Field Commander
Encyclopedia
Field Commander is a military turn-based tactics
game for the PlayStation Portable
. The player takes on the persona of a new Advanced Tactical Legion for Allied Security (ATLAS) recruit, an international military alliance. The player battles Shadow Nation, a criminal empire.
system of older PC games. While playing in Transmission mode each player takes turns and sends them off to the server.
Players can choose a commanding officer
to act as the player's avatar
. Divisions
determine the player's allegiance as well as Division Bonuses that can be activated.
Fuel
and ammunition
are finite for vehicles and primary weapons, while infantry have unlimited fuel and secondary weapons have unlimited ammunition. When fuel is exhausted, there is a high chance the unit will explode. All units can be resupplied by either trucks, transports, or cities.
Fighting works similar to other games in the genre but had many unique elements which included the ability to destroy terrain, reduce down and eventually destroy cities, special buildings that could call in attacks from off the board,such as Airstrikes
, Napalm Launchers
, stealth units in every terrain type, and the ability to stack units in a single tile. Stacking units could be taken to an extreme. A player can have a plane, a tank on a bridge, a boat under the bridge, and a submerged sub all in the same grid space.
The game also includes a built-in map editor, which allows players to create and share maps with other users online.
and Metacritic
gave Field Commander 79% and 77/100 respectively.
Many sources pointed out that Field Commander is similar to Advance Wars
, with several reviewers accusing the former of being a clone of the latter.
Turn-based tactics
Turn-based tactics , or tactical turn-based , is a computer and video game genre of strategy video games that through stop-action simulates the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics in generally small-scale confrontations as opposed to more strategic...
game for the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
. The player takes on the persona of a new Advanced Tactical Legion for Allied Security (ATLAS) recruit, an international military alliance. The player battles Shadow Nation, a criminal empire.
Gameplay
The multiplayer options include Infrastructure, Ad-Hoc, Hot Swap, and a unique feature called Transmission mode, which is somewhat similar to the play by emailPlay-by-mail game
Play-by-mail games, sometimes known as "Play-by-post", are games, of any type, played through postal mail or e-mail. One example, chess, has been played by mail for centuries . Another example, Diplomacy, has been played by mail since the 1960s, starting with a printed newsletter written by John...
system of older PC games. While playing in Transmission mode each player takes turns and sends them off to the server.
Players can choose a commanding officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
to act as the player's avatar
Avatar (computing)
In computing, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character. It may take either a three-dimensional form, as in games or virtual worlds, or a two-dimensional form as an icon in Internet forums and other online communities. It can also refer to a text...
. Divisions
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
determine the player's allegiance as well as Division Bonuses that can be activated.
Fuel
Fuel
Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...
and ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
are finite for vehicles and primary weapons, while infantry have unlimited fuel and secondary weapons have unlimited ammunition. When fuel is exhausted, there is a high chance the unit will explode. All units can be resupplied by either trucks, transports, or cities.
Fighting works similar to other games in the genre but had many unique elements which included the ability to destroy terrain, reduce down and eventually destroy cities, special buildings that could call in attacks from off the board,such as Airstrikes
Airstrike
An air strike is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and others...
, Napalm Launchers
Napalm
Napalm is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, primarily as an anti-personnel weapon...
, stealth units in every terrain type, and the ability to stack units in a single tile. Stacking units could be taken to an extreme. A player can have a plane, a tank on a bridge, a boat under the bridge, and a submerged sub all in the same grid space.
The game also includes a built-in map editor, which allows players to create and share maps with other users online.
Reception
The game has received a 8.4 rating on GameSpot, and an 8.4 from IGN. Field Commander was the first PSP title to receive a perfect score from Official Playstaion Magazine. Review aggregator sites Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
and Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave Field Commander 79% and 77/100 respectively.
Many sources pointed out that Field Commander is similar to Advance Wars
Advance Wars
Advance Wars, known in Japan as is a turn-based tactics video game developed for the Game Boy Advance by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. It was released in North America on September 10, 2001, but put on hold in Japan and Europe due to the following day's terrorist attacks in the USA...
, with several reviewers accusing the former of being a clone of the latter.