Genesis REVIEWS: General Chaos

General Chaos is probably one of the Genesis's most unique games, and probably the only one of its genre. It's a Real-Time Tactics game that involves commanding one squad of units in a battle against another squad.

A unique gem in the system, everything is great in the game, apart from it being as short as a tech demo.

89: General Chaos:-

Year: 1994.
Genre: Real-Time Tactics.
Publisher: EA.
Developer: Game Refuge Inc.

"Paramilitary Pandemonium"

This is a military game, with cartoonish commanders and visuals. It obviously doesn't take itself seriously, as it depicts a war between General Chaos and Havoc, a war that is woven through several stages.

Unfortunately, this brief plot (if you can call it that) carries over to the game. In single player, you compete against the computer in a series of battles, numbering around 10 or 11 stages, and whoever wins more battles wins.

Once you beat the game, you can try and beat it again, and again, but you are always going to play the same stages, even if in a different order. That's it. There are no more generals to fight, no twists on the regular battle stages.

It is better to start with the tutorial

However, the game does offer a neat little twist: local multiplayer. Up to four players can play co-op against the computer, or better yet, two players can duke it out against each other. While fighting against the computer can get boring after a time, the multiplayer component (if you can access that) is very interesting.


"The enemy is running scared"

So what is an RTT? I don't exactly know, but I have not played something similar to it that I can remember. There are two control schemes for the two different types of squads. So let's get the less common squad out of the way.

The commando squad consists of only two soldiers, each with more health than usual. You can control one soldier individually and move them as well, while calling the other to follow you. Of course, you can switch it up and attach with the push of a button. Commando teams are much more mobile than regular squads, but are more vulnerable, making them an interesting hardcore option.

Sending one unit against the entire lot of them is another kind of hardcore if you ask me

For the regular squads, you control five soldiers, which come in five different varieties (squad can contain any number of any variety). You can order any soldier to move somewhere by using a cursor, and can then order all soldiers to fire with the hit of a button.

The trick is in maintaining the range of fire of each weapon, as well as trying to surround enemy soldiers and push them into your line of fire. Fights can get chaotic and intense, and it is a little difficult to manage all the chaos in real time.

Fortunately, there is a basic training mode, which teaches the basics of the game as well as allows you to practice moving your units and firing at leisure.

To compensate for their lack of tactical awareness, the computer has more medics available to heal their soldiers, which sometimes can feel unfair, as you might not be fast enough to take advantage of your own tactical superiority. Which is why multiplayer is such a treat.

Against human opponents, the battles are much more tactical

One part of battles that I didn't like and which creeps up too often, are the close encounter attacks. In these situations, when two competing units are too close to each other, they engage in a basic brawl. When this happens too often, it slows down the pace of the game.

Overall, the gameplay in General Chaos is unique, fun, and truly deserving of the name.


"Alone, outnumbered, and loving every minute of it"

A great deal of the enjoyment you get from the game is due to its charm. The cartoonish visuals work well, and the action and animations andclean and clear because of it. However, other than the sprites, I cannot say that the backgrounds are anything special.

Sound is more of a mixed bag. I cannot say the soundtrack made any impression on me, as, besides having some military tunes as inspiration, it was mostly dull. I think there were only about two battle tunes, and I couldn't differentiate between them.

However, the sound effects are really good. The mix of explosions, bullet fire, and flamethrower ejections lends an active, action-packed sense to the atmosphere. It keeps you on your toes as you command the troops.

It's chaos, it's havoc, it's pandemonium

Once the battle starts, you probably won't notice the pedestrian soundtrack, as you focus more on those cartoon soldiers walking and fighting. As you focus on the medic coming in and healing the wounded, just as the enemy soldiers start to burn and disintegrate into skeletons. Now that I said it, it seems a little morbid, but it evokes the black comedy style of games like Metal Slug quite well.


In Conclusion:

There are very few games like General Chaos. Personally, I have not played anything like it, and I enjoyed it very much. However, the campaign was woefully short, and it had no story element whatsoever. This meant that I needed to find other people to play with to properly enjoy the game.

However, the fact that it has such an amazing multiplayer component is actually strange. I wouldn't have imagined such a game to feature one, althoughit is much better with it. Recently, the designer of the game tried to revive the franchise on Kickstarter, but the funding fell short.

That is sure a darn shame.

 

Final: 6/10 (Add two points for multiplayer)

Pros:

• Brilliant and unique multiplayer component.
• Unique and brilliant tactical gameplay.
• Charming graphics. 

Cons:

• Very short campaign.
• The computer is too dumb to pose a tactical challenge.
• Boring soundtrack. 

Tips:

1. Check the tutorial first.
2. Pay attention to the range of each soldier's weapon.
3. Try to keep your soldiers spread out; that way, grenades won't hurt them much.
4. Conserve your medics for the last fight in the enemy's capital.

Series:

For those reading one of my Genesis review blogs for the first time, here is the basic concept:

I already reviewed a bunch of SNES games, so, naturally, I am going to review the games of its prime competition. Does the SEGA Genesis stand a chance against the legendary SNES library?

My review series is based on the top 100 list of Retro Sanctuary

Originally, I posted most of my content on a football forum called "Goallegacy," which was the first online community I had ever joined. I found it to be the best place for a football fan (the REAL football, not handegg) to hang out on the internet, but the forum is not as active as it was years ago.

Next Game:

I can say that General Chaos is the first game in this list that I really enjoyed. Unfortunately, it just ended too soon. Really a shame about the Kickstarter not reaching the goal, though.

 

Next up is the first beat 'em up in the list, Splatterhouse 3 @ #88. Now, I am not a big fan of the genre, but I am trying it because I was assured that it is a much better genre on the Genesis than on the SNES.

Stay Tuned.

For Previous Genesis Game Reviews:

The List

This blog was originally posted in Destructoid Community Blogs on January 3rd, 2016. The blog was slightly edited to fit my newer review format.