STEEL THUNDER

 Accolade's STEEL THUNDER is a most complex and well-executed tank simulation.
Like most comprehensive simulators, STEEL THUNDER (ST) has enough depth and
variety to teach you the basics of tank operation and strategy, and offers
plenty of ways to test and perfect those skills. In addition, it's a very
user-friendly package: lots of great graphics, a detailed manual, and a good
copy-protection scheme. (This review is based on the IBM-PC version.)

 There are four tanks simulated in ST: the M1A1 Abrams, M60A3, the M3 Bradley,
and the M48A5 Patton. The Abrams is a popular choice for simulators: It's the
fastest (over 70 mph, under ideal conditions) and most advanced tank in service,
with an impressive list of computerized functions. The M60A3 is largely being
supplanted by the M1A1, but the M60A3 was (and still is) popular as an export,
and as the primary tank for the Reserve and National Guard. The M3 is
lightweight, serving as an APC as well as a tank; it was never really meant to
be front-line material.

 You'll find the differences between these tanks well-implemented in ST.
Armaments, speed, equipment -- all are accurate for each type of tank. Thus,
you'll have to learn a few different keystrokes and techniques for each tank.
There are 21 missions: seven each in Cuba, Syria, and West Germany. You can
almost always select which tank to use, but one of them will usually be the
clear choice.

 The first mission of each of the three scenario locales is always a practice
mission. You're invulnerable and your mission is generally pretty
straightforward. The other scenarios are "real." Fortunately, for those of us
who don't know everything there is to know about tanks, the game makes
recommendations as to tank type and ammo. The manual serves as a more complete
guide regarding precisely which ordnance is most effective against which kind of
target.

 Inside each tank, there are a variety of screens: the Driver station, the
Gunner station, the Commander station, as well as map, stores, and damage
screens. The map screen uses icons for friendly and enemy installations, troops,
SAM sites, geographical features, and more. Using a sort of ADF, you can proceed
through two checkpoints to your goal; this is one area I found poorly documented
(misleading, in fact). You apparently need to be on a different screen than the
Driver screen, and give the Next Goal command, to use the ADF. Nowhere is this
mentioned in the documents.

 Fortunately, Accolade includes keyboard overlays for three different keyboard
styles. You'll make good use of the overlay; there are three dozen different
commands you'll need frequently. Some of these options include two types of
smokescreens (engine smoke and smoke grenades); fire extinguishers; sight
magnification (the day sight and night periscopes are superbly executed); and a
number of quick instruction keys for your personnel. That's another very nice
detail: You have to pick and choose your gunner, driver, and loader. There's a
good list, and each has three separate skills that must be evaluated against the
needs of that particular scenario.

 STEEL THUNDER takes a lot of time to learn and control. With the great number
of scenario, tank, and personnel combinations -- and their strategic variations
-- you'll be learning right up until you play out the final scenario. What's
nice is that once you're familiar with the controls (and the tanks), you'll
truly feel that you're commanding a tank. That's due in part to the great
graphics. ST supports MCGA/VGA, CGA, EGA, Hercules Monochrome, and Tandy
16-color. The MCGA/VGA graphics make use of a larger palette -- not 256 colors,
but probably 64 -- so that the still screens really have a halfway photographic
feel, and even some amusing spot animation. The tanks themselves are
meticulously drawn, and the scenery has a lot of detail -- trees, hills,
friendly and enemy troops, installations, and vehicles. In fact, if you increase
the magnification on your day sight, you can see the bodies and the blood.
Another nifty detail is the explosions. There are big differences between the
explosion you see when you shoot your cannon, when the enemy shoots theirs, when
you score a hit on them, when you miss them, and so on. That helps you get a
realistic picture of what's going on when you're too busy to check your status
screens.

 Messages constantly come in from your crew, keeping you advised of your status
all throughout the game (and whichever facet of the game you're dealing with).
It's reassuring to know you're not alone in there. Once in a while, damage is
actually graphically represented in the turret itself. And if the game is going
too slowly (mostly during the long treks across uninhabited territory), you can
turn on time compression (high or low) and speed things up.

 STEEL THUNDER comes to the IBM user on two 5-1/4" disks, both of which are
totally without on-disk protection. Thus, the game may be easily installed on a
hard drive or working floppies, and the originals can be stored safely. The only
copy protection is in the form of a password chart, printed black on dark red,
to make it resistant to photocopying. When you boot the program, you're asked a
question from the chart. You do _not_ need to do this more than once per play
session. System requirements: IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 Models 25, 30, 50, and 60,
Tandy 1000 series, 3000/4000. 384K is required, and the 3-1/2" disk version is
available separately.

 If you love tanks, STEEL THUNDER will provide a thrilling and constantly
challenging experience. My only complaint involves the minor omissions from the
manual, but in other areas, it's a model of completeness. Overall, Accolade
really has something to be proud of here; STEEL THUNDER is one of the better
simulators (and perhaps the best _tank_ simulator) on the PC market.

 STEEL THUNDER is published and distributed by Accolade.

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