Falklands '82

Falklands '82

Commodore 64 cover art
Developer(s) Personal Software Services
Publisher(s) Personal Software Services
Series Strategic Wargames
Platform(s) ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Turn-based strategy
Mode(s) Single-player

Falklands '82 is a turn-based strategy video game developed and published by Personal Software Services for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 in 1986. It is the fifth instalment to the Strategic Wargames series. The game is set during the 1982 Falklands War and revolves around the occupation and subsequent re-capture of the Falkland Islands. The player controls the British Task Force as they must either defeat all Argentine forces on the archipelago or re-capture every town.

A port for the Amstrad CPC was advertised but never released. During development, the developers obtained information and statistics of the war from NATO. The game was met with controversy upon release, with criticism mainly being directed at the potential of Argentina "winning" the war. Despite this, the game received mostly positive reviews; critics praised the detailed graphics however many critics were divided over the gameplay. The game was released as Malvinas '82 in Spanish markets.

Gameplay

A map showing the battles in northern East Falkland. The red sprites represent the Argentine positions

The game is a turn-based strategy and focuses on land battles of the Falkland Islands during the Falklands War. The player commands the British Task Force against the Argentine ground forces, who are occupying the islands. The game begins with allocating fifteen Royal Navy ships for the task force; in which a proportionate amount must be devoted for attack and defence purposes.[1] The player then must choose four landing spots on East Falkland to begin the invasion; Port Stanley, Berkeley Sound, Cow Bay and San Carlos Bay.[2] The SAS or SBS are available throughout the game to provide intelligence on Argentine movements, however, intelligence gathering is limited and may only be used a certain amount of times.[3] At any time, the player is able to request reinforcements from either one of the two aircraft carriers, HMS Hermes or HMS Invincible.[3]

The main objective of the game is to either defeat all occupying Argentine forces on the archipelago, or to capture and hold all ten towns of the Falklands simultaneously.[1] Depending on the difficulty set, the game lasts 25 or 30 turns. If every town has not been occupied or if any Argentine forces remain by the end of the last turn, the game will end.[2] The capital of the Falklands, Stanley, has the highest concentration of Argentine forces and is likely the last town to be captured.[3] There are a total of four choices for combat; attack, move, pass and 'recce'.[1] The game includes a changing weather system, which changes from every turn and will provide obstructions for various forces. For example, stormy seas will temporarily render naval vessels and troop reinforcements unavailable, whilst fog will render both naval and air forces unavailable.[3]

Text alerting the player that one of the Royal Navy ships has been sunk

During the course of the game, Argentine airstrikes will frequently sink Royal Navy ships depending on how many of them were initially allocated to defensive positions.[4] In addition, Argentine air forces will occasionally bomb and destroy British forces on the ground, in the appearance of animated sprites on the map.[4] The map also displays accurate terrain, such as rivers and mountains. If troops are situated on top of a mountain, they will receive a defensive bonus once attacked however they will be subjected to slower movement, due to the steep terrain. If the player chooses to enter an enemy-controlled zone, the move will instantly end and will leave the unit concerned vulnerable to an Argentine attack.[4]

Development and release

In Falklands '82, we were attacked for having a game where the Argies could win - but it could have happened.

“
”

Richard Cockayne in a interview with Your Computer magazine in 1986[5]

Personal Software Services was founded in Coventry by Gary Mays and Richard Cockayne in 1981.[5] The company were known for creating games that revolved around historic war battles and conflicts, such as Theatre Europe, Bismark and Battle of Britain. In an interview with Your Computer magazine, Richard Cockayne stated that both Theatre Europe and Falklands '82 received heavy criticism from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and The Sun newspaper, respectively.[5] During development of both games, Cockayne and Mays obtained their figures for statistics from both the Cold War and Falklands War from NATO and the Soviet embassy in London.[5] The game was planned for an Amstrad CPC port, however it was never released.[6] In Spanish markets, the game was released as Malvinas '82 (the Spanish name for the Falkland Islands) and included a manual which never saw an English translation.[4]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
Crash3/10[1]
Your Sinclair8/10[3]
Sinclair User[7]

The game received mostly positive reviews from critics upon release. Rachael Smith of Your Sinclair praised the overall experience of the gameplay, stating that it was "ideal" for newcomers and plays "smooth", however she criticised it for being "annoyingly slow" at times.[3] A reviewer of Crash criticised the gameplay, stating that it fails to "offer a serious challenge" and that it does not allow the player to experiment with choices the real task force commanders never had, such as planning tactical air strikes.[1] A reviewer of Sinclair User praised the gameplay, stating that it was "swift" and had "nice touches" for beginners to the wargame genre. He further added scepticism over the inability to play on the Argentine side, sarcastically stating that the omission would "help improve" Anglo-Argentinian relations.[7]

A reviewer of ZX Computing heralded the graphics and details of the map, despite suggesting that "hardened wargamers" would not be interested in graphical advancements.[8] A reviewer of Computer Gamer praised its simplicity, stating that it was a "simple game" and would prove to be a "good" introduction to the wargame strategy genre.[2] In a retrospective review, Tim Stone of Rock, Paper, Shotgun praised the game's ability to display the war in a neutral manner, however he questioned the developer's intention of not allowing the Argentine side to be playable. Stone summarised that the game had "greater significance" over other war strategy games at the time and had an "undeniable quality".[4] Upon release, The Sun newspaper criticised Falklands '82 for having a scenario where "Argentina could win", however, the founder of Personal Software Services, Richard Cockayne, asserted that his company did not trivialise the war by producing strategy video games.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Bethall, John (April 1986). "Falklands '82 review - ZX Spectrum". Crash (27). Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Falklands 82 review". Computer Gamer (13). May 1986. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Smith, Rachael (May 1986). "Falklands '82 review". Your Sinclair. No. 5. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Stone, Tim (12 April 2013). "The Flare Path: Longing For The Short Form". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. VG247. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "History of PSS". Your Computer 6 (6): 84–85. 13 June 1986. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "Falklands 82 for Amstrad". World of Spectrum. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Falklands '82 review". Sinclair User (50): 53. May 1986. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "Falklands '82 review". ZX Computing (5): 13. May 1986. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
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