"This makes war so much fun"

I've always loved the classic games on the Amiga, and Cannon Fodder is no exception. This game is one of my all-time favorites. Want to know why? Here's my review on Cannon Fodder.

So addictive! You can't stop playing! You start off the game with a variety of men, and then once you complete a mission you will get around 15 more men added to your squad. Your soldiers will move up the ranks if they survive in the battle zone, also known as the slaughter area (missions). You will soon realize why you need so many men, your men die quite too easy (poor things). It's quite irritating if you like this certain solider, and then the enemy slaughters him like a pig, you receive a tear in your eye.

Controls are basic but effective, as it's the Amiga, you use your mouse to control your soldiers and click the left button to move, the right button to fire, or to throw a grenade, etc, depending on what weapon you are currently holding. It's quite fun if you split your men into two groups or something similar, as you don't want around 20 men all running at one enemy, well, it is really funny to see your whole team just beat on this one evil guy. But this can be quite irritating if the enemy comes up from behind part of your team, and beats them to death leaving a pile of blood on the floor.

Cannon Fodder includes 23 missions in its database, with the missions getting harder and harder as you progress. There are five different backgrounds for your missions, them being Desert; Jungle; Arctic; Heathiand and an underground base. I found the underground base missions the hardest, but we all have our opinions. Cannon Fodder has three discs to it, it isn't complicated, i'm pleased to say. So no major complaints. Anyone, and i mean anyone can play this game, it's so simple. The little child can play Cannon Fodder, it's easy and simple.

Cannon Fodder is a really, really fun game to play. Every mission will have tons and tons of men dying in battle, whether they are enemies or allies. You can blow up buildings, rescue prisoners, take hostages and protect civilians and more and more killing! It's complete mayhem! Especially when all of your men and all of the enemy have grenades, all your screen will have explosions and more explosions!

Onto the backgrounds, the Jungle includes part of nature such as birds and animals all making noises, and a nice cool breath of wind which will help your soldiers before a complete carnage mayhem war. The rivers are also nice, when it's quiet, you know no one is about, but when there are noises such as thump, thump, thump and boom, boom, boom, you know that someone dangerous is about and this is the time to prepare. Cannon Fodder is tremendously fun and will be a part of your life just like it is with me.

There are approximately 72 maps featured in the game, with the basic and small maps for the first set of missions, then moving onto huge land and tons of enemies lurking about. When you get up to around Mission 6-7, many of the levels are tough and tricky, and will need tactics and a clever mind to master. You're guaranteed to lose at least one man when it gets onto Mission 3 onwards, so make sure it's not one of your sergeants or commandos.

Many helicopters, tanks and jeeps are also included in Cannon Fodder, and they are really tricky to get past, especially the tanks. These are featured in around Mission 7 onwards, so be careful.

The graphics are not that good, but they are quite nice on the backgrounds and scenes. The only down part is the men, who look like small-fat men with guns preparing for battle.

Onto replayability, once you complete the game you can just play on Cannon Fodder again if you're bored, as it's a really fun game to play. It's also quite neat to build your army up and select your men for battle. Each soldier has their own name, and one man could become loyal to you and survive for quite some time. So you can easily play it over and over again, as you can try to make a man live all the way through the game, which is really hard.

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Overall Cannon Fodder goes down as one of my all-time favorites in video games, and definitely my best game featured on the Amiga. If you love action, buy Cannon Fodder! It's well worth it and you certainly will not regret the purchase. Owners of the Commodore Amiga will need this game for their collection or miss out on a true classic.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/09/02, Updated 10/18/04