Raid over Moscow

File:raid over moscow C64.png version showing early gameplay]]

The game opens with an alert that a nuclear missile has been launched from a Soviet city towards a North American city.{{sfn|Pasanen|2011|p=3}}{{cite web | url = ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/games-info/r/RaidOverMoscow.txt | title = Raid over Moscow, instructions | first1 = Brian | last1 = Hendricks | first2 = Magnus | last2 = Welander | first3 = Alessandro | last3 = Grussu | access-date = 17 March 2013 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The game begins in the hangar where the American spaceplanes are stored. The player has to safely fly the craft out. The view switches to the earth as seen from low Earth orbit, and the player guides the spaceplane to the city launching the attack. Alternatively, the player may decide to maneuver more of the available spaceplanes out of the space station before attacking the launch site;{{sfn|Pasanen|2011|p=3}} the surplus planes are docked outside the space station. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking, and the time before impact is continually displayed.

File:Raid_over_Moscow_Atari_8-bit_PAL_screenshot.png

The player has then to fly through the defense perimeter around the launch site missile silo, dodging obstacles, heat-seeking missiles, and Soviet tanks and planes. If successful, the player proceeds to the next screen; otherwise, the player has to start the next life back at the hangar, with the clock still ticking. However, should the player have spare spaceplanes parked outside the space station, the game continues with a new life on the current screen, skipping the flight from space station to the launch site. The decision to launch more than a single spaceplane first may therefore save time if the player later loses a life.

The final part of this stage involves destroying the missile silo while avoiding Soviet planes trying to shoot down the player. Destroying the primary missile silo in the center before the missile lands will thwart the attack. Destroying the secondary silos on either side of the primary earns extra lives and points.

The Soviets launched a total of four missile attacks, from Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, and Saratov, all of which must be stopped in the same manner as the first. After the fourth launch, the player progresses to the second stage of the game.

File:Moscow - Moscow State Historical Museum (Red Square).jpg is used as a backdrop in the second stage of the game.{{cite web | url = http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/raid-over-moscow/screenshots/gameShotId,320496/ | title = Screenshot: Fighting in Moscow | date = 24 August 2008 | first = Simon | last = Stelling | access-date = 16 March 2013 | work = MobyGames }}]]

The pilots become foot soldiers and are placed outside the front facade of the "Defence Centre", depicted as the State Historical Museum. Using a mortar they must blast open the correct door to the facility, randomly chosen from five available. Bonus points can be gained from this section by destroying parts of the building and defeating the troops stationed there. Once the door is open, the soldiers make their way to the nuclear reactor, and the final stage of the game.{{sfn|Pasanen|2011|p=3}}

In this stage, the player has to destroy maintenance robots that feed coolant into the reactor. The number of robots is determined by the difficulty level chosen by the player. The player is provided with several disc grenades that he throws at the robot, which is moving and firing at him the entire time. The robot is reinforced at the front, so the only way to do any damage is to bounce the discs off the wall and hit the robot in the back. As the number of discs is limited, the player should attempt to catch returning discs that missed the robot. To complete the game, all robots must be defeated, the final one within a two-minute time limit. If the robot is not destroyed within the limit the game is still considered complete, but with no survivors.{{sfn|Pasanen|2011|p=3}}

The game was first published for the Commodore 64 with Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, BBC Micro, and ZX Spectrum versions following.{{cite web | url = http://www.mobygames.com/game/raid-over-moscow/credits | title = Raid over Moscow | work = MobyGames | access-date = 16 March 2013 }} Upon reissue the game was retitled to Raid.

