Operation Crusader (video game)
{{Short description|1994 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Operation Crusader
| image = Operation Crusader DOS.jpg
| developer = Atomic Games
| publisher = Avalon Hill
| series = World at War
| released = {{vgrelease|NA|1994}}
| genre = Computer wargame
}}
{{italic title}}Operation Crusader is a 1994 computer wargame developed by Atomic Games and published by Avalon Hill.
Operation Crusader was among the first titles released in Avalon Hill's push to revive its computer game division during the 1990s, in an attempt to diversify its business because of falling board wargame sales. The company hired Atomic Games as a key to this initiative, and Crusader acted as the spiritual successor to its earlier V for Victory wargame series, reusing and updating much of the game design and code from those titles.
Operation Crusader was the first game in the World at War series, and was followed by World at War: Stalingrad and D-Day: America Invades.
Gameplay
The player takes control of a military commander during World War II. The player is tasked with building up an army in order to destroy the opposing military. The player has the choice between being an Ally, or being part of the Axis.
Development
File:Matilda tanks on the move outside the perimeter of Tobruk, Libya, 18 November 1941. E6600.jpg (pictured in November 1941).]]
Starting with the hire of producer Jim Rose in December 1992,{{cite journal | author=Rose, Jim | title=Silicon Simulations | journal=The General | page=57 | volume=28 | issue=4 | date=1993 }}{{cite journal | author=Trotter, William R.| journal=PC Gamer US | title=The Desktop General; Avalon Hill: On the Ropes or On a Roll? |date=December 1995 | volume=2 | issue=12 | pages=303, 304 }} Avalon Hill began an effort to revive its computer game branch in response to flagging board wargame sales during the 1990s. Rose signed developer Atomic Games in 1993 as a key part of this initiative.{{cite magazine| author=Emrich, Alan |title=How Goes the Battle? |date=November 1993 |issue=112| magazine=Computer Gaming World | page=164 }}{{cite journal | author=Hawthorne, Don | journal=The General | title=Silicon Simulations |date=1993 | volume=29 | number=1 | pages=54, 55 }} The Atomic team was known for the V for Victory series with Three-Sixty Pacific, but had recently left that publisher, after a period of financial problems that culminated in a lawsuit for unpaid royalties.{{cite journal | author=Staff | title=Eyewitness; V for Lawsuit | journal=PC Gamer US | pages=32, 33 | date=February 1995 | volume=2 | number=2 }}{{cite journal | author=Frisina, Tom | title=Eyewitness; V for Victory — Continued | journal=PC Gamer US | page=42 | date=March 1995 | volume=2 | number=3 }} While Avalon contracted Atomic primarily to create a computer version of Advanced Squad Leader,{{cite web | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19990428150818/http://www.gamespot.com/features/cc3_dd/120498/index.html | url=http://www.gamespot.com:80/features/cc3_dd/120498/index.html | title=Designer Diaries: Close Combat III | date=December 4, 1998 | archivedate=April 28, 1999 | work=GameSpot | author=Zabalaoui, Keith | url-status=dead }} Alan Emrich of Computer Gaming World reported rumors in 1993 that "Avalon Hill will [also] be publishing a second game from Atomic" centered on the North African Campaign. He speculated that this was "what would be the next V for Victory game in an Avalon Hill wrapper". By January 1994, Atomic Games had revealed the World at War series as the successor to its V for Victory line under Avalon, and its first entry was entitled Operation Crusader.{{cite web | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19970614074613/http://www.atomic.com/games/reviews/CrusaderNotes-S+.html | url=http://www.atomic.com:80/games/reviews/CrusaderNotes-S+.html | title=Operation Crusader: Designer's Notes |author1=Zabalaoui, Keith |author2=Wesevich, Jeff | work=Computer Games Strategy Plus | archivedate=June 14, 1997 | publisher=Atomic Games | date=January 1994 | url-status=dead | access-date=April 25, 2020 }}
Alongside Kingmaker, Operation Crusader was one of the first two titles released as part of Avalon Hill's new initiative.{{cite journal | author=Greenwood, Don | journal=The General | title=The Avalon Hill Philosophy Part 161: A Tale of Two Companies |date=1994 | volume=29 | number=2 | page=3 }} The computer game division had previously been known for low-quality titles, a problem that Avalon Hill's Don Greenwood blamed on his and the company's "hubris" and favoritism toward board products. Ross Hetrick of the Baltimore Sun reported that the company's first venture ran from 1983 to 1986, and ended "when its games began to lag those of competitors."{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325050220/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-06-13/business/1994164133_1_dott-avalon-kingmaker | url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1994/06/13/getting-back-into-the-battle/ | title=Getting Back Into The Battle | date=June 13, 1994 | author=Hetrick, Ross | work=Baltimore Sun | archive-date=March 25, 2016 | url-status=live }} For Operation Crusader, Zabalaoui noted that Avalon Hill's president had informed him that " 'good' isn't good enough".
