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Warfare Incorporated
March 23, 2004
Handmark released Warfare Incorporated quite a while ago; version 1.1 came out last week and added some terrific new features. In a nutshell, Warfare Incorporated is a strategy-based game for Palm OS and Pocket PC handhelds. The game puts you in the role of a young mining specialist named Andy who is given the task to mine a planet loaded with Galaxite, the most valuable mineral in the galaxy. Unfortunately there are some other companies who want to stake a claim as well, along with some betrayals along the way. That’s where things get tough, and it’s up to Andy to manage his limited resources carefully, build new units to defend the base, and put rival claimants out of commission. The story is rather engaging, and even includes a love interest. I was quite impressed, as most Palm OS games I play either don’t have a story at all (puzzle games) or they’re stripped down RPGs. Warfare Incorporated does a good job of making things interesting without bogging the game down too much with endless cut screens or dialog boxes, and I really appreciate that.Of course since this is a strategy game, the really important thing is the action, and Warfare Incorporated has plenty of that. The game comes with 14 story missions and five challenge missions, which should be plenty to keep the average gameplayer entertained for quite a while. Each mission takes about 30-45 minutes, and some quite a bit longer than that. Some of them are rather straightforward “build tons of units, then go out and destroy the enemy base” missions, while some are fiendishly clever, fun to play, and very challenging— such as the ones that require Andy to go in solo and complete a difficult objective.
Fortunately the learning curve is rather gentle. I’m not much of a strategy game expert, having only played Warcraft on the PC back in my college days, but I have some idea of the basics. Warfare Incorporated gave me enough information and help to allow me to play the game without getting frustrated, but not so much that I believe more advanced players would become annoyed. The options grow as the game progresses, from basic units and vehicles to more advanced. I especially like the ability to build rocket and gatling towers to defend my base. That way I can send my tanks and rocket troopers out into the field and still have a measure of safety. And of course the corporate raiders are my absolute favorite, but you’ll find out more about those when you play the game.
Of course one of the problems with a mission-based game is that once you play all the missions, the game loses a great deal of your interest. Fortunately version 1.1 added the ability to play user-created missions on your handheld. If you’ve always wanted to try out your hand at game design, you can download the free level editor for desktop PCs and create your own missions for Warfare Incorporated. Or if you’re untalented or just lazy, you can download a number of campaigns from the Warfare Incorporated web site. There’s 14 of them so far, and more are on the way. I’m playing Armageddon right now, and it’s a blast— literally! This mission pits you against Omni and the Free Radicals on a new planet with abundant Galaxite deposits. It’s more action-oriented than some of the other campaigns, which focus on strategy and defense.
The new version also added more optimized ARM code for faster performance on Palm OS 5 and Pocket PC devices, but even if you don’t have the latest and greatest device you can probably still play Warfare Incorporated. The game plays best on a color device, but there is a greyscale version available. High and low resolution graphics are included, and it fully supports the 320 x 480 graphics available on the Tapwave Zodiac and the palmOne Tungsten T3. All of the other features you’d expect, such as great sound effects and the ability to save several missions in progress, are all included. There’s also a special options menu that allows you to customize the game to your taste by setting the difficulty level, the sound effects volume, and several different color options for hue, saturation, and brightness. The performance menu allows you to turn on or off certain effects in the game to increase the performance on your device, if it can’t handle all of the smoke, damage indicators, scorch marks, and rocket impacts.
Warfare Incorporated is $29.99 at the Handmark web site A free trial is available as well, so you can test it and see if you’re up to the challenge. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a challenge or just something a little different in a handheld game. Even if you don’t think you’ll like a strategy game, give it a whirl. You just might become the next top mining specialist for the ACME corporation.
PocketGoddess Rating for Warfare Incorporated: 
