Theatre Europe

Awards

Theatre Europe was voted Strategy Game of the Year by several different magazines - Computer & Video Games (multi-format), Zzap (C64), Crash (Spectrum) and Amtix (Amstrad).

Controversy

The game was criticised as being in bad taste by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and The Sun newspaper in the UK. High Street retail chains Boots and John Menzies refused to stock the game.

Manual

The manual includes a section which combines moralism, disclaiming and fear:

Whilst the producers of Theatre Europe have taken every care in researching this program to ensure the accuracy of details, we must stress that the events depicted in this conflict simulation are entirely fictitious. They must never be allowed to happen; the danger is that they might!

Phone Number

One of the game's more particular features is that if the player wanted to use nuclear weapons, they'd had to call a phone number (0203 668405 in the UK, a 1-800 number in the US) to be granted a authorization code. The recorded message dramatically featured sounds of war, crying babies, screams and air raid sirens all culminating in a nuclear explosion. After this, the player would be granted the code "Midnight Sun".

Remake

In 1989, Theatre Europe was graphically remade for DOS, Atari ST and Amiga computers as Conflict: Europe.