''Recoil'' is a

vehicular combat Vehicular combat games (also known as just vehicular combat or car combat) are a sub-genre of vehicle simulation video games where the primary objectives of gameplay include vehicles armed with weapons attempting to destroy vehicles controlled b ...

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

-based

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

. It involves the player piloting an experimental tank known as the "BFT" (Battle Force Tank) through various missions. There is a heavy influence on collecting various weapons for the BFT throughout the game. It was developed by

Zipper Interactive Zipper Interactive was an American video game developer based in Redmond, Washington and part of SCE Worldwide Studios. It was founded in June 1995 by Jim Bosler and Brian Soderberg. It created many different games, including the ''SOCOM U.S. Na ...

, a subsidiary of its parent publisher,

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

, and uses the same game engine as ''

MechWarrior 3 ''MechWarrior 3'' is a vehicle simulation game, part of the '' MechWarrior'' series. It featured a new 3D accelerated graphics engine at the time of its release. The game contains over 20 missions, with access to 18 different mechs. A novelizatio ...

''.

Plot

Tanks patrol desolate city streets. Turrets and missile sites threaten the skies. Robot warriors carrying pulse rifles surround military installations. What's become of Earth? Machines have taken over. Corporate greed and rapid technological advancements have made humans pawns of their own creations. During the first fifteen years of the 21st century, Mega Corp began to dominate computer technology in both peacekeeping and war-fighting applications. As this giant churned out better and better technology for manufacturing and warfare, humans were relegated to service industries or to working as drones on PC terminals. Mega Corp became the largest employer in the United States. By 2010, every computer in America used Mega Corp software and was Internet-connected and monitored through the Mega Corp Network—antitrust suits be damned. Each day, Mega Corp would issue government-endorsed messages through the Network that broadcast pro-machine propaganda. The country was becoming brainwashed. In 2018, the wonders of artificial intelligence turned ugly in the hands of a few disillusioned Mega Corp programmers. Frustrated at being a part of such an ethically challenged corporation, these hacks altered coding in various Mega Corp products—turning certain robot and tank machinery into self-directed, man-killing machines. Today, May 2019, in a war-torn, machine-ravaged world, only a few freethinkers remain. Only a few outsiders have escaped the spell of the Network. Dr. Raines is the leader of a group of rebels called the Alliance. He and a few others have developed a computer program that gives the operator control over an experimental tank. You control this tank and must defeat these robot warriors.

Critical reception

In 1999 when ''Recoil'' was published, Zipper Interactive was a very little-known company. Due to the massive amount of video games for PC being released at the time, ''Recoil'' was hardly seen at all. When it was, however, the game received average reviews according to the

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website

GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...

. ''

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'' said that the game's selling points "are of the fast and fiery variety, but due to its brevity, this blockbuster may ultimately be little more than a weekend diversion, which prevents us from giving it a higher score."

References

External links

* {{Zipper Interactive 1999 video games Electronic Arts games Multiplayer and single-player video games Post-apocalyptic video games Science fiction video games Tank simulation video games Vehicular combat games Video games about robots Video games developed in the United States Video games set in 2019 Video games set in the United States Windows games Windows-only games Zipper Interactive games Westwood Studios games