''Beach Head 2000'' is a

first-person shooter A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...

game developed by Digital Fusion. It was originally released by

WizardWorks WizardWorks Group, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company was founded in 1980 and, in 1993, WizardWorks opened the CompuWorks and MacSoft divisions. In 1996, WizardWorks was acquire ...

for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and

MacSoft MacSoft was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1993 by Peter Tamte as a subsidiary of WizardWorks, specializing in the production of video game ports from Microsoft Windows to Macintosh operating systems, as well as prod ...

for

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as a "value-priced" release. A loose

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

of the 1983 computer game '' Beach Head'', it shared a similar premise, as players defend a beach against attack by utilizing a variety of weapons. A version of the game was also produced for

video arcade An amusement arcade, also known as a video arcade, amusements, arcade, or penny arcade (an older term), is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, mer ...

s by Tsunami Visual Technologies, available in various

motion simulation A motion simulator or motion platform is a mechanism that creates the feelings of being in a real motion environment. In a simulator, the movement is synchronised with a visual display of the outside world (OTW) scene. Motion platforms can provid ...

cabinets and Digital Fusion continues to sell the Windows version as a download via its website.

Gameplay

Players take the role of the sole gunner defending a beach against invading enemy soldiers, tanks, helicopters and other military attack vehicles. The player utilizes a variety of weapons, including a

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanis ...

with a machine gun,

howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...

cannon and guided

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

s. A

handgun A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun, long barreled gun (i.e., carbine, rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, or machine gun) which typically is intended to be held by both hands and br ...

is available as a final means of defense. The

mouse A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...

is used to aim. Additional ammo and

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

are available by shooting packages dropped with

parachute A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating Drag (physics), drag or aerodynamic Lift (force), lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves va ...

s. Missions end when all enemies are defeated, each mission changes the spawn point of enemies on the beach. There are infinite missions and the game has no ending.

Reception

The PC version received "generally unfavorable reviews" according to the

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website

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'' said that the game becomes repetitive when taking out the stream of enemies in each level. A review in ''

AllGame RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the Alternative Investment Market, ...

'' said that "the initial appeal of ''Beach Head 2000''s single view wears off very quickly" and compared it unfavorably to the original '' Beach Head''. ''

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'' commented that the game was not worth the relatively low price, even among a limited selection of Mac OS games. However, ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' had a more positive reaction to the game, comparing it to ''

Missile Command ''Missile Command'' is a 1980 shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Atari for arcades. Sega released the game outside North America. It was designed by Dave Theurer, who also designed Atari's vector graphics game '' Tempest'' from ...

'' and calling it "strangely addicting". The PC version was nominated for the "Worst Game of the Year" award at ''GameSpot''s Best and Worst of 2000 Awards, which went to '' Blaze and Blade: Eternal Quest''. It was also nominated for the "Best Sound in a PC Game" award at ''

The Electric Playground ''EP Daily'' (formerly ''The Electric Playground'') is a daily news television show that covers video games, movies, TV shows, comic books, collectibles and gadgets. Created and executive produced by host Victor Lucas, and his Vancouver, British ...

''s Blister Awards 2000, which went to ''

Deus Ex ''Deus Ex'' is a series of cyberpunk role-playing video games, set during the mid 21st century. Focusing on the conflict between secretive factions who wish to control the world by proxy, and the effects of transhumanistic attitudes and technol ...

''.

Sequels

Digital Fusion produced several sequels, '' Beach Head 2002'', ''Beach Head Desert War'', and ''Baghdad Central Desert Gunner''. Global VR would take over the license from Tsunami and produce arcade versions of the first three games in the series.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{Beach-Head 2000 video games Arcade video games Classic Mac OS games First-person shooters Infogrames games MacSoft games Shoot 'em ups Single-player video games Video game remakes Video games developed in the United States Video games about the military Windows games WizardWorks games