Software:Sudden Strike (video game)

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Short description: 2000 video game
Sudden Strike
German cover
Developer(s)Fireglow Games
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Victor Streltsov
Programmer(s)
  • Victor Bargachev
  • Vladimir Medeiko
  • Oleg Semenov
  • Victor Streltsov
Artist(s)Dmitry Jempala
Composer(s)Igor Rzheffkin
SeriesSudden Strike
Platform(s)Windows
Release
  • EU: 2000
  • RU: October 26, 2000
  • UK: October 27, 2000
  • NA: January 24, 2001[2]
Genre(s)Real-time strategy
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Sudden Strike, also known in Russia as Confrontation III (Russian: Противостояние III), is a real-time tactics computer game set in World War II and the first game in the Sudden Strike series. Released in 2000, the game was developed by Fireglow based in Russia and published by CDV Software of Germany.[3] In Russia, the game was marketed as a sequel to the 1996 real-time tactics game Counter Action (known as Confrontation (Russian: Противостояние) in Russia), made by many of the same developers.[4]

The player selects a faction (e.g. Soviets, Germans, or Allied forces) and gains control of many varied units such as infantry, tanks and artillery. The game focuses primarily on tactics, eschewing traditional real-time strategy resource gathering and base development.

Sudden Strike was a commercial success, with global sales of roughly 800,000 units by 2002.

Gameplay

The main story features three campaigns (Soviets, Germans, and Allied forces).[5] The battles are presented in an isometric perspective with line-of-sight occlusions and practical cover.[6]

Sudden Strike utilizes accurate in-game physics with houses and buildings obstructing units' view, line-of-sight and firing range whereas clumps of trees can provide cover to reduce the damage of tank ordnance. The game allows units to garrison a building for a stronger firing position, especially valuable for anti-tank infantry. Units can also hold their fire, providing much-needed reconnaissance. Damage evaluation is also realistic; tanks or other vehicles that take too much damage are rendered immobile unless repairs are made.

Sudden Strike Forever

Sudden Strike Forever was an official add-on to Sudden Strike which introduces many more historically correct units and equipment, such as the upgraded Soviet T-34 tank (1944 version). New terrains are also provided: a desert terrain for the British missions in Tobruk and Tripoli and snow terrains for Soviet missions. The expansion also polished the game engine, balanced the damage of certain units, and added a map and scenario editor.

The add-on includes 4 inter-linked scenarios for each of the campaigns for the Germans, the American, the British and the Soviets. Other units which are added into the add-on includes, but not limited to the Universal Carrier for the British; the BR-5 artillery, 160mm grenade launcher for the Soviet forces and more. The supply system has also been tweaked with artillery crews automatically resupplying themselves with ammo crates nearby instead of relying on supply trucks to do the job. The supply trucks however would still be needed to repair damages inflicted on these artillery units.

The German campaign puts the player into the winter setting of Russian hinterlands with limited troops and reinforcements available, thus relying on use of captured Soviet artillery as well as equipment. The British campaign deals with the defense of an unnamed seaport from German attacks, whereas the American campaign probably takes place in France during the autumn season as the foliage on the vegetation suggest. The Soviet campaign involves a large armored division counter-attack on Russian soil and the storming of the Wehrmacht-controlled airfields. As with the earlier Sudden Strike original campaigns, the briefings do not explain the historical setting of the campaign, thus only issuing standardized orders to the player, for example, dispel enemy attacks or to simply take over a designated airfield in the east and so on. The add-on also includes 5 new single player individual scenarios.

Reception

Critical reviews

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic69/100[7]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGameStarStarStarHalf star[8]
CGSPStarStarStarHalf star[10]
CGWStarStarStarHalf star[11]
GameRevolutionB−[12]
GameSpot5.6/10[6]
GameSpy88%[13]
GameZone8/10[14]
IGN8.1/10[15]
Next GenerationStarStarStarStarStar[16]
PC Gamer (US)62%[17]

The game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[7] John Lee of NextGen gave a high praise to the game for its gameplay and the focus on tactical elements, graphics and visual effects, controls, and singleplayer and multiplayer campaigns.[16]

Sales

In the German market, the game debuted at #1 on Media Control's sales chart for September 2000.[18] The Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD) presented it with a "Gold" award at the end of that month,[19] indicating sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.[20] The committee noted that, despite the game's "exceedingly sensitive" subject matter, the game had become an "absolute hit".[19] It proceeded to place second, sixth, 17th and 18th on Media Control's rankings over the subsequent four months, respectively.[21][22] Following its 16th-place finish in February 2001,[23] the VUD upgraded the game to "Platinum" status (200,000 sales) and reaffirmed it as major commercial success.[24] It continued to chart in the German market that March, with a placement of 18th.[23]

