''Typhoon of Steel'' is a computer wargame designed by Gary Grigsby and published in 1988 by Strategic Simulations for the

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

, Commodore 64, Amiga, and IBM PC. A follow-up to Grigsby's 1987 game '' Panzer Strike'', it simulates military conflict during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1989, ''Typhoon of Steel'' was followed by '' Overrun!'', which features an updated version of its Game engine, engine and mechanics. It simulated hypothetical conflicts in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

Gameplay

''Typhoon of Steel'' is a computer wargame that simulates military conflict during

, covering combat scenarios in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and European Theatre. Alongside its pre-made scenarios, it features an editor that allows players to create hypothetical battles. ''Typhoon of Steel'' contains a " Banzai" rule to impact games that become imbalanced.

Development

''Typhoon of Steel'' was designed by Gary Grigsby and published by Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI). A sequel to Grigsby's game '' Panzer Strike'', it reuses that project's game engine and

mechanics Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...

, updated to focus on different sections of World War II. This design reuse followed a common trend for SSI titles at the time: the game systems of successful titles were often reused in subsequent products. Like its predecessor, ''Typhoon of Steel'' debuted in 1988.

Reception

M. Evan Brooks reviewed the game for ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

'', and stated that "for the dedicated gamer, ''Typhoon of Steel'' offers an engaging, albeit time-consuming, study of small unit actions during World War II in the South Pacific." In ''Computer Play'', Russ Ceccola offered ''Typhoon of Steel'' a positive review and recommended it to "the serious war gamer". ''

'' nominated ''Typhoon of Steel'' for its "Wargame of the Year" award, which ultimately went to '' Battles of Napoleon''. Reviewing the Amiga version, George Campbell of '' Strategy Plus'' dubbed ''Typhoon of Steel'' "an excellent game". '' Zzap!''s reviewer considered the game flawed, but noted that it contained "a lot of worthwhile detail" and "plenty of ambition".

Legacy

''Typhoon of Steel'' was followed by '' Overrun!'', which reused the game's mechanics and engine, updated to focus on modern warfare scenarios. In 1996, ''Computer Gaming World'' declared ''Typhoon of Steel'' the 143rd-best computer game ever released.

References

External links

* {{Gary Grigsby 1988 video games Amiga games Apple II games Commodore 64 games Computer wargames DOS games Strategic Simulations games Video games developed in the United States World War II video games