Atomic and Avalon Hill experienced creative friction during the development of Operation Crusader.{{cite magazine| author=Coleman, Terry |title=Close Combat III; Atomic for Power, Turbines for Speed |date=January 1999 |issue=174| magazine=Computer Gaming World | pages=82, 83, 86 }}{{cite magazine| author=Emrich, Alan |title=Turning the Telescope Around; G-2 |date=November 1995 |issue=136| magazine=Computer Gaming World | pages=253, 254, 256 }}Computer Gaming World columnist Alan Emrich wrote in 1995, "To say there was no love lost between [...] Jim Rose and Atomic's Keith Zabalaoui would be a gracious understatement." However, the magazine's Terry Coleman noted that the "tensions" between the companies' design philosophies "worked positively" on Operation Crusader.
Operation Crusader was released in 1994, between April and June.
Reception
Operation Crusader sold fewer than 50,000 units globally. This was part of a trend for Avalon Hill games during the period; Terry Coleman of Computer Gaming World wrote in late 1998 that "no AH game in the past five years" had reached the mark.{{cite magazine | author=Coleman, Terry | title=The Buying Game | date=November 1998 | issue=172 | magazine=Computer Gaming World | pages=54, 55, 370 }}
In PC Gamer US, William R. Trotter called Operation Crusader "a thoroughbred and a champion", and awarded it a score of 94%.{{cite web | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19970614074641/http://www.atomic.com/games/reviews/PC_Gamer_Review.html | url=http://www.atomic.com:80/games/reviews/PC_Gamer_Review.html | title=Review of Operation Crusader in PC Gamer Magazine | date=December 1994 | volume=1 | issue=6 | author=Trotter, William R. | authorlink=William R. Trotter | work=PC Gamer US | publisher=Atomic Games | archivedate=June 14, 1997 | url-status=dead | access-date=April 25, 2020 }} Czech magazine Score rated the game 6 out of 10.{{Cite web|url=https://www.oldgames.sk/en/mag/score-21/page/36/|title=Operation Crusader :: Score 21 page 21}}
Trotter went on to name Operation Crusader one of his favorite titles of 1994, and wrote that it "captured all the sweep, fluidity, and sudden reversals-of-fortune that characterized the desert war."{{cite journal | author=Trotter, William R. | authorlink=William R. Trotter | title=The Desktop General; The Best and the Worst of 1994 | date=February 1995 | page=133 | journal=PC Gamer US | volume=2 | issue=2 }} The game was also a runner-up for Computer Gaming World{{'}}s 1994 "Wargame of the Year" prize, which ultimately went to Panzer General. The editors remarked that Crusader "one-ups Atomic Games' V for Victory series in terms of both graphics and gameplay."{{cite magazine | author=Staff | magazine=Computer Gaming World | title=The Computer Gaming World 1995 Premier Awards |date=May 1995 | issue=130 | pages=35, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44 }}
In 1996, Computer Gaming World declared Operation Crusader the 110th-best computer game ever released.{{cite magazine | author=Staff | title=150 Best (and 50 Worst) Games of All Time | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=November 1996 | issue=148 | pages=63–65, 68, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 84, 88, 90, 94, 98 }} The magazine's wargame columnist Terry Coleman named it his pick for the 9th-best computer wargame released by late 1996.{{cite magazine | author=Coleman, Terry | title=Command Decisions | issue=148 | date=November 1996 | magazine=Computer Gaming World | pages=277, 280 }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.mobygames.com/game/operation-crusader Operation Crusader]
{{Atomic Games}}
{{Avalon Hill}}
Category:Video games developed in the United States