Good game, but read the manual first!
Breach 2 is a turn based military strategy game developed in 1990. A sequel to Breach 1, and prequel to Breach 3 this game included more enemies, missions, as well as featuring improved graphics and gameplay. In this game you command a squad of marines through a number of scenarios, ranging in inherent difficulty from easy to challenging. The player takes a turn moving their marines until they run out of movement points, then the computer takes over for the AI turn. Each Scenario has different victory conditions. For example, rescuing prisoners, killing opponents, destroying or capturing "data-packs" or exiting combat zones alive. The marines move around a coordinate grid, taking objects, hacking computers or fighting an enemy, before their turn ends. The view is isometric-tile based much like later games such as Brood War, however the borders of each tile are very visible, especially when you stand near a building wall. The floor texture leaks out to fill the tile on the side that appears to be outside the building. Everything takes place on a single map, being revealed over the time as the player explores. This means that you can view buildings as if they had an invisible roof. This is unfortunate in a way, it means that ambushes are easy to avoid, as you can see the inside of a building before you walk in. This is something to keep in mind while building scenarios, as the game includes a map editor.Overall, this game was very difficult to learn the basics of. Not yet standard were in-game tutorials, at the time for most games as complex as this the manual was a must-read. After searching for the manual on Google, I had already spent around an hour trying to figure out how to get out of the first building. However, after reading and playing for a little longer, the game became more enjoyable.