An Amiga port was in development in the late 1980s but was canceled along with Beach Head and Beach Head II: The Dictator Strikes Back when the developers were unable to secure a deal with the publisher, U.S. Gold.{{cite web | url = http://www.abime.net/games/view/game/id/5879 | title = Raid over Moscow | work = Amiga Lore | access-date = 16 March 2013 }} According to the graphical artist Adrian Cummings, the graphics were at that point "99.9% complete". However, the coding was barely started.{{cite web | url = http://www.abime.net/interviews/view/interview/id/24 | title = Adrian Robert Cummings | work = Amiga Lore | access-date = 16 March 2013 }} An Amiga port was finally released in 2020 by Reimagine Games, with programming by Erik Hogan who started from scratch to create this new conversion.{{cite web|url=https://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=4439|title=Raid over Moscow|access-date=19 October 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.indieretronews.com/2020/04/raid-over-moscow-all-time-classic-has.html|title=Indie Retro News|access-date=19 October 2024}}

{{Video game reviews

| award1Pub = Crash

| award1 = Smash!Game review, Crash issue 15, April 1985, page 114

}}

Raid over Moscow was Access' second best-selling Commodore game as of late 1987, after Beach-Head.{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1987-12-computegazette/Compute_Gazette_Issue_54_1987_Dec#page/n17/mode/2up | title=The Commodore Games That Live On And On | work=Compute's Gazette | date=December 1987| access-date=24 January 2015 | author=Ferrell, Keith | pages=18–22}} The game received generally positive reviews. Computer and Video Games praised the graphics and sound of the Commodore 64 version,{{cite journal | url = http://www.worldofspectrum.org/showmag.cgi?mag=C+VG/Issue038/Pages/CVG03800043.jpg | journal = Computer and Video Games | title = Software reviews: [Raid over] Moscow | issue = 38 | page = 43 |date=December 1984 }} while Crash gave the ZX Spectrum version an overall score of 92%.{{cite journal | url = http://www.crashonline.org.uk/15/rmoscow.htm | journal = Crash | title = Raid over Moscow | issue = 15 |date=April 1985 | pages = 114–116}} The theme of the game, nuclear war, was subject to questioning, however, with Computer and Video Games publishing several letters from readers arguing for and against its publication.{{cite journal | url = http://www.worldofspectrum.org/showmag.cgi?mag=C+VG/Issue040/Pages/CVG04000005.jpg | journal = Computer and Video Games | title = Mailbag | issue = 40 | page = 5 |date=February 1985 }}{{cite journal | url = http://www.worldofspectrum.org/showmag.cgi?mag=C+VG/Issue041/Pages/CVG04100007.jpg | journal = Computer and Video Games | title = Mailbag | issue = 41 | page = 7 |date=March 1985 }}

Unauthorized copies of Raid on Moscow circulated widely in East Germany during the 1980s, despite the Stasi describing it as among those games having "a particularly militaristic and inhumane nature". The West German Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons added the game to its index in 1985, stating that "In older adolescents, playing{{nbsp}}... can lead to physical tension, anger, aggressiveness, agitated thinking, difficulty concentrating, headaches, etc." The ban automatically ended in 2010.{{Cite news |url=https://www.zeit.de/digital/games/2018-11/computer-games-gdr-stasi-surveillance-gamer-crowd/komplettansicht |title=Video Games In East Germany: The Stasi Played Along |last=Gießler |first=Denis |date=2018-11-21 |work=Die Zeit |access-date=2018-11-30 |language=de}}

The game was shortly presented in YLE's current affairs television program A-studio on 13 February 1985 after being reviewed by the computer magazine MikroBitti.{{sfn|Pasanen|2011|p=4}}{{cite web | url = http://yle.fi/elavaarkisto/artikkelit/raid_over_moscow_-peli_sai_suomessa_aikaan_poliittisen_kriisin_77485.html#media=77486 | title = Raid over Moscow -peli sai Suomessa aikaan poliittisen kriisin | work = YLE | date = 13 February 1985 | access-date = 16 March 2013 | language = Finnish }} On 20 February 1985 the leftist newspaper Tiedonantaja published an article which criticized the review and called a ban on all similar "anti-USSR" games.{{sfn|Pasanen|2011|p=4}} Parliament member Ensio Laine (SKDL) left a parliamentary question for the Finnish government on the next day.{{sfn|Pasanen|2011|p=4}}{{cite web | title = Kirjallinen kysymys: Amerikkalaisten CBM-pelien maahantuonnista. | url = http://www.eduskunta.fi/valtiopaivaasiat/KK+40/1985 | id = KK 40/1985 vp | publisher = Finnish parliament | language = Finnish | access-date = 16 March 2013 | date = 9 March 2007 }}

File:Russian embassy Helsinki.JPG at Tehtaankatu, Helsinki was the scene of the discussions concerning the game.]]

