Sid Meier's 1980s Command series arrives on Steam tonight
Decision In The Desert, Crusade In Europe, and Conflict In Vietnam
Fancy kicking off your advent calendar with a spot of 80s strategising? Atari are releasing Sid Meier's classic Command series on Steam tonight, so you'll be able to get your hands on Decision In The Desert, Crusade In Europe, and Conflict In Vietnam. They're a vintage bunch of RTS games that make you a commander in various wars, you know, if wars were about controlling tiny little blocky tanks in a bright blue desert.
Decision In The Desert first arrived in 1985, and places you in the shoes of a commander leading troops in North Africa during World War 2. Crusade In Europe was released the same year, but focuses on the more famous WW2 scenarios, like D-Day. Finally, Conflict In Vietnam originally came out in 1986, and follows five major battles in the Vietnam War.
Sid Meier designed the Command series with historian Ed Bever, and the games were developed by MicroProse. Apparently, they "grew from observation of actual tabletop U.S. military scenario exercises".
Find Decision In The Desert right here on Steam. Weirdly, this one says its planned release date is June 1986. I assume this is a mistake and it will arrive tomorrow alongside the other two games, but uh, prep the DeLorean just in case?
Head to Crusade In Europe's page here, and Conflict In Vietnam's page here. Both of them show a December 1st (2021) release date. Each game will cost $6.99 each, or will be 25% off if you grab them all in a bundle.