September 2002

Stealth Action

Single / Multiplayer co-op

SCi (UK) / Gotham Games (Take2) (US)

conflict.com

For a war that had the whole of the western world glued to news channels 24 hours a day almost ten years ago, the Gulf War never managed to take over the public's imagination in the form of fiction. But to the handful of films and books based on the conflict, we can now add Desert Storm, a 3D squad-based military action game being developed by Pivotal Studios and to be published by SCi. Although almost no details have been released it seems to belong squarely in the long line of tactical shooters such as Hidden & Dangerous, Rogue Spear and Delta Force, with more of a hint of Counter-Strike influence. We know so little at the moment that all we can do is speculate. What we can promise is that there will be plenty of sand around and a strong multiplayer aspect. Pivotal Games might be a new name on the scene but the company is made up of members of the now defunct Pumpkin Studios, creators of Warzone 2100, which means they really know how to turn war into a fun game.

The technology developed to create Desert Storm is also being used for the next generation console game of The Great Escape, which begs the question: why isn't the classic film's adaptation coming out on PC? As soon as we've got any concrete details on Desert Storm we might tell you all about it. Then again, maybe we won't.

SCi illustrated its ambition to stake a significant claim in the software market this month with a purchase of ten per cent of Kaboom subsidiary, Pivotal, which includes former members of Pumpkin Studios (best known for Warzone 2100) among its number. The most noticeable titles on Pivotal's roster are a conversion of the classic wartime buddy movie The Great Escape and a military action game based around the events of the Gulf War. Named Desert Storm, Pivotal recently released a 10MB video showcasing the development of this latter title, which is still at the crucial 'work in progress' stage. Little has been confirmed as yet, though team-based blasting appears to be very much the flavour down Pivotal's way so expect a final product not dissimilar to Delta Force.