A clever hybrid of turn-based and real-time action.
Well that’s the setting, but the premise of the game is to do battle between AFWs, which are essentially walking tanks. Mounted with a cannon, machine gun and, in most cases, an arm for close combat the AFW is a truly devastating instrument of war. There are four different classes, heavy, light, medium and anti-AFWs, each with their inherent strengths and weaknesses.
The Story
The opening sees your character Masami von Weizegger taking part in a standard training exercise when a prototype AFW, dubbed the Type 3 is hijacked. It then becomes your job throughout the rest of the game to track down and destroy the renegade machine, of course there are other story branches throughout the game where you will be able to recruit new members to your cause. All in all the story is linear, predictable and doesn’t give you the greatest incentive to play the game, the characters are underdeveloped and you don’t find yourself connecting with them in the same way as in other strategy games.
Some very annoying story scenes connect the chapters not only can you not skip them but they progress so slowly it becomes tedious. Just to add insult to injury the story isn’t voice acted, and it gets very annoying, very quickly.
Playing the game
Whereas the story is quite poor in Ring of Red the gameplay shines. Konami have successfully combined a pretty standard grid-based strategy game with real-time combat. I will explain, on the battlefield, which is a run of the mill grid like a chessboard, you position your AFWs taking into account their firing range. A light and anti-AFW fight better at close range, medium AFWs at medium range and heavy AFWs fight best at long range. It is simple system that works well, but it is during the actual battles between AFWs that Ring of Red excels itself.
Rather than creating a boring AFW slug-fest, Konami developed a neat little system with several options at your disposal. Aside from your AFW and pilot, in combat three units of ground soldiers join you. These soldiers range from mechanics to general infantry; one unit acts as the AFW’s crew, loading it with shells and the other two fight for you on the ground. The soldiers can be sent to vanguard where they will fight and can use special offensive skills or retreat to the rearguard and use defensive abilities, it all depends upon what type of skirmish you want to be involved in.
The important bit, though, is the AFW on AFW combat, and it is an addictive adrenaline rush. Battles are only 90 seconds long and you can adjust your range during battle, so don’t worry if you messed up on the map. However, moving in battle slows your AFW’s ability to load meaning you get less shots and you foe will take advantage of this. Everything you do in battle is left to a judgement call, especially when it comes to taking a shot. After loading a shell you are treat to screen with a crosshair which you have to centre on the enemy AFW. This isn’t as easy as it sounds, the camera jumps around all over the place at first, but the longer you remain aiming the easier it becomes, but it also means the enemy AFW has a chance to shoot you resetting your aim. It has to be experienced to be truly appreciated, but the battles become addictive expect to be saying, “I’ll just have one more battle” to yourself, a lot.
Visuals
Graphically the game is now showing its age as an early PS2 title. The battle maps are poorly drawn and they all look very similar, it just seems lazy on the Konami’s part. Things do look better in the AFW battles, but even the landscapes are limited to identical urban, forest and plains terrain. The AFWs are quite well animated and look quite good with all the cogs twisting during movement. However, there is never any indication of damage on your machine except that it catches on fire after a lot of damage. If it dented or if parts fell off the game would be much better visually, but perhaps that is something for the new generation of consoles to consider.
The Verdict
As far as value for money is concerned you should be searching the bargain and pre-owned bins for this title. Anything in the region of £10-15 is an absolute bargain. The missions take a long time to finish; a single battle can take anywhere up to two hours to complete, it is a good job there is a ‘soft’ save feature during them.
The story might not be much to write home about in Ring of Red but the gameplay makes it well worth a purchase. Search the bargain bins in your local game stores, this title should be in any strategy fan’s collection.