(s)Blue Byte
Designer(s)Erik Simon
Platform(s)MS-DOS
Release
  • EU: 1997
  • NA: June 30, 1997
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Single-player
Multiplayer

Although the game originally relied solely on the CPU for 3D rendering, later upgrades added support for the then popular 3dfx Voodoo Graphics series of 3D accelerator chips.

The game's 3D engine was also used in the strategy game Incubation.

The soundtrack for the game was composed and arranged by Chris Hülsbeck.

Gameplay

Players would first choose a pilot (difficulty) to be as, and then attempt to complete a set of missions in an operation area. The number of operations the player could do, depended on the difficulty, with the higher difficulties having more access; the number of operation areas in the game total around six. Each mission is often introduced by briefing with the player given information about what to expect, or what to destroy. Each operation area has a boss at the end that the player has to overcome.

During the course of the game, the player can find power-ups, ranging from ammo for the main guns, ammo for secondary weapons, or energy for the Sioux/T1's shields, and even pick up an extra gun for both vehicles' main weapons. Weapons range from a fast hitting "Razor" gun, a laser cannon, missiles, smart bombs, and more. Enemies ranged from helicopters, tanks, rocket buggies, flying robots, and stationary guns. Environments that the player deals with include wide open valleys, a volcanic island, a massive underground base, and the ice fields of Greenland complete with an alien city. The player often operates from the cockpit of the vehicle they are in, but can look around or even switch to 3rd person view.

Reception

Extreme Assault received mostly positive reviews. Most critics remarked that the game features stunning graphics even without the use of graphics acceleration cards,[1][3][4] and approved of the use of lowbrow, accessible gameplay more commonly associated with console games than PC games.[1][3][4] Next Generation disagreed on both points, contending that the graphics only look good if the optional 3dfx card is used, and that the simplistic gameplay and limited story will quickly bore the player.[2] GamePro defended, "While it may be a little short on plot, Extreme Assault has something for every gamer ..."[4]

GamePro and The Electric Playground both also said the controls are easy to handle even when using just a keyboard.[3][4] The Electric Playground's reviewer also lauded the difficulty curve, saying that "I found myself constantly and fairly challenged throughout the game."[3] In contrast, GameSpot complained that the game's difficulty is "brutal", and criticized the fact that easy mode only allows one to play a portion of the game.[1]

References
  1. Hudak, Chris (May 1, 2000). "Extreme Assault Review". GameSpot. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  2. "Finals". Next Generation. No. 35. Imagine Media. November 1997. pp. 201, 204.
  3. Shaw, John (August 28, 1997). "EP Reviews: Extreme Assault". Electric Playground. Archived from the original on 22 January 1998. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  4. Art Angel (August 1997). "PC GamePro Review: Extreme Assault". GamePro. No. 107. IDG. p. 64.
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