BREACH 2 

 BREACH 2 is a combat-oriented, squad-level role-playing game from
Omnitrend Software. It offers excellent graphics, smooth animation, 
digitized sound, ten scenarios, two skill levels, a scenario
construction editor, mouse or keyboard control, a save option, hard
drive support, and no copy protection. The Atari ST version, for
which you'll need 512K and a color monitor, is the basis of this
review. 

 The original BREACH, released in 1987, was greeted by rave reviews
which, if BREACH 2 is any indication, were well-deserved. B2 is
marketed as "the next generation step in advanced role-playing
combat." I don't know about that, but I do know that sequels are
trendy these days (and they make programming easier), which is
fine. Thomas Carbone, Maurice Molyneaux, and Haywood Nichols should
continue to think in sequel terms (or in whatever terms they
think), because BREACH 2 is an excellent program with a sense of
humor and all kinds of neat details and nifty touches. 

 The idea behind B2 is the advancement of your squad leader -- a
soldier of the Federated Worlds Special Forces -- through the
ranks, which move upward from grubby Ensign to squeaky-clean Fleet
Admiral. He must lead as many as nine marines through the ten
scenarios, each of which has specific victory conditions. The
scenarios range in difficulty from Easy to Very Hard. You'll rescue
Federated World personnel, recover important datapacks, encounter
aliens, and sometimes do nothing more than slaughter the enemy. 

 B2 starts at The Assignment Screen, a set of three windows for
handling Available Scenarios, Squad Leaders, and Scenarios In
Progress. You must create a leader, name him, and give him a
scenario. Many squad leaders and many scenarios can be in progress; 
scenarios can be chained. You can use the scenarios you construct
with the B2 editor, or those available from different sources, such
as the Campaign Disk from Omnitrend; the Azarius Incident scenario
and a seven-disk Federation Collection are available from Modern Day
Publishing. 

 Once you've begun a scenario, you're sent to the Game Screen, which
consists of a 3-D map window, a marine statistics window, and a
series of icons. The map window is where all movement and combat
take place, and it displays the surrounding terrain and any objects
or opponents in the vicinity. The current marine stands in the
center of the display on the "entry square," the map point from
which all marines enter a scenario. Moving a marine shifts the map
so that he is again centered; selecting a new marine shifts the map
back to the entry square. (When all marines are onscreen, of
course, the entry square is just another square.) 

 Each game round is two-phased: player movement/combat and enemy
movement/combat. Each round knocks 30 seconds off the game clock. 
Scenarios last a specific number of 30-second rounds, although time
is more important in some scenarios than in others. 

 The stats window provides vital information about the currently
selected marine: movement points, vitality, health, encumbrance, 
accuracy, detect, crack, and ammo. ("Crack" concerns a marine's
ability to hack into a computer for floor plans: Omnitrend is not
part of the drug trade.) Marine movement is effected by tracing a
path from the current square to a destination square; general
terrain, objects, and a marine's available movement points will have
an effect on what constitutes a legal destination square. Since
you're likely to find the 3-D movement tricky at first, either the
map cursor or the grid (both of which can be toggled) will help
out. 

 Icons control the arming of weapons, placement and detonation of
remote explosive charges, opening of doors, use of shafts to reach
other levels, and the taking and using of objects, as well as the
selection of the next marine and the next round of play. You can
read mission orders and briefings, and save a game in progress. At
any time, the scale icon provides a wide-angle view of the terrain, 
with more terrain becoming visible with further movement. At
Beginner skill level, all 3-D map terrain can be seen; at
Experienced level, walls and closed doors prevent a full view. 

 Speaking of terrain, there are walls, doors, shafts, control
panels, computer terminals, stun fields, transporters, bodies of
water, grass, jungle, forests, and vegetation. Objects include
datapacks, rocket launchers, grenades, shields, stun pistols, slave
workers, medical kits, explosive charges, and crack units. Opponents
include marauders, aliens, terradons, gun emplacements, tanks, and
robots. 

 Other than text entry at the Assignment Screen, B2 is completely
mouse-controlled; there are equivalent keystrokes if you prefer the
keyboard. Clicking on the icons invokes the appropriate routines, 
sometimes by way of a list of options. The "F6" function key toggles
the map cursor; "F7" toggles the 9x9 terrain grid. 

 With the scenario builder, you can manipulate every aspect of a
scenario: from the layout and appearance of a landscape, to the
types of objects and opponents, to the text of a mission briefing. 
While the excellent graphics and the ease of using a mouse make the
B2 construction set more visual than most, it's no different from
any other construction set: Creative thought prior to actually
building a scenario will have better results. 

 The game package comes with an instruction manual and unprotected
program and scenario disks that can be backed up on floppies or
installed on a hard drive. There is a documentation check. Also
included are order blanks for Omnitrend and Modern Day Publishing
scenario disks. 

 The 3-D graphics of BREACH 2 are excellent; all terrain features
and game objects look more or less like their real-real or
imaginary-real counterparts. The multi-level compounds are
labyrinths of rooms and walkways, and you can't always be certain
where a transporter will send you. Animation is smooth, fast, and
nicely done, the digitized sounds (screams, explosions, laser zaps) 
are used sparingly, and all graphic and control elements are
integrated in a most comprehensible way. The 3-D map and the need to
move nine marines around it may seem awkward at first, but the more
you play, the easier it all becomes. 

 While BREACH 2 might or might not be "the next generation step in
advanced role-playing combat," it is definitely a major improvement
on the usual war/strategy epic. It makes fine, full use of the ST, 
and it does so without the film graphics, slick animation, or
special sound effects that usually just clog up the machine. The ten
B2 scenarios, those available from other sources, and those you can
construct with the builder will keep your brain engaged and your
wits entertained for many days to come. 

 Also of note is RULES OF ENGAGEMENT, a space-fleet CRPG that will
link with BREACH 2 to form part of Omnitrend's Interlocking Game
System. B2 scenarios can be entered into RULES for completion. 
You'll be able to play RULES without B2, although both games
together become one huge space epic. Omnitrend is a small company
that cheerfully supports the ST with meaty, competent, unpretentious
programs, and ST users should respond in kind. BREACH 2 is an
excellent place to start, if you haven't already. 

 BREACH 2 is published and distributed by Omnitrend Software. 

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253