Price:	$19.95		Reviewed by:	Neil Brown
Supplied:	Isotope244		Review date:	27/03/2006
Pros:	Stunning graphics Great gameplay Huge number of options for customisation Good audio (background tracks + sound effects) Very addictive!		Cons:	The lowest sound volume is not quite low enough

Introduction   I first played “Scorched Earth” many years back- it is one of the games I can remember playing when large files came on tapes and floppy disks were really floppy… The basic concept of the game is very simply – you control a tank / artillery gun / robot, and have to fire missiles at one or more enemies. The DOS version, as far as I can remember, had three or four different weapons, and a green “background” – you were essentially playing on a green mountain. Something like the mock-up below.     Well, Isotope244 has taken the game into the twenty-first century in the form of Atomic Cannon Pocket (“ACP”), and has done a fantastic job in the process.   Graphics   The first thing that struck me playing ACP was the graphics- they are stunning. There is a large variety of landscapes available, each of which looks excellent on a PDA’s screen- no sign of the blocky green mountains of days gone by. Instead, you have foreground terrain with different textures, and some amazing background artwork- for example, the valley in the screenshot below.     There is also a range of “weather” effects which overlay a background terrain – although it is a clear day in the screenshot above, you can, amongst others, find yourself fighting in the falling snow…   Each weapon looks different on screen also- the screenshot below shows a barrage of Stinger missiles woefully missing their target (I was concentrating on getting the screenshot, not hitting MetaBot- honest!).     I appreciate that I’ve made a big deal of the graphics, but, it is entirely deserved- stunning game to look at!   Gameplay   Luckily, the gameplay is just as good as the graphics. If you’ve played Scorched Earth before, you’ll know exactly what you are getting- if you haven’t, you’ll pick it up very quickly. You control your tank’s gun through a green arrow- this sets angle and power. You can control the arrow either using your device's D-pad, or else dragging the stylus on the screen. I have to admit that I found this latter option to be the easier, although, being lazy, I tend just to use my finger- but I wouldn't want to try this without a screen protector firmly in place. Clearly, the skill is in correctly aiming your missiles, and adjusting your aim when either you or your enemies move. It sounds easy, but, after playing against three enemies set on the hardest difficulty level (of course, you can vary both difficulty and number of opponents), I am happy to report that I was annihilated- and that’s after playing the game for a not inconsiderable number of hours…     Part of the knack of succeeding revolves around selecting the correct weapon- there’s no point in firing shell after shell to try to get your aim spot on when you are being pulverised by Stinger missiles, as you just won’t survive, but, equally, there is no point in wasting an expensive hydrogen bomb by shooting it straight into a mound of dirt…   Did I say “expensive?” Just to make the game more interesting, you have to earn and purchase your own weaponry, although you can enable automatic purchasing if you would rather just spend your time shooting things. By successfully depleting your opponent’s health, you gain credits, which can be spent on weapons, shields, and even movement, although, I’ve never actually spent any money on this last option.     My preference is to spend money on serious pieces of weaponry, such as radioactive bombs, and to use these early on in the game- seems to work well as a tactic, although, playing against multiple opposition can make this rather expensive, especially if you miss… Radioactive weapons continue to deplete health after the initial hit, making them good choices, in my book! There is a wide range of weaponry, ranging from shells, missiles, various dirt creation devices (great for burying your enemy, or just building a wall to shield yourself), nuclear weaponry, various beams, health packs, movement options, exploding farm animals… the list just goes on and on! Before starting a game, you can opt to remove certain weapons- if you don’t want to be firing pigs at your opposition, you can disable the weapon altogether.   Options   In fact, you can configure virtually every aspect of the game- how many credits you get per damage point, per kill, per turn, resale of weapons, what colour / size tank you want, all to name but a few. You could spend hours tweaking this game, although, after about 5 minutes of exploring the various options, I decided just to get down to the important job of blowing things up… suffice to say, if you want to tinker with options, you can probably amend virtually everything in the game.     Audio   Although I am not a fan of music in games, the background music for Atomic Cannon Pocket is rather impressive- it sounds as if a good deal of skill and care has gone into selecting and/or producing music for the game. Unfortunately, this is generally lost on me, as I turn the music off, but, if you do enjoy soundtracks whilst playing, I don’t think that you’ll be disappointed. My only negative point in the whole game is that it could do with one lower volume level, if possible, as even set on the lowest setting, I’d worry about how intrusive the sound might be to other people nearby, especially if playing the game on public transport.   Conclusion   This is an incredible game- it looks great, sounds great and is a joy to play… In fact, with the exception of the sound volume, I cannot fault it- outstanding in every way, and that is praise indeed coming from me! The game is configurable in almost every way, allowing you to set it just how you want- select your favourite landscapes (all of which are beautiful!), your favourite weapons, and many tens of other things. Or just play it “out of the box” and blow things up! This is probably one of the best games I've ever played on my PDA. Highly recommended.