Missile Command: Recharged
Missile Command: Recharged is a re-imagining of the beloved classic with fast-paced, arcade action where players must defend their bases by blasting an endless barrage of missiles hailing from the sky. Launch counter-missiles to protect your base and target powerups to gain an edge at critical moments. Missile Command: Recharged will appeal to those that fondly remember playing the original or its many iterations, and a whole new generation of gamers that are looking for fast-paced, pick-up-and play, arcade goodness.
Powered Up:
Don’t just target missiles – take aim at all-new powerups to survive longer with defensive measures, silo repair, or a screen-clearing special blast.
Upgraded:
New powerup system takes points earned and allows them to be used to upgrade all aspects of gameplay to get an edge and achieve the highest scores.
Shoot for the Clouds:
Compete in global online leaderboards and aim to claim bragging rights as the top missile commander.
Achievements:
Better yourself with each game played and work towards besting the toughest challenges!
Steam User 44
An updated take on the original arcade game Missile Command.
The game keeps its 2D roots and updates/simplifies the graphics. The premise is pretty much the same as the arcade version in that you must protect your "cities" from incoming missiles and bombs. The game ends when all your cities are destroyed.
The game play is simplified in that you only have to point and click to aim your shot and the game will shoot the missile from the closest missile base that is ready to fire. You also have unlimited missiles unlike the original arcade game. It's a pro in that it makes the game a little simpler to play. It may be a con for purists who prefer the strategy of choosing which missile base they can shoot from as the original game had separate buttons for each base with a limited amount of missiles in each one.
Also in this version, the game play never stops for any breaks. It goes on and on and on until all your cities are destroyed. Once a city is destroyed, it can never be replaced. However, if any of your missile bases are destroyed, they will eventually rebuild if you can continue to survive the ever increasing onslaught.
During the game, there are power-up letters that float across the screen with the letter designating the type of power-up that it is:
B - Bomb: Blows everything up on most of the screen, depending on the position where it is hit
C - Chain: Your missile will chain-destroy target after target for a short period of time without blowing up itself
F - Fast: Your missiles launch and reach their target super fast
H - Homing: Your missile will lock in on the nearest target and home in and destroy it
M - Mega: Gives your individual missile a "mega" explosions, though not as big as the Bomb
R - Rapid: You can rapid shoot missiles from all your bases without any cool-down time...pew pew pew!
S - Shield: Provides a temporary shield over each city which can withstand one hit
T - Time: Slows down time for the enemy missiles and bombs, but not your own missiles
At the end of each game, you're allowed to spend points you've earned and upgrade your missiles and/or bases in 4 separate categories. There are a maximum of 6 upgrade levels for each category with each level requiring more points to upgrade than the last. The categories are:
Power: Increases the size of the missile explosion
Reload: Increases the speed at which your base can launch the next missile
Speed: Increases the speed of your missile
Rebuild: Increases the speed that your base will rebuild if destroyed
The music, at first, sounds like a catchy little tune and seems to add to the fun. But it very quickly gets old and monotonously goes on and on and on and on with the same 8 measures looping over and over again. The Fast and Time power-ups can cause the music to speed up or slow down briefly. But I feel this was a wasted opportunity. The game could have included complete songs, maybe even create an OST and change the song as the game progresses, the difficulty increases, or simply let the player decide which track they want to hear.
PROS:
Simplified graphics (gives a clean look)
Smooth game play
Simplified controls
Power-ups
Upgrade options
Reasonably priced
CONS:
Simplified graphics (the missile bases and cities do not look like missile bases or cities as in the original game)
Repetitive music
Limited replay value because of upgrades as max upgrades can be attained in an hour of game play
Conclusion:
This "Recharge" version focuses more on updating the feel and game play and less on keeping the look of the original game. If you're a purist of the original game, you may be disappointed. But if you enjoy the premise of launching missiles at incoming enemy missiles and bombs with power-up twists and the ability to upgrade, then this is for you.
