Republic of Korea forces, along with members of the United States military, keep a wary eye on the rolling hills north of the DMZ. It is there that thousands upon thousands of North Korean troops await the command to start the blitz south. When that day comes they will pour southwards. The sky will fill with MiGs and Hinds, and chaos will reign in the South as the scores of specially trained North Korean commandos turn the streets of Seoul into a confusing bloodbath.

Doesn't sound like a fun place to be, does it? Sounds like it would even be worse once the shooting starts. Well, prepare yourself. Next summer the balloon goes up and ProSIM and Shrapnel Games is there.

Raging Tiger: The Second Korean War (title subject to change) is slated for a June 2004 release. Developed for the Windows operating system by ProSIM and published by Shrapnel Games, Raging Tiger will set the bar as the most highly realistic treatment of a possible war in Korea, whether computer game or boardgame.

Using the highly praised Armored Task Force game engine as the starting layer Raging Tiger promises to be the best ProSIM title to date, thanks to its lavish attention to detail and playability. For example, Raging Tiger will not use slapped together homebrewed maps that supposedly represent the terrain in Korea. No, gamers can fully expect concise maps that are based on real world digital maps. ProSIM has even acquired Russian military maps for the utmost in authenticity!

That same attention to detail can of course be expected in the actual gameplay. ProSIM is well known for their creation of ultra-hardcore wargaming, and Raging Tiger will be no different. Gamers can expect the same level of play as Armored Task Force, but with a slew of new additions to make the experience even more enjoyable.

Some of these upgrades include the ability to conduct amphibious operations, improved infantry mechanics, and new weather effects to fully take advantage of the uniqueness of Korea. The interface will be streamlined from Armored Task Force, making it easier for new players to jump into the game. The visuals will also see a new facelift, with a stronger focus on the artwork compared to previous titles.

Wargames are nothing but number crunching without plenty of chrome, and Raging Tiger definitely sports a great deal of shine. Expect to deal with chemical warfare, civilians, paramilitaries, and asymetric warfare never seen on a like scale before. North Korea has the world's largest assembly of "special" forces and players can expect to face these sneaky fighters in Raging Tiger in full force.

The campaign structure will be a departure from previous ProSIM titles. Except for the occasional special forces mission, or a mission leading an amphibious assault, play revolves around Joint Task Force Iron. JTF Iron is comprised of units from the U.S. Army, Marines, and Republic of Korea which the player will lead in battle. The campaign, while linear, is story based and told in a storyboard format. One nice feature of this is that the player can jump into the story at any point; missions are not locked. No more banging your head against the desk because you just had to replay a scenario for the tenth time before advancing!

Raging Tiger: The Second Korean War is being designed by Curt D. Pangracs, a twenty-year Army veteran with tours in Germany, Korea, and the States. Besides feverishly working on Raging Tiger Curt also provides wargaming simulation support to all the schools within the Command and General Staff College, located at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Raging Tiger: The Second Korean War will be the definite treatment of this hypothetical—yet frightfully possible—scenario. As next summer approaches stay tuned for more details of this exciting project!

Related articles, Click here!