Publisher CDV Software reported that the game sold 292,000 units into stores and foreign publishers during 2000, and that sell-through was running positively. The company also noted a high volume of sales directly to customers through the CDV online store.[25] The title became popular in France, where it was the first game published by Focus Home Interactive. It sold 60,000 units at full price and reached #1 on GfK's charts for the French market,[26] and remained there for multiple weeks.[27] Global sell-through of the game reached roughly 600,000 units by the end of 2001,[28] and around 800,000 units by the end of 2002. This made it one of CDV's best-selling titles at the time, alongside Software:Cossacks: European Wars.[29] According to Focus Home, the game's sales in France alone topped 80,000 units by May 2004,[30] and ultimately totaled 250,000 units.[27]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sudden Strike (2000)". Atari SA. https://www.mobygames.com/game/2610/sudden-strike/. 
  2. ↑ Walker, Trey (January 3, 2001). "Sudden Strike Gold". Fandom. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sudden-strike-gold/1100-2670412/. 
  3. ↑ Varanini, Giancarlo (October 17, 2000). "Sudden Strike Coming to North America". Fandom. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sudden-strike-coming-to-north-america/1100-2641835/. 
  4. ↑ Денис Давыдов (2000-06-01). "Превью игры Sudden Strike" (in ru). Archived from the original on 2018-02-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20180210181641/http://www.ag.ru/games/sudden-strike/preview/67. Retrieved 2018-02-09. 
  5. ↑ "Sudden Strike". https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278749/. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Geryk, Bruce (January 2, 2001). "Sudden Strike Review [EU Import"]. Fandom. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/sudden-strike-review/1900-2669531/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Sudden Strike". Fandom. https://www.metacritic.com/game/sudden-strike/. 
  8. ↑ Kazhdan, Alex. "Sudden Strike - Review". All Media Network. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=22593&tab=review. 
  9. ↑ Harms, William (February 1, 2001). "Sudden Strike". CNET. http://www.gamecenter.com/Reviews/Item/0%2C6%2C0-5212%2C00.html. 
  10. ↑ Albright, Willie (December 30, 2000). "Sudden Strike Review [EU Import"]. Strategy Plus, Inc.. http://cdmag.com/articles/031/078/suddenstri-01-r.html. 
  11. ↑ Case, Loyd (February 2001). "Less Is More (Sudden Strike Review)". Computer Gaming World (Ziff Davis) (199): 111. https://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_199.pdf. Retrieved May 5, 2024. 
  12. ↑ Villines, C. Joshua (May 2001). "Sudden Strike Review". CraveOnline. https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/33293-sudden-strike-review. 
  13. ↑ Lally, Will (March 4, 2001). "Sudden Strike". GameSpy Industries. http://www.gamespy.com/reviews/february01/suddenstrike/. 
  14. ↑ Lafferty, Michael (February 9, 2001). "Sudden Strike Review". http://pc.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r13879.htm. 
  15. ↑ Butts, Steve (January 24, 2001). "Sudden Strike". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/01/25/sudden-strike. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lee, John (March 2001). "Sudden Strike". NextGen (Imagine Media) (75): 92. https://archive.org/details/NextGen75Mar2001/page/n93/mode/2up. Retrieved May 5, 2024. 
  17. ↑ Poole, Stephen (February 2001). "Sudden Strike". PC Gamer (Imagine Media) 8 (2): 64. http://www.pcgamer.com/archives/2005/06/sudden_strike.html. Retrieved May 5, 2024. 
  18. ↑ "Stand: September 2000" (in de). http://www.vud.de/charts/pcg55.php3. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "VUD-SALES-AWARDS: September 2000" (in de). http://www.vud.de/presse/september2000.php3. 
  20. ↑ Horn, André (January 12, 2004). "VUD-Gold-Awards 2003" (in de). GamePro Germany (Webedia). https://www.gamepro.de/artikel/vud-gold-awards-2003,1290773.html. 
  21. ↑ "Stand: November 2000" (in de). http://www.vud.de/charts/pcg55.php3. 
  22. ↑ "Zeitraum: Januar 2001" (in de). http://www.vud.de/charts/pcg55.php3. 
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Zeitraum: März 2001" (in de). http://www.vud.de/charts/pcg55.php3. 
  24. ↑ "VUD-SALES-AWARDS: Februar 2001" (in de). http://www.vud.de/presse/februar2001.php3. 
  25. ↑ "Annual Report 2000" (in de). 2001. p. 7. http://www.cdv.de/download/share/ogg2000.pdf. 
  26. ↑ "Box Office" (in fr). http://www.focus-home.com/societe_chartsfr.php. 
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 "Document de Base" (in fr). p. 22. https://cdn.focus-home.com/admin/investor/docs/FOCUS-HOME-INTERACTIVE-DDB-VersionEnregistree-I.15-002.pdf. 
  28. ↑ "Annual Report 2001" (in de). 2002. p. 6. http://www.cdv.de/download/share/gb2001.pdf. 
  29. ↑ "Annual Report 2002" (in de). 2003. p. 36. http://www.cdv.de/download/share/gb2002e.pdf. 
  30. ↑ "Focus sort ses deux premiers hits à prix choc" (in fr). May 24, 2004. http://www.afjv.com/press0405/040524_focus.htm. 
  • Sudden Strike at Fireglow Games (archived)
  • Sudden Strike Forever at Fireglow Games (archived)
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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