Harpoon

1989 computer games Amiga gamesPC gamesApple games

real-time strategystrategy games

Naval strategy game set during Cold War - take part in scenarios on the side of NATO or Warsaw Pact.

Harpoon was originally advertised as a game that was used to teach US Navy cadets in naval warfare. Regardless if it was a truth or not, one look at the Harpoon should be enough to convince you that it is possible to actually teach someone the modern naval warfare using this game. Basically, it is a strategy game (or perhaps simulation would be a better word), in which you are put in charge of the naval and air forces in scenarios surrounding potential conflict between NATO and Warsaw Pact. The scenarios vary in scale and level of complexity - some of them involve just a handful of warships, others use whole fleets.

What made Harpoon unique was the level of simulation - each type of ship, submarine, helicopter, aircraft, or missile had its specifications, like sensors aboard, types of weapons, etc. based on the real data available in the 1980s. This means that the game was simulating weapons that were actually in use in a naval warfare, f.e. if you fire a Harpoon or Tomahawk missile you have to set the distance from the target in which the missile should switch to autonomous radar aboard. Similar with the sensors - they can have different ranges according to altitude of the aircraft that is carrying them, range of the aircraft depends on the speed and altitude of the aircraft, etc.

The basic game, together with the additional scenario disks, contained most of the weapons that were used at the time by both sides of the Cold War, from Norwegian missile boats to American and French aircraft carriers and Soviet helicopters. You could play one of dozens of scenarios from GIUK (Greenland - Iceland - United Kingdom), North Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean and you could play on either side of the conflict.

The realism of the game, the variety of the scenarios, the (sometimes) epic size of the forces involved, made Harpoon a game that you could spend long hours playing without even noticing it.

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Ive spent looooooong hours playing Harpoon - one of the best games ever
Joel (21-12-2016 14:57:40)

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