Beach Head meets Saving Private Ryan in this Tower Defence game!
Rose Coloured Spectacles Strikes Again?
The thing about retro games is that - for the most part - you always remember them being better that they actually are. Part of this is because when they were originally released - in the early years of computer gaming - your expectations were lower.
One particular game that I always remember as being fantastic was Beach Head [Access Software for the Atari 8-bit family and Commodore 64 home computers]. It wasn't out for the ZX Spectrum to begin with - which is what I had - but a friend of mine had a C64 and lent it to me for a weekend and I remember playing Beach Head non-stop for two days! (Which I managed to stretch into a week before he got his computer back.) 😉
Looking back now its kinda hard to imagine that I got so obsessed...
Beach Invasion 1944
Still, happy times and I always hoped there would be a updated version, particularly as it fitted in with the growth in the popularity of casual Tower Defence type games. I did try emulating the original Beach Head on my PC, but as I suspected it wasn't the same and I was a bit disappointed.
However, good news this morning as I happened across a YouTube review of a 2022 release that I somehow missed, despite it being on STEAM. Beach Invasion 1944 is blatantly a up to date version of Beach head, with modern graphics and set in the historical scenario of the D-Day landings.
A bonus was that it was on sale on STEAM for £8 and so I snapped it up, and had my first go this morning....
The Good, The Bad and the Gritty...
It was great to get back into a game format that I enjoyed so much, but how well does it stand up to modern expectations?
Well, it's definitely what we would now term a 'casual game', it certainly won't tax your intellect and isn't a deep story line, quite the reverse. It's a quick pick up and play sort of game that you can do between other things and when you don't have time to sit down for a intense session of something more substantial.
There is no learning curve to speak of and it can get a little repetitive. There are several different types of enemy units which are better dealt with with particular weapons, and things can get a little busy at times forcing you to jump from one position to another lest you get overrun. But that's about it.
Graphics are OK, AI is a little dumb at times and for some strange reason - so far (I'm only on the lower levels) - you don't seem to be, as the Germans, in danger of either off shore Allied fire support or from Allied air support. But, as I say that may come...
Otherwise it's a simple game that's fairly much as I expected it would be and is a passable time waster...BUT...
"Are We The Baddies?"
The one major niggle I have is nothing to do with the game mechanics but rather the chosen setting. You see, the original Beach Head was based on a completely fictitious 'modern' (ish) combat theatre, there were no concerns about upsetting anyone's feeling as it was just a made up game.
BI1944 on the other hand is very clearly set in a historical event - D-Day - and put you in control of the defending entity - NAZI Germany (or the army of that nation). This is where things get a little tricky for me...
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| Above: A 'Saving Private Ryan' moment in the game, cutting down landing craft occupants before they get off the boat! The cruel realities of D-Day. :( |
Don't get me wrong, I am completely OK with the fact that this is just a game and that it's a recreation of an important historical event (and it helps that - non-spoiler - I know who wins in the end). Plus, it's not as if I haven't played characters or in factions within other computer games that were the opposing side. In fact, one of my favourite WW2 FPS games is 'Day of Infamy' where I play out an almost identical scenario (Omaha Beach).
But in this case, that I only play the Germans and I am heavily invested with them defeating the Allied invasion sorta makes my brain flinch a little. In Day of Infamy you took alternative turns at playing the attacker and the defender, so that sort of took the 'curse of it'! But being the out and out baddie, that's different.
What is probably irking me - and you might think this is me being picky - is that my late Uncle Arthur at at Omaha Beach on that day, aboard HMS Hawkins - a Royal Navy cruiser - providing firs support for the American landing.
So I sorta feel like I'm letting him down a bit.
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| Above: HMS Hawkins, South Atlantic 1942. Uncle Arthurs ship which was part of the Allied armada off-shore during D-Day. |
Sometimes, things can be a little too real! (Maybe.)
What I Would Have Liked To Have Seen...
Personal foibles aside, I still think BI1942 is a bit of a one trick pony and it's staying power suffers because of this. You simply repeat and repeat ever increasing waves of opponents until you are finally overrun. This is just like the original Beach Head, of course, but I think the developers could have done better.
I would have liked to have seen various historical defensive scenarios from different eras and combat theatres in order to add a bit of variety...
How about a trench defence during an offensive at the Somme? Or a base defence during a large Viet Cong attack during the Vietnam War? What about Stalingrad, or Arnhem or Hill 355 (Korean War) or the defence of Jadotville (Congo) by the Irish UN Force... Or even Bakhmut (Ukraine)!
There are a plethora of historic defences that could have added interesting wrinkles to this game. As it is, I can't see it being a classic.
STEAM Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2209680/Beach_Invasion_1944/
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