Gunship – is the first simulation game, I ever 'really' played back in the mid 1980's. I have to admit, that I wasn't in the game for the fancy graphics (not much of them going around back in 1986 anyway) or the intense sound effects. I was in it for the rewards. I had never seen a game, that actually considered, what you had done in your last 'mission' then reward you based on the results. To me, it appeared that Gunship had a pretty decent system for figuring out, what sort of award you deserved for what you did.
That was why I played. I wanted those awards and I wanted those promotions. I spent so long trying to earn the Medal of Honor . Eventually, I had to contact Microprose themselves to learn that it must be earned while at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (LTC), flying an Extreme or higher difficulty, and completing both primary and secondary missions. I admit, that was a bit disappointing. I wanted it to be something you could do at any time on any mission... Regardless of that - Gunship was an amazing game for its day. Certainly better that the 3D foolishness, Microprose tried to release for the 'more modern PC'.
Graphics were basic geometry forms. (I.e. a Tank was a rectangle with another rectangle on it and
another rectangle poking out, like a cannon) Nothing exciting happening there but my heart rate managed to leap seeing those dots representing the Vietnamese Infantry with the dreaded AA missiles! Combined with the annoying chirps and beeps of the day, this led to many floppy disks being violently thrown across the room as my pilot earned his final award, the posthumous Purple Heart.
Game play consisted of you building your pilot and choosing which unit you would like to be assigned to. This translated to 'where you will fly your missions'. You could change this at any time to suit your style. Mostly, this just changed the colour of the terrain you were flying in. (101st Airborne flew in the 'yellow' desert, 1st Cavalry flew in the 'green' jungles etc.) Next you choose the difficulty factor, receive your mission and off you go. You could even 'call in sick' for the mission and be presented with a picture of you peeling potatoes and get a slick Letter of Reprimand in your file. (Good stuff!) Anyway - off you fly, kill the primary target and go home. As an option (and a way to get better medals), go complete the secondary mission as well, then head home for your 'parade'.
Overall, this game rates around 8 out of 10 on my scale. It pretty much doomed me to becoming a gamer for life. Please remember, that this rating was based on 1986 technology. Games didn't need to look pretty back then; they just had to be good.
