Rock, Paper, Shotgun

[This was originally published in a slightly different form over at the Escapist under the title "Sensible Soccer: How I Stopped Worrying And Learned To Love The Ball". I'm republishing it under a different title, because that one won't fit into the terribly restrictive page-width of narrow-set RPS. And I'm republishing it because... well, apparently there's some kind of Foot-to-ball battle-cup starting today. Or something. It's about the Amiga giant that was Sensible Soccer, the whole scene and how I can to actually grasp football...]

Football is the world’s greatest sport. It just took Sensible Soccer to make me really realise it.
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I still remember a pub-based conversation around the time of its release. It involved the relative merits of Syndicate with Cannon Fodder. We loved them both, clearly. Everyone loved them both. But were we to call, we preferred Syndicate. But perversely, everyone also agreed that in the terms we were used to thinking of, Cannon Fodder was the better game. They’re an unusual pair, you see. Despite the fact they shared a central mechanic – that is, they were both mouse-driven shooters where you controlled a small group of soldiers going about their missions – and came out within a similar time-frame, I don’t recall any direct comparisons in the press. The only reason I can think of is that they felt so radically different.

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[This time we're going retro, and UK-retro at that. On our blighted isle, Cannon Fodder was one of the more iconic games in a generation of software with one of the greatest theme tunes of all time. For the making of the sequel, I talk to Stuart Campbell, the designer. Stuart is better known for his games writing, where he remains the most controversial journalist the UK has ever produced. That is, a lot of people hate him, which is always a sign you're doing something right. If you like this, Stuart has gone into enormous detail on each level of the game over at his site. CF2 is also available on The Underdogs.]

Cannon Fodder had everything. A pixel-perfect blend of action and strategy with a small squad of men versus intricately designed levels. The greatest game theme tune of all time in the form of the lazy skank of “War’s Never Been So Much Fun”. A splash of controversy over its use of the military poppy, with national outcry from the tabloids over its insult at the old boys. Ironic, when you consider that Cannon Fodder was one of the most anti-military wargames of all time. How do you follow all that?

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