Its safe say that strategy games are a popular genre and we've seen a resurgence in interest in games of this type in the past few years. Most strategy games don't offer killer graphics churned out of high end Silicon Graphics workstations - many have rather plain graphics. The draw of these games are the depth of the gameplay, the interesting situations that you'll find yourself thurst into and the requirement that you use your tactical and management skills to survive. V Force is another fine strategy game that focuses on the exploits and missions of a trio of female mecha pilots and their backup cast. This game is spread out over three discs and much of this space is taken up by animation sequences that move the storyline along as you progress to the next level of conflict. There are many missions to take part in and all of them require that you complete some objective which usually involves destroying an enemy target or targets. The first few missions take place on terra firma, with your crew going after targets on land, sea and in the air. The theatre of conflict moves out into space in the later levels and the great animation sequences set up each scenario and the whole story up to that point very well. The mecha that you control are a mixture of airships and land craft. Before each mission, you can pick from an arsenal of weaponry and the weapons that you choose will help or hinder you in your battles. The game is played on a world map and movement is controlled by moving within a grid which outlines your range and limit of movement per phase. The game plays very well and the choice of weapons before each level help to add another dimension of strategy to the game. I enjoyed V Force but due to its high Japanese language content, it is not for everyone. This is especially the case if you want to know what is going on in the storyline and the mission objectives. The game requires that you understand a moderate amount of Japanese although the strategy portions of the game can be played by clicking on the available options and then watching the screen to see what the options do. Once you get used to the movement and attack buttons, the gameplay should be a breeze. V Force also comes with a VHS video cassette that features an OVA of V Force. It is a nice bonus at no additional cost over regular Playstation game prices.

Go to Current Whats New / Return to Whats New page / Return to NCS Front page