8 /10 1 Votes
Initial release date 1989 Genre Turn-based strategy | 4/5 My Abandonware Developer New World Computing Mode Single-player video game | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Platforms Amiga, DOS, AmigaOS, MS-DOS Publishers New World Computing, U.S. Gold Similar New World Computing games, Turn-based strategy games, Other games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nuclear War is a single player turn-based strategy game developed by New World Computing and released for the Amiga in 1989 and later for MS-DOS. It presents a satirical, cartoonish nuclear battle between five world powers, in which the winner is whoever retains some population when everyone else on earth is dead.
Contents
Gameplay
The game's introduction includes an homage to Dr. Strangelove. Each player - one human, four computer-controlled - is represented by a caricature of a national leader (the MS-DOS version allowed more than one human player). If there is a computer-controlled winner at the end of the game, that leader is depicted jumping for joy in the middle of a blasted wasteland, crowing "I won! I won!". If the player wins only the high score board is shown. Once a player (computer or human) loses, all of their stockpiled weapons are automatically launched. It's possible for a game to have no winner because of this. If this happens, a cut scene of the earth shattering and exploding is shown, and the high score table appears (though without any new entries).
Characters
The following characters are available in the game; the public figure being satirised is listed in brackets.
Reception
The game was reviewed in 1990 in Dragon #159 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4½ out of 5 stars. Computer Gaming World in 1990 favorably reviewed the game's graphics, fast and brief game play, and humorous computer opponents. A 1992 survey in the magazine of wargames with modern settings gave the game three and a half stars out of five.