Silent Software? Yeah, about that…

It was always a bit ironic that Return Fire came from a company called Silent Software as there is nothing silent about this highly addictive 3DO game.

Originally adapted from Fire Power for the Amiga, Return Fire mixed strategy and arcade-style shoot-’em-up gameplay with classical scores like “Flight of the Bumblebee.” The result? A refreshing, ear-numbing experience especially if you hooked it up to a surround sound system.

BLASTING OFF

Return Fire was essentially Capture the Flag taken to the digital age. Players controlled a limited number of tanks, helicopters, armored support vehicles, and Jeeps (one at a time) in a quest to locate and steal the opponent’s flag. To win, you needed to obliterate everything that stood in your way.

The action played out across a series of generic, arid landmasses that increased in size and complexity as you moved through the game’s nine levels. You plotted your path of destruction using an automap that showed enemy forts, bunkers, and—if you were in two-player mode—enemy vehicles.

Getting the flag was never easy. You had to overcome dozens of obstacles, from gun emplacements and mines to swarms of drone helicopters armed with armor-piercing rockets. If things got overwhelming, you could always blow off some steam: destroy a building or two to flush out enemy soldiers and run them down with your tank. Sadistic? Sure. Fun? Absolutely.

GRAPHICS & SOUND

Return Fire was an audiophile’s dream—impressive from start to finish. The music, explosions, and sound effects were stellar. Even the intro, where the programmers literally took a shot at 3DO, was spectacular.

To be fair, Return Fire was clearly designed from the ground up for head-to-head play and that’s where it really shined. Against a human opponent, the game started to resemble a chess match as players tried to outwit each other for the opponent’s flag.

THE ROUGH PATCHES

Of course, Return Fire wasn’t perfect. The terrain lacked variety; nearly every level looked like another desert with palm trees. Graphically, it was pretty middle-of-the-road, and in the heat of battle, it wasn’t always easy to tell the front of a tank from the back.

The lack of sophisticated artificial intelligence made one-player mode a cakewalk—even at the highest difficulty, you probably didn’t break a sweat.

THE FINAL SALVO

While solitary players may have wanted to pass, the two-player chaos made Return Fire a must-have for more social 3DO owners back in its day. Roaming around and blowing up everything never seemed to get old.

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