The following days included various discussions between the Finnish foreign ministry and Soviet Union representatives.{{sfn|Pasanen|2011|pp=4–6}}{{cite web | url = http://www.mtv3.fi/uutiset/kotimaa.shtml/arkistot/kotimaa/2010/01/1028902 | title = UM/SALAISET 1985: Neuvostoliitto piti tietokonepeliä räikeänä provokaationa | first = Jarkko | last = Sipilä | work = MTV3 | date = 7 January 2010 | access-date = 16 March 2013 | language = Finnish }} On 7 March 1985, the Soviets sent a petition asking for a ban on various books, articles and other media, including Raid Over Moscow, which it claimed presented a distorted view of the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Pasanen|2011|p=6}} Nevertheless, on 14 March 1985, the Minister of foreign trade Jermu Laine answered the parliamentary question, claiming that the Finnish legislation only allowed to restrict the importation of products that pose a hazard to health.{{sfn|Pasanen|2011|p=6}} The foreign ministry thus was able to dodge possible claims of Finlandization by referring to unsuitable legislation.{{sfn|Pasanen|2011|p=8}} Finally, the Minister of foreign affairs Paavo Väyrynen gave an official answer to the petition on 11 April 1985, expressing a friendly attitude towards the USSR and apologizing on behalf of negative publications about the country in the media.{{sfn|Pasanen|2011|pp=6–7}} The USSR interpreted the game as military propaganda, but settled on the answer.{{sfn|Pasanen|2011|p=7}}

As a result of the public debate, the game was the top-selling Commodore 64 game in Finland from March to September 1985 according to MikroBitti. The full extent of the affair was unveiled in 2010, when the Finnish foreign ministry memos were declassified.

{{reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite journal | first = Tero | last = Pasanen | title = "Hyökkäys Moskovaan!" – Tapaus Raid over Moscow Suomen ja Neuvostoliiton välisessä ulkopolitiikassa 1980-luvulla | journal = Pelitutkimuksen Vuosikirja | year = 2011 | editor1-first = Jaakko | editor1-last = Suominen | editor2-first = Raine | editor2-last = Koskimaa | editor3-first = Frans | editor3-last = Mäyrä | editor4-first = Olli | editor4-last = Sotamaa | editor5-first = Riikka | editor5-last = Turtiainen | url = http://www.pelitutkimus.fi/vuosikirja-2011 | language = Finnish | format = PDF | access-date = 16 March 2013 | isbn = 978-951-44-8542-8 | pages = 1–11 | archive-date = 10 August 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140810005029/http://www.pelitutkimus.fi/vuosikirja-2011 | url-status = dead }}

{{refend}}

• {{WoS game|id=0003997}}
• {{moby game|id=/raid-over-moscow}}
• [http://nexus23.org/warfare2/?p=115 A remake of the game] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313090130/http://nexus23.org/warfare2/?p=115 |date=2013-03-13 }}
• [https://archive.org/details/C64Gamevideoarchive114-RaidOverMoscow Complete video from the C64 version at Archive.org] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaTe_7uoGDw high quality playthrough video of the C64 version on YouTube]
• {{Lemon Amiga game|id=4439}}
• [https://plus4world.powweb.com/software/Raid_Over_Moscow The 2022 conversion for Plus/4]

{{Access Software}}

Category:1984 video games

Category:Access Software games

Category:Amstrad CPC games

Category:Apple II games

Category:Atari 8-bit computer games

Category:BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games

Category:Cold War video games

Category:Commodore 64 games

Category:Finland–Soviet Union relations

Category:Single-player video games

Category:U.S. Gold games

Category:Video games about nuclear war and weapons

Category:Video games developed in the United States

Category:Video games set in the Soviet Union

Category:ZX Spectrum games