My interest in Starship Troopers – Terran Command (and, perhaps, others) is clearly not connected with the name of the authors of this strategy – if the publishing house Slitherine is still known to the general public, then the direct developers from the studio The Artistocrats were noted only for the good turn-based wargame Order of Battle: World War II and a pack of DLC for it. But the original source, be it a book Robert Heinlein (Robert Heinlein) or film Paula Verhoeven (Paul Verhoeven), is a completely different matter: just the recognizable image of a mobile infantry soldier from a movie is enough to attract attention to the project.
I admit, despite my partial attitude towards both the novel and the film, I was not expecting revelations. A couple of months ago I tried the demo version, was not impressed (it lasted me less than an hour), decided not to spoil the impression completely and postponed a full acquaintance with the game until later: you never know, maybe the release will feel more positive?
A good arachnid is a dead arachnid!
For inexperienced readers, it is worth immediately making an explanation: the novel Heinlein and action movie Verhoeven – these are, as they say, two big differences. The book was written by a retired officer (the future science fiction classic graduated from the US Naval Academy and served in the Navy for five years until he was discharged for health reasons) and is a true ode to the army and the military lifestyle. The original look at the socio-political structure of a utopian state did not go unnoticed: for this novel the author was awarded the prestigious Hugo Award and at the same time accusations of militarism and even fascism. At the same time, the book became one of the iconic works of science fiction literature, enriching the genre with now familiar ideas like power armor.
The film, made almost half a century after the book’s release, is a satire on a utopian society Heinlein. The director enters into an absentee polemic with the author of the original source, and does it so subtly that viewers unfamiliar with the book assumed Hollywood "Starship Troopers" for a cool sci-fi action movie, not noticing the ridicule of a society in which the army is at the forefront.
There are base defense missions in the game, but there are not many of them. This is a strategy, not tower defense, as many thought.
In terms of plot and setting Starship Troopers – Terran Command entirely made according to the film’s patterns. And the point is not only in the recognizable appearance of arachnids or fighters in light armor (it does not look like the huge exoskeletons from the book), but also in that very satire: jokes towards creation Heinlein continue, albeit not presented as skillfully as Verhoeven.
Between missions, we are shown short videos from the federal news agency FED NET (similar ones were in the film): bravura speeches by an announcer with a well-trained voice talk about the difficult fate of the inhabitants of the planet Kvalasha, for which the battle took place. For people, this is a source of valuable resources that the army needs, and arachnids, as befits evil beetles, simply kill everyone. However, for some reason it is the constant insects that turn out to be more cunning and inflict defeat after defeat on the army. But the news announcer is not discouraged: “Despite the huge losses, the mobile infantry will still win!» It’s funny to watch such tricks – it’s even a pity that the videos are so short.
Video inserts between missions are just https://slotsofvegascasino.co.uk/ a set of pictures. Nevertheless, they are drawn with taste, and the voiceover of the announcer deserves special praise.
It gets to the point of absurdity – in one of the missions we need to find an escaped criminal and save him from arachnids. For what? To deliver him to the place of execution, otherwise the live broadcast of the execution (apparently this is a common thing for local television) will be in jeopardy, and this cannot be allowed to happen! While the criminal under the cameras is chained to the electric chair, brave paratroopers staunchly defend the prison from arachnids – it was not in vain that they rescued a fugitive from a desert full of beetles.
The enemy will not press the button if you take away his hand
Satire is, of course, great, but following the canons of a book rather than a film, in my opinion, would be much better suited to a strategy game. Landings from orbit in power armor, customization of exoskeletons, not only arachnids as opponents – this potential set of features appeals to me much more than what we see in Terran Command. It’s quite sad here with original ideas – the only good thing is that the developers were able to get the most out of the existing ones for gameplay.
Let’s start with the fact that only a single-player game is available, and without a scenario editor or random battles – only a campaign consisting of a linear chain of missions. But these missions are distinguished by the variety of tasks: you either have to defend the base from constant raids of arachnids, or, on the contrary, you yourself have to clear the area from hives in which new beetles are constantly breeding, and sometimes you have to act in a small detachment without hope of reinforcements.
The quality of the graphics is not impressive: the effects look cheap, and killed arachnids instantly evaporate, unlike the film, where beetles filled the defense with corpses.
It’s worth mentioning separately about reinforcements: this is not a standard RTS with the construction of barracks, in which you can order new soldiers using the resources obtained by “peasants” or “harvesters”. The main tactical unit in Terran Command – a platoon consisting of several fighters. Each such platoon has its own specialization and special skills that can be unlocked as you gain experience for killing enemies. For example, ordinary infantrymen throw grenades and clear out hives, snipers illuminate targets in the “fog of war,” and officers can increase the damage of allies in a specific area of the map. Arachnids also have specializations – for example, ordinary warrior beetles climb walls, and huge tankers hit areas and are almost immune to small arms fire.
New detachments of mobile infantry arrive straight from orbit, on landing boats. Supplies are needed to summon them. We are given a small number of them immediately at the start of the mission, and we have to get additional ones ourselves by capturing boxes scattered around the map or completing tasks. The second type of resource is military support points: they are needed to create turrets and build buildings that give access to new types of fighters.
Let’s go, monkeys! Are you going to live forever??
The general feeling is that this is more of a wargame than a strategy. The loss of a squad leads to the fact that supplies are returned to the general pool, thanks to which reinforcements can always be called from orbit (although these will be green recruits without pumped up abilities). However, the time it takes to make up for losses can be fatal, so overwhelming the enemy with cannon fodder is not an option. In the end, who are the stupid insects here??
Taking advantage of numbers rather than skill will not work for one more reason, which is the only distinguishing feature of the game: during battle, it is necessary to take into account the formation of units and use the features of the landscape for the best effectiveness of the weapons of your fighters. Simply gathering everyone in a heap and crushing the arachnids with a hail of bullets and grenades will not work: if an ally is in the line of fire, the squad will not shoot, so as not to hit their own. Therefore, you have to be sophisticated, occupying heights, using special abilities and outflanking the enemy.
A red icon above a squad indicates that the soldiers see the enemy, but cannot shoot at him – an allied platoon is in the way.
Oddly enough, even such a meager set of features allows the game to be interesting precisely as a tactics. Here you really have to rack your brains about how to defeat the enemy in each battle, and the campaign, despite its linear structure, constantly throws up new tactical tasks, the solution of which sometimes turns out to be non-trivial, especially if you turn up the difficulty settings in favor of the arachnids.
An example of a well-chosen position: engineers with the help of flamethrowers can stop the arachnids from two directions at once, and ordinary infantry will cover them from the flanks.
Unfortunately, Terran Command unlikely to be saved from oblivion. This is literally a one-playthrough game: after completing the campaign, there is nothing to do here – there is no multiplayer, and the lack of even minimal customization and variability (some campaign missions are created so that they can only be completed in one single way) puts an end to the desire to return to Kvalasha and once again clear it of arachnids. I’m not even talking about the outdated technical design – everything is clearly visible in the screenshots.
However, if you like real-time strategies and don’t mind once again recalling the caricatured images of the ideal soldier and citizen from the film Verhoeven, Terran Command deserves your attention.
Pros: the influence of terrain and unit construction on battles; various missions; satirical surroundings to match the film Paula Verhoeven.
Cons: outdated graphics and generally poor technical condition of the game; too primitive gameplay; lack of modern features such as leveling up units between missions or a global map.