Hey there everyone! This past week, I downloaded a new game that was released for iOS called “WarGames: WOPR”. I’ve been a fan of the original film for most of my life, and since it’s release in 1983, there have been a handful of video games that were published, that are based on the movie, made for a variety of systems. ColecoVision, TI 99, Commodore 64, the Atari 8-Bit family, Playstation, modern computers and now the iOS have had games released, some with completely different gameplay. The version that I will be reminiscing about today is the version that I grew up with: “WarGames” for the ColecoVision, originally released in 1984.

For those that have never seen the movie, it is the story of a high school student named David Lightman, who uses his home computer to break into his schools computer to change his grades, while at the same time, trying to impress a fellow student named Jennifer Mack. While reading a computer gaming magazine one night, he learns a company called Protovision is getting ready to release a slew of new video games in upcoming months, but he doesn’t want to wait. He instructs his computer to call every telephone number in Protovisions district, in hopes of gaining access to their system. After finding a computer system with lots of various games stored on it, he begins to research the creator of the source code in hopes of discovering the password to gain access. He succeeds, and begins playing a game of “Global Thermonuclear War”, and while playing the part of the Soviet Union, begins to nuke various cities in the United States. The only problem? He didn’t access Protovision at all, but rather NORAD, who uses the games on the computer to play various war simulations to prepare for WWIII. This causes havok at NORAD, because their system is showing that a massive nuclear attack is approaching, and it is up to David to try to convince everyone that it is not a real attack, but just a simulation, which wasn’t easy.

In the ColecoVision version of “WarGames”, the object of the game is to intercept missiles, bombers and submarines with the help from the civil defense computer (the “WOPR” in the movie). If you are successful, you will prevent the computer from launching a counterstrike. However, if you fail, an ICBM counterstrike will occur, and the game will be over. What is uncertain about this program, is whether or not the game is an actual nuclear attack prevention senerio, or if the game is true to the movie, where if you lost the game, the “counterstrike” would actually be first strike. The manual hints around briefly that it is a simulation, but it’s so vague that it gives this writer enough uncertainty. But regardless, it’s simply fun!

In the game, the lower 48 states are divided up into 6 different zones. (Why not Alaska and Hawaii, especially since there was a part of the movie that took place specifically in the Alaskian Defense Zone?) At any time you can look at a map of the entire lower USA, as well as attacks that are arriving, by pressing button 8 on the keypad. You will see the various missiles coming from above. Buttons 1-6 zoom into the various parts of the country for a closer look, while buttons 0, pound and star will select your weaponry. Only when you are zoomed in to a specific zone can you defend the country by firing your own missiles and bomber aircraft, and if you are on a coastline, submarines. There is also a satellite that will randomly appear in the zones that you can use to nearly intercept everything on the screen, but that only shows up sparingly. (But it works so well!) The game runs in real time, so after you give your commands in one zone, you can immediately go to another zone to continue your defenses.

The game is timed, and the amount of time you have to keep intercepting depends on which skill level you select at the start of the game. While the game is being played, you will want to take note of the DEFCON meters that are to the right side of the map. This is where it counts. Each zone has its own DEFCON level, and there is an averaged DEFCON status reading below that. At the start of the game, each zone starts you off at DEFCON 5, which means complete peace throughout the country. As the enemy attacks continue, the counter will slowly begin to drop to DEFCON 1. As you intercept enemy fire, the status can always return to DEFCON 5, but as more and more attacks occur, and as more and more of the United States gets struck, the DEFCON status will continue to drop, and drop rapidly it will. As soon as the total DEFCON status reaches DEFCON 1, that is when the countdown to counterstrike begins. You will then have 60 seconds to bring the total DEFCON status back up to at least 2. If it doesn’t happen, it’s nuclear armaggegon. If you can get it back up to DEFCON 2, the counter stops, but if the DEFCON status drops again to 1, the countdown starts over. If you have less than 60 seconds remaining in the game when the countdown to counterstrike starts, just relax. You’ve made it!

