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Developed by Dave Gibbons/Steve Day and published by ICE in 1992

Fire Force is an action game that puts the player in the role of an elite special forces operative tasked with completing vital missions across a number of military theatres. My only prior experience with game was playing a single mission demo that featured on a cover disk from Amiga Action magazine (and reading the subsequent review). The demo was short, but I remember really liking the game's blend of military realism and arcade shooting, so I was interested to see whether the full game was any fun.

Each mission begins with a briefing screen where the basic objectives are explained. Additional information can be displayed by clicking on the (very easy to miss) 'I' in the top right of the briefing window and this will provide further insight into secondary objectives, any armaments and any conditions of engagement that should be observed.

Once briefed, you must select your weapons and equipment from the armoury screen. Here you can select from a variety of genuine, contemporary military weapons, including the venerable AK47, M60 machine gun and other automatic weapons. In addition to a primary weapon, be sure to carry some medkits to tend to wounds taken in the heat of battle, as well as C4 to blow up objectives since you're unlikely to find any in the heat of battle. The player has a limited amount of carrying capacity (guns and ammunition are heavy!), so while it might seem fun to lug an M60 and a number of bandoleers into battle to satiate your Rambo-esque fantasies, you are much more likely to succeed by picking a balanced load-out. When satisfied with the load-out, it's time to begin the mission.

Once the chopper touches down, you have an extremely limited amount of time to complete your objectives and make it to the designated rendezvous point in time for extraction. The chopper will arrive at the specified time, regardless of whether you have completed your objectives or not and you sure as hell better be there when it does. Fail to make it in time and your solider will be issued with a Purple Heart and chalked up as MIA.

The main combat sections of the game are controlled through a combination of joystick and keys and it's a good idea to get familiar with changing weapons, deploying grenades and how to use your items; fumbling your way around the game's inventory whilst under heavy fire is a sure way to make it back to base in a box!

Pressing F5 equips your primary weapon, allowing you to take down enemies at range. Holding down the fire button whilst pushing up/down will change the angle of aim, allowing your soldier to shoot enemies at different elevations, take down enemies hiding in windows etc. Releasing the fire button will unleash a barrage of gunfire in the direction being aimed, although it's possible to change aim without shooting by tapping backwards on the stick prior to releasing the button.

Downed enemies can be looted for extra ammunition and supplies by pressing 'space' whilst standing over the corpse. Items can be transferred to and from the body, providing the maximum capacity isn't exceeded. The mission time continues to count down even in the looting menu, so it's recommended that you only scavenge ammunition in this way when low on ammo; unnecessary looting is an easy way to running out of time and getting left behind.

If you do run out of ammo, you can always fall back to your trusty knife. Not only can you stab enemies with it, it's also possible to sneak up behind them and cut their throat with a particularly gruesome (for the time) animation.

Should you complete your objectives and extract on time, your performance will be assessed and a medal awarded based on your score. Killing more enemies and fulfilling bonus objectives will result in higher scores and better medals, as well as earning your soldier a promotion in the process.

The game's attention to detail, particularly the authenticity of the weapons and combat, are quite impressive for a time. The animation, especially the way your soldier takes aim and shoulders his rifle before shooting, are high quality, as is the artwork in general.

As for audio, there's little music to speak of, but there are plenty of excellent digital effects for each of the game's weapons and the enemy death screams are particularly satisfying!

Newcomers to the game will probably find this control scheme to be somewhat awkward until they get used to it. A special mention must go to the frustration you're bound to experience when trying to trying to walk down a set of stairs, only to go prone instead because you didn't press 'down' at precisely the right spot.

Fire Force is a solid and interesting shooter that is only let down by some overly-fiddly controls and overbearing time limit. If you can look past these niggles, this is a game definitely worthy of your attention.

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