For: Mac, PC Developed by: Accolade Version Reviewed: Mac ESRB Rating: T for Violence

Mac System Requirements

Any Macintosh 68040 or higher, color monitor, System 7.1 or higher, at least 8MB RAM and CD-ROM drive.

PC System Requirements CPU: 486/66 MHz or better OS: Windows 3.11, NT, or 95 CD-ROM: 2x VIDEO: SVGA Mouse, Keyboard Soundcard

One planet. One chance. Take it before they do. Seven races colonize a virgin planet. Only one will survive. Build your province\'s structures. Conduct research to advance your race. Devise the perfect strategy of diplomacy, intimidation, and warfare to insure your survival. * This sums up Deadlock: PC. It doesn\'t have the most stunning visuals, especially considering today\'s standards. But, they are beautiful graphics, especially since the game was made in \'97. The really good thing about this game is the different game play than that of other games in it\'s genre. It has you trying to capture various territories, which happen to be almost squares, in a Risk-like layout. However, you can zoom into the cities, and watch over your inhabitants. But that is where the game loses it\'s momentum. If you do anything wrong at all, such as not meeting your various territories supply-demand trade, the citizens will riot. And once they riot, there is almost nothing you can do to stop them. After you actually have everything under control, there comes a time when you have to make military units, and make a huge amount of research technology, which is extremely hard to do, and expends resources. If you manage to construct a good amount of units, you can begin your conquest of your enemy. There are a variety of different units, which you can customize for a greater cost. This allows variety in the game in the form of cut scenes that happen after you initiate a battle, also known as moving your units into enemy territory. When you view those cut scenes is when the game is most violent, foot soldiers screaming in pain before becoming ash. In many ways, it shows the horrors of war; that is, not knowing what is around the corner. Yet, you can view what is happening, and sometimes wish that you could manually fight the battle, instead of watching it from above. At times, however, it is a welcome break from the colony building of the non-battle world. Watching a missile hit an automated building known as the Laser Defense is particularly satisfying. The story is the game\'s downfall, being non-existent. The idea is to beat your opponents into ash--simply put, survival of the fittest. The races you choose to be and go up against are equally strong in might and have various attributes, from superior farming skills, to increased research ability. Some even have such sci-fi classic ideas as mind-control and cloaking. After playing the game for a while, I came to the realization that the movie battle scenes are not to provide a break, nor to take away from the engrossing strategy of the game. The idea is that you need, and I say need with all caps, you need to plan ahead. There is no sidestepping this fact. The only other option would be to avoid war altogether, but then you would be taking some of the fun from the game. It\'s like playing a FPS without killing enemies--you just can\'t do it. Overall, Deadlock is a game of strategy, intense warfare, and diplomacy, and is extremely hard. I would recommend this game to any lover of the Turn-based strategy game genre. If you loved Alpha Centauri or Civilization, you\'ll love this game. If you are just getting into this particular genre, I would consider buying something else, like Alpha Centauri. That game is well done, and is one that most everyone should play.