Finally, there is no dynamic campaign engine included in the sim.
Being able to put these problems aside for a lesser game would be impossible. But because everything else that Steel Beasts models has been done so well one can over look these shortcomings with ease!
In Steel Beasts you get to run around in the American M1A1 Abrams and the German Leopard 2A4 tanks. Be warned … because these tanks are the earlier models of today's battlefield monsters you wont be getting that many wiz bang techo toys to play with!
As with all hard core sims it pays to learn your weapon before dealing out virtual death to any unwary enemy tanks! Thankfully Steel Beasts comes with quite a few training missions for both the M1 and Leopard tank ranging from gunnery training, commanding several different units, to calling in Fire Support from artillery.
The sim only models the TC and gunner positions in detail but you can also control the direction and speed of the tank as well as control the greater picture from the map screen.
Attention appears to have been paid to the physics in the game. Its quite cool watching the different trajectories of the HEAT and Sabot rounds as well was watching the Sabot and machine gun rounds ricocheting off the terrain and vehicles. Also, shoot at a T72 with a Sabot round (or kill an APC with HEAT) and watch it lurch from the impact or come to a sudden halt if it's killed.
Once you think you are good enough you can then take on the missions that come with the sim. They range from quick ambush type scenarios that are over in 5 minutes to multi-unit engagements that can last several hours. Be prepared to devote some considerable time to this sim.
Of course you could always design your own missions with the mission editor, and in our opinion a fully functional mission editor will always extend a games longevity considerably. For those of you that have played Tacops (yes, both of you put your hands up) we can finally live the dream of fighting many of those original Tacops missions or what about the possibility of playing out the initial engagement from the book Team Yankee … well … all that and more can be done with the Mission and Map editors!
The mission editor is damned powerful too! You can create routes for tanks (assign conditions for them to follow certain routes if x condition is met or not met) set damage states for vehicles, rules of engagement, visibility and effectiveness of individual units and so on.
This brings us on to the modeling of the individual units in the game. Its quite cool to watch your tank engage a BMP or a building with Sabot and see nothing happen (because the Sabot goes right through the target) but as soon as you engage the target with a HEAT round you get to see a very satisfying explosion as the round hits home.