The game is very much often compared to the Atari program “Missile Command”. And with that type of comparison, I have to admit that it is a pretty accurate way of putting it, although the charm is something a little different. It’s one of those situations that while “Missile Command” was very fast moving and intense (both the arcade and home versions), “WarGames” tends to run a lot slower. But what it lacks in speed, it makes up for the fact that the game is played on 6 different screens simultaneously. At any given time, there could be something happening on screen A, but you wouldn’t know it because you would be looking at screen F at the time. You have to constantly be checking the view of the complete map to see where enemy fire is in the air, and you have to decide which cities you are going to sacrifice in order to intercept a more massive attack elsewhere. It actually gives you an extra challenge twist to the basic Missile Command, which makes this game one that I highly recommend. (Just don’t use the game to intensionally make your 4 year old brother freak out… My brother used to force a counterstrike when I was 4 years old to make the air raid sirens go off, which used to make me lose my mind. I’m still traumatized.)

Over the years, additional games were released that used the “WarGames” title, however it’s one of those situations where each game is almost completely different. For example, there was “Computer War” which was “based on the film”. (Why they couldn’t use the actual title, I don’t know.) This was the most similar, but also incorporated shoot-em-up elements to the gameplay. Then there was “WarGames: DEFCON 1”, which was released for the original Playstation & PC, which while it uses certain names from the film like WOPR, it is nothing more than a vehicular combat game. Then there is the new iOS game that I talked about at the beginning, which ironically, is a clone of “Bejeweled” with WarGames images and sounds. (Which I have to admit, even though it has nearly nothing to do with the movie, it’s a lot of fun to play with the various sound effects and screens.) The only game that came close to the original, is a game called “DEFCON” which was released in 2006 on Stream, PC, Macintosh & Linux.

“DEFCON” takes the original “WarGames” title and concept from the Colecovision days, and punches it in the nuts. Graphically, it’s superior to the already supurb graphics that the original offered. The music is stunningly haunting, complete with mellow music, sounds of crying from the impact, and coughing from inhaling fallout. And the best part of it all? It’s multiplayer! You can play as any country in the world (minus Antarctica), and others play the other countries. Chat with the others playing with you, and try your best to save who you can. The main difference is that in “DEFCON”, there’s always fatalities. In fact, the moniker of the game is “Everybody Dies”. So if you are more into modern gaming, yet like games like “Missile Command”, enjoy war based games but want something different than first person shooters, or have a thing for online multiplayer experiences, “DEFCON” is another one to try out.

I’ve been racking my brain as usual, trying to figure out what type of game to review for the next edition of Throwback Thursday. I decided to focus this edition on things such as a rich family. A biochemical toxin. Kinky sexual encounters. Scandals. Lies. Murder. And while I could be talking about the brand-new reboot of the classic television series Dallas on TNT, I am actually talking about a video game released in 1993. The game was originally released for the Philips CD-i, however due to the failure of the system in the United States and beyond, the game (as well as a sequel) were released for the PC and Macintosh computers the following year. During the CD-i days, this title was frequently used in advertisements for the console, taking advantage of the full-screen video capabilities of the system. Today, I will be reviewing the title “Voyeur” as played on the original CD-i machines.

In this game, you play the part of a private investigator that was hired by a member of the Hawke family. This unidentified family member hired you to try to obtain enough information to expose Reed Hawke: The CEO of Hawke Industries, who is more than a little corrupt. Over the weekend frame that you play the game, Reed Hawke (played by Robert Culp), is preparing to make an announcement that he will be running for the presidency of the United States. And it is over this exact same weekend, that you have to obtain enough evidence to expose him. Your actions, will alter the storyline severely. You can witness immorality, murder, scandals, and other acts that may be considered just a tad bit illegal. Your job, is to get the information via the use of a video camera, audio recorder, and in some miraculous way, access their personal files in an unrealistic remote fashion. Depending on the evidence that you gather, you can either go to the police, or if you feel that a family member is in immediate danger, send a copy of your information directly to that family member, before it’s too late. However, if you go to the police with insufficient evidence, they may not take you seriously in the future. Whereas, if you send a copy of your findings to either the wrong family member, or not enough information is sent to the family member, Reed Hawke just might have a special surprise for you! (Even if it is a very cheesy way of saying “Game Over”.)

