Battlefront (1986 video game)

Battlefront is a computer wargame developed and published by Strategic Studies Group for the Commodore 64 and Apple II in 1986. The game is a turn-based strategy set in World War II.

Battlefront
Apple II box cover
Developer(s)Strategic Studies Group
Publisher(s)Strategic Studies Group
Designer(s)Ian Trout, Roger Keating
Platform(s)Apple II, Commodore 64
Release1986
Genre(s)Wargame, Turn-based strategy
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

Battlefront is a corps-level simulation wargame. Upon starting the game, player chooses from one of four scenarios that depict battles of World War II. The scenarios are based on Battle of Crete, Operation Winter Storm, Battle of Saipan, and Siege of Bastogne.[1]

Development

The game was designed, programmed and finished in 14 weeks. Roger Keating created a dedicated disc operating system for the game that allowed rapid access to the data stored on the disc with subsequent reloading of the game screen. Additionally, Keating wrote a novel pathfinding routine that helped to minimize memory usage.[2]

Reception

Jay Selover reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, and stated that "Battlefront is a very good game which does an excellent job of putting the player into an authentic combat role: that of a Corps commander."[3]

A reviewer of Computer and Video Games praised the game's historical accuracy and the possibility to create custom scenarios, but criticised the graphics. He stated that Battlefront "is a very good attempt, but it is not the perfect game that it might have been".[1]

The game was nominated by Computer Gaming World for Strategy Game of the Year in 1987, but lost to Gettysburg: The Turning Point by Chuck Kroegel.[4] Bruce Geryk in his article "Innovation Wars", published in 2006 in Computer Gaming World described Battlefront as legendary and said that "its landmark gameplay revolutionized the genre".[5]

References
  1. "Battlefront review". Computer and Video Games (63): 118–120. January 1987. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  2. Chatteur, Fiona (19 June 2014). Computer Graphics Through the Screen of Strategic Studies Group. Born Digital and Cultural Heritage. Melbourne: Play it Again.
  3. Selover, Jay (November 1986). "Battlefront: Corps Level Command in World War II". Computer Gaming World. 1 (32): 28–29, 50–51.
  4. "CGW meets Dragon Con 87". Computer Gaming World (42): 62. December 1987.
  5. Geryk, Bruce (September 2006). "Innovation Wars". Computer Gaming World (266): 97.
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