Tank Commander Download (1995 Simulation Game)

Tank Commander claims to be a full featured tank war simulator with the latest telemetry and statistics of real battle tanks. However, in many ways it remains an arcade tank game to the core. Tanks move faster than in reality, there are ammunition recharges and other niceties to collect in the field, and the tank is equipped with a radar.

40 international combat zones are featured. The player chooses tank model (T-72, M1 Abrams, Leopard and Challenger are all available) and up to 4 wingmen, and starts blasting enemy forces to pieces. A multiplayer mode via modem or IPX is also offered. There are speech clips form your wingmen.

Tank Commander is a fun and highly underrated tank combat game from Domark. The review at Tanksim.com says it all:

"Tank Commander was released in 1995 as a multi-play capable tanksim. The graphics are pre-Pentium and just adequate. If you can accept its limitations, TC may deliver some passable gameplay.

Once you begin, you get to the setting panel where you adjust your sound and detail levels and alter the standard keyboard configurations. A choice of seven missions awaits, including volcano, arctic, desert, and urban settings. Each mission consists of sub-sections with distinct objectives. Complete the first objective and you may proceed through the mission.

You may observe the action using chase, gunner, driver, commander, or satellite views. No matter how you view it, the tanksim's physics are completely detached from reality. Your tank will spin and accelerate much more rapidly than real life. The tank drives more like a hopped-up mustang than a 63 ton armored assault vehicle. You will spend a lot of time zooming around and blasting targets the onboard radar picks out for you. Tank speed and radar aren't the only unrealistic aspects of the sim, either. You have at your disposal, on a single tank, the cannon, coax machine gun, flame thrower, mine destroyer, even a homing missile. Tank Commander sure outfits you well! And if you deplete your ammo too soon--and you will--there are "power-ups" in the game to refill your stores and armor. If you have reached the conclusion that Tank Commander plays fast and loose with realism, I won't try to argue you out of it.

With dated graphics and borderline physics, what can be said in TC's favor. Well, completing the mission is challenging. The AI is aggressive and you will be under constant fire. Most missions give you the option to call for help. Air support arrive in the form of war-hungry A-10 Warthogs. These guys can help you clear a beach in a hurry! You don't relax or reconnoiter much in this sim--it's pretty much shoot and scoot all the way. The enemy will show up in many forms--Leopard tanks, helos. individual troops (fun to run over!), hovercraft, destroyers--you name it. No matter how arcadish, Tank Commander presses a mean attack. And the difficulty level increases as you progress through the missions. During the mission, small video inserts of your crew members will appear in the upper right-hand corner to advice and alert you. Listen to them. This isn't their first rodeo. Completing an objective is gratifying and you can get hooked playing this sim even though it ain't pretty. The sounds are last in line. Nothing can substitute for the echoing boom of the main cannon that M1 Tank Platoon 2 offers.

The programmers of Tank Commander display some novelty when they include drones and helicopter surveillance. And wait till you crest a ridge and cast your eyes on the ancient pillars of Stonehenge! Where are we, Toto? Share the fun with a friend--TC offers modem play and network play for up to four players, although I have never tried this feature out." All in all, a commendable effort that does not quite live up to the standards M1 Tank Platoon, but is fun and quite innovative for its time.

How to run this game on modern Windows PC?

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Tank (from Spectrum Holobyte), Super-VGA Harrier, Task Force 1942, Sub Battle Simulator, T.F.X., Red Baron 3D, Tornado & Operation Desert Storm, ThunderHawk