Enigma: Rising Tide
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| Enigma: Rising Tide | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Tesseraction Games |
| Publisher(s) | Dreamcatcher Interactive |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Simulation game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (T) |
| Platform(s) | PC |
| Media | CD-ROM |
| System requirements | Pentium III 800 MHz, 256 MB RAM, Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, 32 MB DirectX-compatible video card, and 130 MB hard-disk space. |
| Input | Keyboard and mouse, optional microphone for voice recognition |
Enigma: Rising Tide is a naval simulation developed by Tesseraction Games and published by Dreamcatcher Interactive. It was released for the PC in August of 2003. Enigma is an alternate history game that takes place in the World War II era.
Contents |
[edit] Backstory
The basis for the events in Enigma: Rising Tide is essentially that the British passenger ship Lusitania was not sunk by a German u-boat in the First World War, but instead completed her voyage without incident. This event, or lack thereof, basically prevented the United States from entering the war on the side of the allies, thereby dooming them to defeat from the German offensives in 1918. With total victory in France, the German Empire formally annexes France and Britain (which was occupied as a result of the treaty that ended the war), and becomes the German Weltreich (World Empire). Upon the occupation of Britain, Winston Churchill- then Britain's chief naval strategist- flees to Hong Kong with the rest of the British government on the fleet flagship, the new battlecruiser HMS Hood. In the haste of leaving the country however, the Hood's two uncompleted sister ships are abandoned and captured by German Forces. Under their new masters, they are completed and christened the Prince Edward and Kaiser Wilhelm, the former being named after the British traitor, Prince Edward, who stayed behind and helped the Germans form a provincial government for Britain.
[edit] Factions
IMPERIAL GERMANY- The German Weltreich is, arguably, the most powerful nation in the Enigma world in 1937. Imperial Germany controls the vast majority of Europe and has a powerful battleship fleet based out of Scapa Flow, Scotland. Though traditionally viewed as evil by many, Enigma seems to portray Imperial Germany as the "good guys", especially at the end of chapter 1. Whether this will remain true or not will probably be revealed in chapter 2 (see below). True to form, the Imperial German Navy (IGN) maintains a powerful fleet of U-Boats, mainly Type-VII boats from the Great War, as well as the new Type-IX boats. At the time of the game, the IGN is in active conflict with the LFN (see below) and near conflict with the US. Under construction at Kiel are the new battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz, which will surely play a major role in the future of Enigma. Germany is lead by Kaiser Wilhelm II and his chancellor, Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron), who avoided death in the Great War thanks to America's failure to intervene.
UNITED STATES- The US is the second powerhouse nation in Enigma. Their failure to intervene in the Great War resulted in the collapse of England and France, but during the course of the campaign noone seems to feel any regret for this. The US fleet is comprised mainly of carrier and destroyer task forces, and no US battleships are present in chapter 1 of Enigma. The US doesn't seem to be portrayed as either good or evil, but they seem to lean more towards evil at the end of chapter 1. The US is secretly hostile towards the Germans, and defends itself against the LFN when necessary. One fact that is important to note is that the US is devoted to the support of independent Ireland, and has a number of convoys to that country that are subject to controversy. The United States is lead by Harry S. Truman. It seems that the US has somehow managed to avoid the Great Depression and as a result had no need for Roosevelt.
LEAGUE OF FREE NATIONS- The ironically named League is comprised of Imperial Japan and the British government in Exile, which is based in Hong Kong. The League is a shadowy group which seems to be hostile towards both the Americans and Germans, as they strike at both on every opportunity. The LFN fleet is comprised mainly of submarines and the powerful task force built around the battlecruiser HMS Hood (refitted in the 1920s to eliminate the armor problem that caused the real Hoods demise). There seems to be a considerable amount of internal friction between the Japanese and the British, but this is not overly obvious in chapter 1. The LFN is lead by the British Government in Exile, headed up by Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Their lone goal is to retake Great Britain, no matter what the cost.
[edit] The Story
The main story of Enigma: Rising Tide is centered on the US and Germany at first, and the escalating tensions between these two. After a number of conflicts between destroyer groups in the Caribbean, the two powers come to the brink of war with the sinking of the convoy ship SS. Samuel Wren off of Ireland in mid-1937. It was claimed that the ship was sunk without warning by a German u-boat, which had surfaced to search the ship for illegal arms. However, after playing the LFN campaign, it is obvious that an LFN submarine was the culprit in this crime- the British aim to cause a war between the US and Germany in order to assist their ultimate goal of regaining Britain. Not long after this incident, the Prince Edwards task force is attacked just south of England as it attempts to head for the Falklands to engage the LFN warships there (the Falklands are now a German territory). In the engagement, the Prince Edward is sunk and the HMS Hood escapes with moderate damage. After the attack by the Hood, a task force with the Kaiser Wilhelm as its flagship sets out to pursue the escaping British, but it is intercepted by a large American destroyer force which delays the Germans long enough for the Hood to escape. However, intelligence later reveals that the Hood task force was engaged by the Americans, and that it did not escape unscathed. Chapter 1 of Enigma ends with a cutscene that reveals the Americans have launched a large-scale attack on the German fleet at Scapa Flow, effectively neutralizing the battleships stationed there. Afterwards, there is a short account of Chancellor von Richthofen's visit to the devastated site, which leaves no doubt that this is the alternate form of Pearl Harbor. It is this that seems to effectively paint the Americans as evil, as Richthofen's speech to the masses is eerily similar to that of Roosevelt's speech just after the attack on Pearl Harbor in real life. Also in this scene, Richthofen declares the age of the battleship is over, and that Germany shall build aircraft carriers and thousands of planes with which they shall rule the skies. His part of the epilogue closes with his orders to convert the Bismarck and Tirpitz, still being outfitted at Kiel, to be converted to carry planes. The epilogue ends with some well-made photos of the Bismarck under construction, near completion, and then after conversion to a brand-new class of warship, a battlecarrier. In the final photo, she has a large flight deck across the aft section of the ship, but still bears her two forward dual 14.96" turrets.
[edit] Chapter 2
The Enigma series is designed to be made up of a number of chapters, with Enigma: Rising Tide being simply the opener in this alternate-reality WWII. Chapter 2, release unknown, will be entitled "Sink the Hood!", and will inevitably be based on the German Navy's attempts to hunt down and destroy the HMS Hood battlegroup after it's attack on the battlecruiser Prince Edward at the end of chapter 1.
[edit] Gold Edition
Enigma: Rising Tide also has a Gold Edition version avalible in some stores. It can also be downloaded from some websites such as Gamespot[1]. Gold Edtion includes 3 playable battleships, the soundtrack from the game, and improved graphics.
NOTE: The downloadable version does NOT include the soundtrack.
