Return Fire
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| Return Fire | |
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| Developer(s) | Silent Software, Inc. |
| Publisher(s) | Prolific Publishing (3DO) Williams Entertainment (PC) Midway Games (PSOne) |
| Designer(s) | Baron R. K. Von Wolfsheild, Alexis Kasperavičius, Will Ware, Van Arno |
| Platform(s) | 3DO, PC/Win, PlayStation, Sega Saturn (unofficial) |
| Release date | 1995, 1996 |
| Genre(s) | Capture the flag |
| Mode(s) | 1P, 2P split-screen |
| Media | 1 CD |
Return Fire is a 1995 video game developed by Silent Software, Inc. for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and later ported to Windows personal computers, PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1996. It was preceded by Fire Power (1987) and followed by Return Fire 2 (1998). Return Fire is a vehicular shooter from an isometric perspective, in which the player's goal is to capture the enemy flag and return with it to their base. It is remembered as one of the 3DO's best games in its Home of the Underdogs entry. The Sega Saturn Version was developed by Prolific Inc. and was never officially released. However, it was leaked and made available for download in April 2007.
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[edit] Vehicles
Return Fire has four selectable vehicles, each one more suitable for one kind of mission. Each one can carry a limited amount of fuel and ammo (which can be refilled at ammo tents and fuel depots) and can take different amounts of damage.
The helicopter, given its ability to fly over all kinds of terrain, speed and light armor was more suitable for recon missions. While it could destroy a turret with just two missile shots, if outnumbered could be destroyed as each hit forced a direction change. It was also able to safely clear mines by directly firing rockets at them. One problem relating to the helicopter in multiplayer games on certain maps was that using it, it was possible to quickly destroy all the bridges around the other player's base. If both players adopted this strategy, both the tank and the Armoured Support Vehicle were effectively rendered useless for the rest of the game.
The Armoured Support Vehicle had the strongest armour and could take on a turret with three shots, and also at a safe distance, and in the two player mode, is also able to lay mines. On the other hand, it is slower than the tank, and the lower mobility makes it easy to take on by the sides.
The tank, while less capable of attacking turrets due to less armor and weaker firepower, it faster in both movement and firing than the ASV, and can rotate the turret 360º, allowing it to continue firing while moving away from the target.
The final vehicle is the jeep, which while lacking any kind of firepower (the only weapon is a grenade, which is only of some use to destroy the remains of a flag tower or a tree), is the fastest vehicle in the game, and the only one able to carry the flag. Another advantage is the ability to inflate the tires, allowing the jeep to float in deeper water. When losing a vehicle, a skull with an army helmet laughs menacingly.
[edit] Enemies
As the game is focused on the two player, split-screen mode, the game lacks real AI opponents. Only rotating missile turrets and drone helicopters (which appear if the player stands for too long without moving) are a regular threat to the player in the single player mode, except if he moves to the edges, where a submarine emerges and fires a heat-seeking missile against the player. However, if the missile finds another target (a drone or the other player helicopter) between him and the player, it will start chasing it instead. Of lesser danger are infantry troops, which appear when the player crucially hits a building. Only armed with grenades, they attempt to flee the area, either running to the walls near the turrets or swimming to deep water. They can only be killed by helicopter fire or after being run over by a vehicle.
[edit] Music
Also notable was the game soundtrack, composed exclusively by classical pieces such as Richard Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries when using the helicopter (in homage to Apocalypse Now), Flight of the Bumblebee when driving the jeep, Holst's Mars from The Planets when driving the tank or the William Tell Overture by Gioacchino Rossini when riding with the flag. When driving in the Armored Support Vehicle, Edvard Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King plays. During the opening title screen Verdi's "Dies Irae" plays as the "Return Fire" logo appears, engulfed in flame. At the completion of each level, a sequence of unrelated vintage black and white short clips greets the player.
[edit] Video
When a level is completed in the PC or Playstation version a short video clip is shown. One of these is a clips features Lou Gehrig's famous Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth speech.
