Armored Fist 2 is a PC game released in 1997 by Novalogic. It is a tactical military simulation game that puts the player in the role of a tank commander. AF2 has two modes of play, easy and realistic. Playing in easy mode is an arcade hoot – just point and click and things go boom. The interface comes with an autolock feature that cycles through all available targets and as soon as an enemy pops into view you can get the first shot off and kill it. The realistic mode is for the more seasoned tank simmer. In this mode you can only control those features of the tank relative to the crew position you are in. That means switching between gunner, driver or tank commander, and it is a good balance between realism and gameplay. In either mode it can be played from four tank perspectives (gunner, driver, tank commander buttoned or unbuttoned) or from one of the four external chase views, the latter allowing for the broadest perspective of the battle. Helping you out is a tactical map/GPS monitor and a display that shows your waypoint markers and goal indicators, which is relayed from your Inter-vehicular information system readout.
One of the biggest disappointments with AF2 is with the dynamics of the scenery. When you come up against hard targets – ruined hulks of tanks, buildings, trees, concrete fences, large boulders, etc – the tank is stopped cold in its tracks. The second major realism problem came with the use of the .50 caliber machine gun and the coaxial 7.62mm machine gun. With both you can take out buildings, trucks and aircraft. The 7.62 machine gun isn’t nearly strong enough to do that in real life. That’s not to say that battles are not fun however. Graphically things have never blown up any better. The graphics do tend to get a little chunky when there’s a lot going on, but that’s to be expected given the limited nature of the Voxel Space2 engine. While the Voxel Space2 engine may not handle pitched battles well it does create photo-realistic terrain rather nicely.
The game is touted as having 50+ missions, but unfortunately, the missions can be played out of sequence which negates the whole point of having campaigns. The missions themselves are fairly decent in terms of toughness, though this is due to having so much to see and kill rather than any intelligent opponent facing you. In terms of replayability, the game suffers from a lack of a mission builder or random mission generator.
Overall if you are looking for a good-looking entry-level tank sim or an arcade shooter, then Armored Fist 2 is the game for you. Excellent sound, great graphics, a good manual, comprehensive tutorials and lots to see and kill combine for a great combat experience and as good a showcase for the Abrams.
