BISMARCK: THE NORTH SEA CHASE 

 BISMARCK: THE NORTH SEA CHASE is a war/strategy game from Datasoft
that offers a host of features, including several play/difficulty
levels, battleship and flight simulations, arcade action, and a
nifty weather report. Anthony Stoddart of PSS programmed BISMARCK, 
which is distributed by Electronic Arts. Atari ST version notes follow. 

 BISMARCK can be regarded as a three-part game comprising war
strategy, battleship action, and, to a lesser degree, flight
simulation. As Jim Steinman once noted in a completely different
context, two out of three ain't bad. 

 BISMARCK's setting is the North Atlantic. Time runs from 4 a.m. on
22 May 1941 to midnight on 27 May 1941; the game clock ticks off an
hour in five seconds. Within this framework, you can assume one of
two roles: British -- in which you hunt the battleship Bismarck and
its heavy cruiser companion, the Prinz Eugen, and either sink them
or (at least) prevent them from sinking your ships; or German -- in
which you roam the North Sea and wreak havoc on British shipping
convoys and battle units. 

 The graphics display for a Standard game consists of three separate
screens, each invoked at certain times: a Map Screen, a Naval
Engagement Action Screen, and a Flight Simulation Screen. 

 The initial screen is the Map Screen, and it displays the North Sea
area where the Bismarck lurked, as well as various land masses, such
as the British Isles, France, and Greenland. Date and time are in
the lower right corner. A large square cursor, called the Com Box, 
slides around the screen via the joystick; when the Com Box is moved
to any of the various screen icons, information is displayed. 

 The icons represent game elements such as British and German
ships, land masses, weather stations, undersea mines, ice floes, 
ports, and air bases. For example, positioning the cursor on a Naval
Unit icon displays the type of ship, its name, the amount of fuel, 
and its speed. 

 Positioning the Com Box on a cloud, pushing the joystick button, 
and then moving the joystick invokes a nifty function: The clouds
shift and move in patterns, the date and time change, and night
follows day in a continuous weather forecast. This is helpful when
planning general strategic ship movements and air searches. It's fun
to watch, too. 

 Periodically, the Command Center icon blinks; positioning the Com
Box onto this icon causes an intelligence report to scroll
horizontally across the top of the screen. If you are controlling
the British, the Bismarck (usually hidden) will appear briefly, 
giving you an idea of its whereabouts. I say "an idea of its
whereabouts" because the Bismarck is one fast battleship. 

 Moving the Com Box onto a Naval Unit and pressing the button
transforms the cursor into a Destination Cross, which can then be
moved to wherever you want to send the ship. Anytime the Naval Unit
is accessed, the Destination Cross will appear, until the
destination has been reached. 

 Air searches can be conducted by positioning the Com Box onto an
Air Base icon and then pressing the button. The search area of the
Map turns red, and subsequent game hours reveal different
information concerning the search. 

When you access the Action Screen, you'll find a rectangular window
through which the sea (and whatever is out there) is visible. The
ship's functions are controlled via the joystick, and are indicated
by any one of several icons: Fore/Aft views; Maintain Distance; 
Close In; Pull Away; Identify a Sighted Vessel; Main Guns (and Arc, 
Bearing, and Distance to Target); Escape Battle; Shell Hits; and a
Variable (Fire Control, Aircraft, or Torpedo) that depends on the
ship. 

 If the Variable for the ship you are controlling is Fire Control, a
cross-section of that ship (the Ship's Plan) appears on the bottom
of the screen. The cursor moves a fire extinguisher to blazing areas
of the ship, such as shell rooms, magazines, and engine and boiler
rooms. If the Variable is Aircraft, you have eight Swordfish torpedo
planes with which to launch an air strike. If the Variable is
Torpedo, you can launch torpedos, as well as fire the main guns. 

 Instead of a Ship's Plan, some Naval Units will have radar (which
looks much like a real radar screen, right down to the "blips") to
indicate that something has been sighted. The "Identify a Sighted
Vessel" causes the program to cycle through all the ships you could
possibly encounter, and to notify you when a match is found. Good
thing: It helps to know at which ship you want to toss shells. 

 The Germans will emerge victorious on fulfilling either of two
conditions: reaching the southern edge of the Map without sustaining
more than 50% damage; or, reaching the port of Brest in France after
having sunk (at least) one British battleship, carrier, or convoy. 

The British will come out on top by sinking the Bismarck, by not
losing any units, or by preventing the Bismarck from reaching the
southern edge of the M before game time is up. 

 In addition to the Standard game, there are practice attack
exercises and battle scenarios to choose from. They last long enough
to sink or be sunk, and neither victory nor defeat is determined. 

 The graphics in the C64 version are reasonably good: The Map and
screen icons are clear; the Battle Action Screen icons suffer
slightly from a mild murkiness. However, the other ships, fired
shells, and the splashes made by shells are visible enough. The guns
move up and down, retract for reloading, and you can see the shell
as it leaves the barrel. 

 Usually, cockpits get lost in a welter of meters, dials, and
obscure keystroke-invoked functions. Not so in BISMARCK: The
torpedo-carrying Swordfish flight simulation screen consists of a
window and an austere dashboard sporting only speed and altimeter
controls. There are no numbers on the meters so you have to...oh, 
let's say, "wing it." The ship you are targeting for a torpedo gets
larger as you get closer, but it's far too easy to fly past it. 

 BISMARCK isn't too bad a game. Time is a factor, which lends
urgency to hunting or being hunted. True, strategy is limited, more
or less, to studying the weather forecasts and intelligence reports
and then sending the right ships to a destination. The Battle Action
Screens more than make up for the dearth of strategy; they could
have been even better had the faulty flight simulation screens been
skipped. 

 I have seen BISMARCK advertised in magazines for under $25, so if
the thought of two good functions out of three doesn't get under
your skin, you can probably have some fun with it. 

 ATARI ST VERSION NOTES 

 BISMARCK for the Atari ST represents Datasoft's low point for
1988. The implementation of the three levels of BISMARCK (war
strategy, battleship arcade action, and flight simulation) suit the
C64 version better. 

 Graphically, the ST version looks brighter and clearer; otherwise, 
it appears identical to the C64: This fact alone is enough to sink
BISMARCK. 

 Flight simulation on the C64 did not feature a whirling propeller. 
Flight simulation on the ST does feature a whirling propeller
which, by itself, is not capable of redeeming this screen. 

 According to the instruction manual addendum, BISMARCK can be
controlled with the mouse instead of a joystick. In reality, the
joystick worked better, but using it still required occasional mouse
clicks. 

 With Commodore 64 graphics and a hefty ($39.95) price tag, the
Atari ST version of BISMARCK is much less than a two-out-of-three
proposition. It's not even a bargain-bin proposition. 

 BISMARCK: THE NORTH SEA CHASE is published by Datasoft and
distributed by Electronic Arts. 

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