General Chaos

General Chaos

Developer(s)	Game Refuge Inc.
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Designer(s)	Brian Colin, Jeff Nauman
Programmer(s)	Jeff Nauman
Artist(s)	Brian Colin
Composer(s)	Michael Bartlow
Platform(s)	Sega Genesis
Release date(s)	1994
Genre(s)	Real-time tactics
Mode(s)	Single Player, multiplayer

General Chaos is a 1994 video game developed by Game Refuge Inc. and published by Electronic Arts for the Sega Genesis. General Chaos is a satirical arcade/strategy game.

Gameplay

The game is a quick and dirty battle (or a longer campaign mode that is a series of battles fought over a dynamic strategic map) between two generals, "General Chaos" and "General Havoc". The objective of the game is to capture the enemy's capital city.

Each player has to pick one of 4 teams, 3 of which have 5 soldiers (with differing selections weapons), while one has 2 "commandos" and uses a different control system giving greater control.

The player views the action from an isometric perspective, watching cartoon soldiers duke it out on the battlefield. The game features a balance between action and strategy. For instance, whenever two soldiers on opposite sides get close enough, close combat will ensue. The soldiers can punch, kick, or block the attack. If one of the player's men loses all his health points, he will fall down on the ground. To help the fallen soldier, the player must move the cursor, or another soldier in the case of the commandos, close to the injured soldier and call out for a medic to revive him. However, there is a limit on the number of times that a medic may be called. There are also many items that yield points on the battlefield to pick up.

With a multiplayer adapter up to four people can play simultaneously against the computer in campaign mode. The player can also fight other human players without co-operation. Another feature of the game is the tutorial mode called “boot camp”.

Classes

Gunner: The well-rounded unit of the game with a medium range attack and high rate of fire though his gun might jam. It is used primarily for attacking.

Launcher: While the game lacks a "sniper" character, the launcher serves essentially the same purpose with a powerful, slow-firing, long range weapon. The launcher's Attack can be stopped by cover but may randomly result in an "instant death" of an opposing combatant (reduced to a skeleton and therefore can't call a medic). Can destroy bonus objective targets.

Chucker: Grenades are the primary weapon of this class. Their attack has a low rate of fire and is easily avoidable but the grenade goes over cover, can damage multiple units, and has good range. Can destroy bonus objective targets.

Scorcher: Possibly the most dangerous unit in the game, these soldiers use a flame thrower to do damage which, despite having the shortest range, can hit multiple soldiers and is the fastest weapon. Once a scorcher is on top of another unit, it is very difficult to survive. Because of this capability, they make excellent flanking and escort units. Attack may randomly result in an "instant death" of an opposing combatant (reduced to a pile of ash and therefore can't call a medic). If the Scorcher goes into water, his weapon will be temporarily disabled (indicated by bubbles being shot out instead of fire).

Blaster: Considered the weakest unit in the game and needs to be protected. The Blaster is similar to the Chucker. Instead of using grenades, they throw dynamite which goes over cover and inflicts heavy damage. However, they have an extremely slow rate of fire and the second shortest attack range, so they are not as useful. Attack may randomly result in an "instant death" of an opposing combatant (reduced to a skeleton and therefore can't call a medic). Can destroy bonus objective targets.

Kickstarter campaign

On September 6th, 2013 Brian F. Colin started a Kickstarter campaign in order to fund a sequel. The campaign fell more than $100,000 short of its goal.^[1]

Reception

General Chaos received generally positive reviews. Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game an 8 out of 10, calling it "the ultimate one-on-one "fighting" game!" They praised the humor, wealth of options, and four-player mode.^[2] GamePro likewise praised the humor and the four-player mode, as well as the enemy AI, and summarized that "General Chaos combines brain-squeezing battlefield strategy, challenging squad tactics, and real-time button-pressing combat with humorous cartoon graphics."^[3]

References