• Content and Suggested Audience
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Content and Suggested Audience

Imagine the year 2132. The human race has grown beyond Earth and is now separated into two distinct societies: the peaceful core worlds and the lawless frontier worlds. Both compete for the necessary planetary elements needed for survival.

As a player, you are a freelance mercenary hired by a mining company to investigate a mysterious breakdown in communication from a mining camp on the planet Lanios 3. Operating a Planet Runner, you land expecting to find a simple pirate raid but instead find a race of mechanical life forms intent on destroying all humans and human construction. Communications are jammed and you face the alien race alone.The goal is simply to seek and destroy the enemy; whoever is left standing wins. While the goal is simple, accomplishing the goal is not!

The suggested age printed on the box is 13+, but the accompanying literature suggests 18+. Certainly a game this complex is best suited for experienced gamers, and the content and purpose of the game is not suitable for use in school. I would agree that older teens and adult gamers who have some experience installing and operating games of this complexity are the target audience.

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• 76 page instruction booklet in addition to the on-screen instructions.
• Single and multi-player games: head-to-head, modem, and 16-player networks are all possible, including a scenario builder function which allows fully customizable multi-player games.
• 50 non-linear missions on two different planets take the player beyond the initial scenario described above.
• 3D cinematic sequences, SVGA graphics, and a Voxel generated environment create very realistic visual effects.
• Sophisticated weaponry including 70mm dual cannons, heat-seeking missiles, and nuclear warheads.
• 50 different alien robotic enemies, including assault helicopters equipped with searchlights.
• Suggested retail price: $38.00

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I had difficulty installing this game. There are five choices available, two of which * are not described in the booklet:

• *minimum - requires 25 megs RAM, the bare necessities.
• small - requires 58 megs RAM, loads all but screens, missiles, and movies; apparently these are only loaded as needed to conserve space and therefore slow down the game quite a bit.
• medium - requires 120 megs RAM, loads all but mission files and movies.
• large - requires 228 megs RAM, loads all but movies.
• *massive - requires 345 megs RAM, loads everything for optimal gaming experience.

I am fortunate to have access to exceptional computer facilities at the University. Even so, I was not able to load the game at the "massive" level, and loading the game at the "large" level took 15 minutes. It seems to me that players at home would need to reserve most of their disk space for this game in order to play at the "optimal gaming experience level" depending on the computer system of course. Still, the game is certainly stunning in visual and audio quality and would no doubt be woth the extra effort for dedicated gamers.

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• Shattered Steel will run on an IBM 486 66 Mhr or 100% compatible. A minimum 25 megs RAM is required.
• A sound card is not required for the game to function, but is highly recommended to enhance gaming experience. A partial list of compatible sound cards is found on page 3 of the booklet.
• A 100% Microsoft compatible mouse is required, and a variety of support controllers are optional; the list in the booklet on page 3 is subject to change.
• A video card with at least 1 meg RAM and on-board VESA 1.2 BIOS is required.
• Multiplayer network games require an IPX protocol on each computer.
• Modem play requires a Hayes compatible modem for a two-player, head-to-head game; serial link-up requires a null modem cable.
• Future support is being planned for Virtual I/O i-Glasses, Forte VFX1, and Stereographics Simuleyes, but is not guaranteed at this time.

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I was fortunate to find the following Shattered Steel site which also lists a large number of related sites including reviews, systems support, and game play hints. Rather than re-invent the wheel, I have chosen to simply list Erryn D.A. Binning's Shattered Steel Page with many thanks.

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March 18, 1997