WELCO METOT HENEX TLEVEL - RDF: Global Conflict

Developer: Absolute Entertainment Publisher: Absolute Entertainment Release: 1994

There aren’t a lot of American Sega CD games I haven’t played much of, but I somehow completely overlooked RDF. The copy I have in my collection is actually a pre-release burn from the EGM vault, and not a retail version.

My first thought upon firing up the game for the first time was that this totally looks like a tank-based version of AH-3 Thunder Strike. There are a lot of similarities from a gameplay and graphics standpoint, though RDF is totally missing the sweet, rockin’ tunes found in Core’s game.

Well, that was after I stopped cringing over the insane, full-motion video intro. Back during the early days of multimedia video games, it was common to joke that the generally terrible acting we were constantly bombarded with was because the performances weren’t by professional actors, but rather development team members or employees who were willing to take a shot. In RDF that literally seems to be the case, as the main character - the bro-tastic tank commander - appears to be played by the dude who wrote game manuals for Absolute Entertainment.

RDF stands for Rapid Deployment Force. The RDF can bring massive firepower to bear anywhere in the world at very short notice, centered around the use of the M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank. I’m not totally sure if the M1A2 comprises the entirety of the RDF, but the game sure makes it seems that way.

Gameplay does feel pretty similar to that found in AH-3 Thunder Strike. Your viewpoint is directly out the front of your tank, where you can go wherever you please in a fully 3D level. You have a handful of different weapons at your disposal to take out any number of airborne and ground-based enemies. The only other real control you have at your fingertips is the ability to raise and lower the barrel of the cannon on your turret (a turret which, as far as I can tell, is always facing forward).

All sounds great on paper, but there’s a big problem. Each of these levels is littered with rocks, trees and buildings, all of which serve to stop your monstrous war machine dead in its tracks, no matter what speed you’re moving.

It’s frustrating. And during this time you’re plagued by what feels like an endless stream of fast-moving attack helicopters doing endless strafing runs. Meanwhile you’re doing your best to make sense of your tactical map, watching the ammo you’re wasting on those helicopters dwindle down to nothing, and beginning to wish you were playing something else.

All of this combines to make for a mediocre experience similar to something that was done so much better by Core Design years before. Perhaps if RDF had come out near the beginning of the system’s life it would be more memorable, but as it stands this seems to be one of the most forgotten titles in the Sega CD’s library.