SEAL Team

The Good
As a fan of military simulation and strategy games, I have had the opportunity to play almost every game of this genre since about 1988. And of all the DOS games I played in the early years SEAL Team has to be one of the best, if not "THE" best.

The game starts off with the ability to choose from many different options at the start menu, such as real or unlimited ammunition, enhanced enemy skill, and even the damage potential of your own shots. After you have chosen the option that best suit your tastes, you can start a new campaign or try the training mission.

Training missions are actually the real missions that you play throughout the campaign, but here you have the option to play any of them at any time. This is mostly for people just wanting to check out the game or do a little practice.

When you start a campaign you have the option to select the year in which you start out, as well as pick which soldier you desire to act as Point Man (your character). You have four choices to pick from, each having certain strengths and weaknesses. You will also choose your nickname, and then you're off to the bush.

For the following opinions, I will base and compare them with other games from this period. For starters, the graphics are pretty decent. Structures and objects are not the best looking but are good enough to clearly identify them. Textures are basic, but give the terrain and objects enough appeal to enhance some of the realistic feel.

Sounds are pretty good in my opinion, especially the environmental sounds that really seem to draw you into the jungle setting. There are some voice-overs played by your support units during certain actions, which also give the game a better appeal than a simple on-screen text message. The music is OK, but personally I don't listen to music on games like this (seems unrealistic to me, and interrupts my listening to other important sounds). Music can be turned off for those that desire to.

The controls are quite simple and easy to use as well. Learning the key and mouse controls were very fast, and the entire control interface is a snap to use even in critical moments. The option of using either keyboard, mouse, or joystick is also welcome because most people have their own preference.

Documentation was great, with a manual that is to-the-point and easy to read. One of my favorite features of the manual are the added photos of actual SEALs during Vietnam, as well as photos of all weapons and vehicles. The manual covered all aspects of the game in a manner that anyone can understand and follow through with.

The variety of missions is great, with all kinds of objectives. For each mission you have the choice of selecting your team members (excluding the point man), as well as the equipment each man will take with him. All soldiers have specific skill ratings and these will improve while doing missions. And who doesn't like being able to select your team's loadout to tailor the specific mission at hand based on your own tactics?

One of the other great features is the awarding of medals and promotions after missions based on your performance, as well as other little "bonus" features such as the Bull Sessions and the informative briefings. You can really start to get a feel for the game and immerse yourself in it, and look at your fellow soldiers as people and not just AI.

There are multiple save spots where you can save your campaign status after each mission, helpful if you lost too many soldiers or weren't happy with a mission. This will prove to be a much-needed option.

The Bad
Even with all the good points about this game, there were a few bad points as well. Although few, some are serious dents in the overall strength of the game.

For starters, there was no key reference included with the game, nor was there such a page in the manual. Most of the key commands are actually mentioned throughout the manual in seperate areas. This basicly means that you must read through the entire manual first to learn all the key commands, and many will probably need to write most of them down for the first few missions until they get the hang of it. Even though there are only a dozen primary commands, and are fast to learn, some aren't as obvious as others and are all still necessary to know.

Second, and one of the worst bugs discovered, is that at times for no apparent reason your point man takes serious injury. If a support team is engaging the enemy units and an enemy takes a hit, at times your point man will "take the hit" as well. This doesn't happen often, and the reason is unknown to me, but it can be very annoying. For example, your team must destroy a bunker which is heavily guarded by several patrols. You send in a few choppers to soften them up first, while your team is safely distant of the area (to avoid stray bullets). You are watching the action from the chopper's point of view, and suddenly BAM! You get a message about your point man being dead. Sometimes he is just suppressed, or wounded, but usually he is killed. This doesn't always happen, but it's not entirely rare either. And it happens regardless of what view you are using, or even how far you are from the action. One of the reasons I suggest you always save your game after each mission.

That pretty much covers the "bad points" of the game that I have experienced though, and you can see they are not too serious when you weigh them with the good points of the game.

The Bottom Line
If you are interested in a fun and fairly realistic and immersive game of the Vietnam War period then this game is a definite must-have. There are dozens of missions throughout the game, and a vast selection of weapons and items to equip your men with. Multiple types of support units are available in most missions, and the AI isn't all too stupid.

Go ahead and give it a try, I'm sure most will enjoy it. Lock and load, and light em up.