I personally enjoyed this game and would recommend it for some mindless arcade-like fun.
Steam User 20
What else can I say?! It is Missile Command Recharged! Great game though it is no longer the 80's so the appeal has lost some charm, but the upgrade options are nice touch (four upgrade options to choose from : Power, Speed, Rebuild Rate, Reload - all based on accumulative scores). Good fun and frantic as you progress further. BTW, mouse is best to simulate a track ball.. gamepad is poor in my opinion
Steam User 15
Love it! Expecting to play this lots. Captures the heart and soul of Missile Command, but with a lot more intensity. Love the retro neon graphics style too.
Steam User 7
Would i recommend this game? yes why not
But why you may ask.
It's a faithful reconstruction of an arcade classic
It's cheap
You'll easily get your money's worth
Achievements are achievable
and more than anything else it's good old fashioned fun
enjoy :)
Steam User 15
This game is a remake of the original arcade classic Missile Command from 1980. (The original is available in the Atari Vault collection on steam.)
This remake stays true to the classic in that you have 6 cities that you try to protect from obliteration by shooting defensive missiles from 3 bases at your enemies incoming missiles. The enemy also has smart bombs and bombers in addition to the normal missiles that are fired against your cities.
It is different from the original in that there are no longer any attack waves, once you start your cities are under a constant attack. There is also a new power up that can be shot in the game that can temporarily change the speed of gameplay, activate a shield above your cities, detonate a bomb destroying all incoming missiles across a majority of the screen, or create a chain event that destroys a certain amount of missiles one at a time.
This remake also has player upgrades. At the end of the game, you get upgrade points based on your score. You can use these points to increase the speed and power of your missiles, your missile reload speed, and the recharge rate.
As of the time of this writing, the game is single player only, and I highly doubt that multiplayer will ever be an option. The game, like many arcade classics, can become quite repetitive, but it is a nice game to play every now and then; maybe get a quick session in while waiting for something else. For the low price, I find the game is more than worth it and I reccomend it.
The game supports native linux and technically, I had no problems with it at all running on 2 different machines. Both PCs had Linux Mint 20; one with nvidia graphics (proprietary graphics driver) and the other computer with AMD graphics (using the noveau open source drivers.)
Steam User 8
My main love in gaming has always been classic arcade games and pinball, so even if this was getting bad reviews, I probably would've checked it out anyway out of loyalty and and nostalgia and just to find out for myself. But it turns out this is pretty good. It's shallow, there's only one wave (which constantly increases in difficulty), but the price reflects that. The twist on the old formula here is you spend the points you earn in the game mode to upgrade missile speed, explosion size, reload time, and city rebuild time. Makes you want to go one more time just to try out your upgrades.
Nothing earth shattering here, but a decent riff on an old classic for a few bucks.
Steam User 7
78 / 100
Although playing a classic 1980s arcade hi-score chaser in the 2020s does feel somewhat antiquated by modern standards, the pure simplicity, the quick pickup-n-play nature & intense skill driven design of Missile Command still brings challenge & enjoyment. Turret firing sequence is by closest first (that's not reloading) instead of by player choice. This simplification works well in practice as does the new power-ups that complement established mechanics. Quick, simple, fun.
✔️ Practice is rewarded. Challenge of the skill based gameplay ramps up as your accuracy & reflexes improve.
✔️ Neon soaked graphics replicate that look & feel of the original.
✔️ Newly introduced power-ups are balanced, adding some variability & last second saves!
✔️ Sound effects give that strong arcade nostalgia vibe.
✔️ Rogue-lite upgrades/unlocks offer a little encouragement to replay.
✔️ Responsive controls.
❌ Missed opportunity to expand further on game mechanics & game modes.
❌ With its speedy session times, you may not get a lot of play time hours before becoming bored.
❌ No choice in which turret to fire when.
❌ No graphical settings or resolution options.
❌ Cannot disable tutorial overlay at start of game.
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