Cannon Fodder Review

Release Date: December 1993

• Developer : Sensible Software
• Also know for: Sensible Soccer

Version Reviewed : Amiga

War has never been so much fun!

Loading the first of 3 floppy disks into your Amiga, the clack of the keys as you run the game, and your presented with a poppy and a real time video (That is If you got the game before the poppy people got mad at the developers) and possibly one of the catchiest songs from the amiga that many fans can sing through to this day.

After the popularity of the amazing Sensible soccer, everyone was waiting to see what Sensible Software would create next, and fans were not disappointed, Cannon Fodder a cute and cartoony strategy game clearly based around the Gulf war at the time, set your company into the tropical to dispatch the enemy! To this day many regard the Amiga version the defining version of the game, nothing can recreate the clack of the keyboard, and controls of the mouse whilst directing your little solders to death or victory.

Utilising a simple point to move and attack reminiscent of many ARPG’s such as Diablo, it was a very well received control method at the time, worked so well, be it sneaking around in the water to get the drop on a poor un-expecting solider, or going in gung ho, blasting your way through the games 24 missions, each of these are made up of between 4-6 segments ,  but first times players may chose to go gung-ho ,Of course, it wouldn’t be a Sensible software game without their own little tweaks, each of your little soldiers may seem like they are unlimited amount, what with the long cue of eager fresh young ones ready to fight, but which each little solider having their own name, you start to get attached to the little buggers, each death at firsts seems like nothing, after all the game is called cannon fodder, each time you loose one, the hill in the intermission gains one little white cross to show respect for the solider you failed, you may brush it off at first, but by mission 5, depending on how your play style is, the hill may be covered in White crosses already, could this be a subtle hint from the developers at what war creates? 

Though without thinking to deeply about the messages, if any, no one can deny that at its core Cannon Fodder is an amazingly entertaining game, one that kepy many a player up all night, with their amiga left on to try and finish the game,  each of the levels have been created to make the player think about every engagement that they come across, do you sneak through and shoot down them one at a time? Maybe you throw a grenade into the middle of them then mop up the rest, do you take it slow to keep your little cartoon soldiers safe, or do you not care about the little guys, and use them to get the mission done like the tool that they are. This is what a strategy game should give you, the choices of how to complete a level as you see fit. Of course there is an reason to keeping your little guys alive, you can rank them up from private all the way up to 4 star general, though this is only used as a tally for showing the death count each one has caused up to that point, no increased damage or a higher amount of grenades here, again this is one of the little messages that has been put into this game.

The game uses a modified Sensible Soccer engine, which keeps the same cutesy cartoony design, bright colors, but still allowed a very detailed environment, but also kept humor into the game (Watching an enemy solder bounce around the screen when shot will be something I always remembered) though other touches are also present, shooting an enemy solder could also start them laying on the ground twiching and screaming in pain, something most people would of ignored at the time (Parents didn’t) but again its one of the little touches that Sensible Software are known for.

Though for many people, the controversy of the game is what they will always remember, newspapers and the British legion slamming their use of the Poppy, and their lax and the joking manor in which the game takes on war(Though the magazine of choice at the time Amiga Power’s editors comments on the matter defiantly did not help), even though the game was meant to show the message that war is terrible, at the time Video games were not seen to even be able to convey a message, or that it will turn children into mindless murders (Doom released at the same time took a lot of the flack though) parents were up in arms about the disrespect that this game showed the British army, and disgraced the poppy that was meant to show respect for those who died in both of the World War’s, but of course, as like with Doom, and every other controversial game, ever released, all the negative press only drove sales, as every one wanted to see the game that had lit a fire under all the parents, and older generation, which drove sales upwards of 100,000 in the UK alone, a major number at the time.

Overall, Cannon Fodder will be remembered fondly as a great opening into the strategy genre, and was part of a year of fondly remembered big hitters (DOOM, Syndicate) defined the Amiga, though was ported to popular consoles of the time, and sequals was made, nothing was close to the feeling of the original game, and a strategy game did not come close to being as fun, until 1995 with west woods command and Conquer series.

A great game if you are into the strategy genre, and definitely one of the games  that defined the Amiga, something every collector will need in their collection.

Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.