Depending on the video and audio clips that you view or listen to at the very beginning of the game, will later on decide what your possible outcomes could be at the end of the game. For example, you can learn how Reed Hawke’s daughter is very into the preservation of the rainforest. This would bring a situation later on in the game, where you would learn that Reed has a bio toxin, that could destroy all plant life for hundreds of miles with just a few drops. You could also learn, about a sexual assault that Reed Hawke did to his niece at a young age. This could allow a situation in the game, where the niece or the aunt would confront Reed about his actions, which could either end up with a simple apology, or a murder of one or another character (which you would have the ability to prevent, or if you were too late, at least show to the police.) In the many years that I’ve played this title, I have discovered at least six different scenarios, all with completely different endings. Most of the video does repeat from play to play, don’t get me wrong. But, with the number of videos and audio clips playing at the same time, as long as you don’t follow the exact same pattern every time, it will give you a very interesting and effective way of replaying the game without getting bored. I personally think that this is one of the games highest qualities, especially in a generation where memorization was all it took to beat a game. This type of capability in the software, was also used by Philips to prove how “smart” the CD-i system actually was, even though the system failed miserably.

The game itself, is a very simple point and click engine. For both the PC and CD-i versions, you move the pointer to the various windows of Hawke Manor. The cursor will change according to what video or audio clips are available at that exact moment in time. An eyeball will indicate that a video is available, an icon of an ear will indicate audio is available at that time, and a magnifying glass will indicate that papers and/or a computer terminal is available for your examination. Throughout the story, you will be introduced to Reed’s sister, niece, other family members, his secretary, and other acquaintances. You’ll learn throughout playing the game, that each character has a very distinguishable characteristic, that is important to discover to complete the story. This is one of those games, that as long as you pay close attention to everybody’s actions and statements, you will have no problem achieving a victorious outcome. This is one of those games, that I like to call “intelligent”. However, it’s not an intelligence that would solely require mental puzzle solving abilities alone. It requires excellent communication, listening and comprehension skills.

Voyeur is one of many games of the time that uses actual video throughout the game. But unlike many other games of the era that used “full motion video”, Voyeur actually only uses the outlines of the characters, and has a video game textured background. This is opposed to actually using a complete full video frame that was used for systems like Sega CD and Panasonic 3DO. In fact, this game didn’t even need to have the optional “digital video cartridge” installed in the system, which would have allowed actual full motion video. What this gives us though, is the ability to have smoother video in a time where full-motion video could not be handled by those video game systems and computers (even though the console companies wanted us to believe that.) In a way, it was kind of nice to see a game using video, but not using the full frame video that was being used on other systems, since while it was a nice change, the technology simply wasn’t there yet. I give kudos to Philips for not pushing the limits too much, too soon.

Ironically, this game was released in a very interesting time frame in the history of video games. Less than a year after the games release, another game called “Night Trap” was released for the Sega CD. It was at around this time period, that Congress had begun cracking down on extremely violent or suggestive video games. What is interesting about this, is that while Night Trap was the game that was most used in trying to convince us that a rating system was necessary for video games, Night Trap was quite  tame when compared to Voyeur. For instance, Voyeur contains brief female nudity (if only from the rear), while Night Trap does not. Voyeur shows actual murders taking place, in a realistic manner, whereas Night Trap was done in a comical fashion. Not to mention the obvious lesbian encounter. The only thing that saved Voyeur from being head of the spotlight of the issue, was the fact that it was released for a system that was not widely in use. I think if Voyeur had been released for any other game console, that it would’ve been the game given the third degree instead. If both games were television shows, Night Trap would have been rated TV-14, while Voyeur would have been given a strong TV-MA.

As I said in the beginning, this title sounds like something you would see on the show Dallas, Dynasty, or any other of the nighttime soap operas that aired in the 80s and 90s. If you are able to comprehend those types of television shows (or even if you just like a good thriller), this game will be very enjoyable to you. It’s long been widely known that the CD-i did not have a large variety of good titles in it’s library. In fact out of the few hundred titles made for the system (and yes, there were a few hundred made throughout the world), the number of excellent quality games that were made for the system could very easily be held in a single hand. The Philips CD-i holds a very strange love in my heart that some people would rather call an arrhythmia. For some reason, the system is one of my favorites. I don’t know why, it just is. However, Voyeur would certainly be one of the games in my hand where I’d hold the actual excellent games for the format. And, the good news, is that you don’t need a CD-i system to try out the game, since it was released for home computers of the day. (And yes. While the original CD-i version was officially “unrated” due to the lack of a ratings system at the time, the computer versions? Needless to say, rated M.)

Note: Video preview contains spoilers.