Return Fire (PlayStation) review "A game I played back in the 8th grade when it was still sorta new, this 7-year-old Playstaion game had me hooked when I rented it from Blockbuster back in middle school. You've probably never heard of it, or if you have, probably don't really remember it. "

A game I played back in the 8th grade when it was still sorta new, this 7-year-old Playstaion game had me hooked when I rented it from Blockbuster back in middle school. You've probably never heard of it, or if you have, probably don't really remember it.

The game caught my eye because it had tanks and helicopters on the cover and lots of fire. I like fire. I like tanks, and helicopters, and machine guns (hence my profession) so I had to rent it. I plugged it in and the opening scene (however short it was) had me captivated. The words ''Return Fire'' written in flames with an orchestra playing in the background along with missles zipping acrossing the screen and explosions.

The gameplay also had me hooked. The object? Capture the flag. The twist? You get combat tanks, hummers, attack helicopters, and armored support vehicles to aid in your search as you pulverize your enemy's automated defenses, fortification, and support areas in your quest for the Flag. What makes it even more twisted is the soundtrack. Try blasting away with MRLSs (multiple rocket launching systems) while jamming to Grieg's ''In the Hall of the Mountain King'' or chasing down your friend's hummer in your helicopter while blaring ''Ride of the Valkyries.'' Classical music mixed with destruction? Brings out a sort of ''Apocalypse Now'' feeling, without snails walking along the edges of razors.

The game has a multitude of maps that go from simply running over to the sole enemy construction and snagging the flag to hours of searching through decoy flag towers (towers that house the enemy's flag), blasting away fortifications, fueling up and reloading your vehicles via supply depos scattered through the maps.

The game is a great buy, if you can find it. I had to search for about a week before I found it on Ebay, and I'm not going into how much I paid for my copy (mint condition, even had the hold PSX game box.) Also, like some of the older Playstation games, you can place the game in your CD player and jam along to the soundtrack while you're out doing whatever. If you like classical music it's a bonus, if not, you still have a cool game.

Community review by tetsuo (August 27, 2002) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.