Harpoon (series)

Last updated
Harpoon
Harpoon Logo.png
The logo used for Larry Bond's Harpoon Commander's Edition.
Genre(s) Real-time strategy, Wargame
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Platform(s) MS-DOS, Amiga, Macintosh, Windows
First release Harpoon
1989
Latest releaseLarry Bond's Harpoon Ultimate Edition 2015.027
December 15, 2015 [1]

Harpoon is a series of realistic air and naval computer wargames based upon Larry Bond's miniatures game of the same name. Players can choose between either the Blue or Red side in simulated naval combat situations, which includes local conflicts as well as simulated Cold War confrontations between the Superpowers. Missions range from small missile boat engagements to large oceanic battles, with dozens of vessels and hundreds of aircraft. The game includes large databases containing many types of real world ships, submarines, aircraft, and land defenses (i.e. air bases and ports).

Contents

Overview

The simulations have a dedicated fan base with several websites offering a varying styles of scenarios and discussion forums, especially as the latest edition includes a feature to allow players to create their own scenarios. Often described as a "niche within a niche market," development of the simulation has progressed steadily through the years despite the overwhelming graphical details of first-person shooter and real-time strategy games. Advanced Gaming Systems, Inc. (AGSI), developers of Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare and Harpoon Commander's Edition (with HarpGamer), currently distributes the simulation as a Harpoon Ultimate Edition through Matrix games with technical support handled on a co-operative basis by AGSI, HarpGamer, and Matrix games employees.

Harpoon was originally published by Three-Sixty Pacific and has had several development paths and publishers. Despite the widespread success of the game, Three-Sixty Pacific experienced financial difficulties and went under in 1994. Currently all computer rights rest with AGSI, who continues to improve the series with new developments and releases. In 2006, AGSI released Harpoon Advanced Naval Warfare (ANW) which allowed players to compete with human opponents for the first time in the game's history.

Harpoon's interface emphasizes technical accuracy over graphical polish, with simple 2D symbols to simulate a warship's radar display. There has been considerable debate in the game's user community about the decision of the developers to utilize 3D graphics in later versions of the program. Since March 2009, two releases are available to AGSI civilian customers. Harpoon Commanders Edition is an updating version based on the game engine of the original series. Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare is the current civilian edition of the product. Military customers are offered Harpoon 3 Pro, which is tailored for customer specifications. There was a Macintosh version that lies between the Harpoon II and Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare called "Harpoon III v3.6.3" aka "H3"

Commercial development of both versions has ceased. The most recent release of Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare aka "ANW" is V3.11.1. (January 2013). While the most recent commercial release of Harpoon Commander's Edition aka "HCE" is v2009.097 (October 2010), Matrix Games makes available version v2015.027 (January 2016) as a direct download from its Harpoon page.

Harpoon Commander's Edition has been under development by volunteers with new beta versions available via the HarpGamer HC Beta Current Files. All beta versions install on top of v2015.027.

The H3 MilSim (aka Harpoon 3 Professional) product is still available. [2]

Gameplay

The games play in real time, with time acceleration capability in case the action slows down. The player can control single or multiple platforms (thousands if the computing power is available). The game is extremely comprehensive, although certain elements of naval warfare are not modeled, such as radar ducting, sonar bottom and surface bounce, and COMINT/SIGINT.

Reception

Computer Gaming World said that Harpoon II's long delay helped the game, approving of the Windows-like interface for the DOS game. [3] The editors of PC Gamer US nominated Harpoon II for their 1994 "Best Wargame" award, although it lost to Panzer General . [4]

Titles

TitleDetails

Original release date(s): [5]
Release years by system:
1989—DOS, Macintosh [5] [6]
1990—Amiga [7]
Notes:

Original release date(s):
Release years by system:
1991—DOS
Notes:
  • Developed and published by Three-Sixty Pacific
  • It is a compilation of the original Harpoon which includes additional material such as a scenario editor and a strategy guide

Original release date(s):
  • NA: June 1, 1995
Release years by system:
1994—Macintosh
1995—DOS/Windows
Notes:

Original release date(s):
Release years by system:
1994—DOS
Notes:

Original release date(s):
Release years by system:
1995—DOS
Notes:
  • Updated version of the game with multimedia features

Original release date(s):
Release years by system:
1996—DOS
Notes:
  • Developed by Three-Sixty Pacific and published by Eidos Interactive
  • It is a compilation of Harpoon II Deluxe and expansions
  • Also includes database editor and a new expansion: Regional Conflicts 2: The Middle East

Original release date(s): [8]
  • NA: April 1997
Release years by system:
1997—Windows [8]
Notes:
  • Developed by Alliance Interactive and published by Interactive Magic [9]
  • It is a revised edition of Harpoon Classic
Harpoon III

Original release date(s): [10]
June 1, 2001
Release years by system:
2001—Windows
Notes:
  • Developed by SpearSoft. Published by Advanced Gaming Systems
  • Later renamed to Harpoon 3 Pro
  • It is continued on with Larry Bond's Harpoon 3: Advanced Naval Warfare
Larry Bond's Harpoon 3: Advanced Naval Warfare

Original release date(s): [11]
  • NA: June 15, 2006
Release years by system:
2006—Windows [11]
Notes:
Larry Bond's Harpoon Commander's Edition

Original release date(s): [12]
  • NA: November 21, 2007
Release years by system:
2007—Windows [12]
Notes:
  • Developed by Advanced Gaming Systems and HarpGamer and published by Matrix Games [12]
Larry Bond's Harpoon - Ultimate Edition

Original release date(s): [13]
  • NA: November 3, 2010
Release years by system:
2010—Windows [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avalon Hill</span> Board game company

Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company's "Hasbro Gaming" division.

<i>Master of Orion</i> 1993 video game

Master of Orion is a turn-based, 4X science fiction strategy game in which the player leads one of ten races to dominate the galaxy through a combination of diplomacy and conquest while developing technology, exploring and colonizing star systems.

The Operational Art of War (TOAW) is a series of computer wargames noted for their scope, detail, and flexibility in recreating, at an operational level, the major land battles of the 20th century. A Norm Koger design, TalonSoft published the first of the series in 1998. Matrix Games bought the rights to the franchise and created a new game in 2006, TOAW 3, which was the first non-Norm Koger designed game in the series.

<i>Steel Panthers</i> Video game series

Steel Panthers is a series of computer wargames, developed and published by several different companies, with various games simulating war battles from 1930 to 2025. The first Steel Panthers game was released in 1995, and the most recent update was released in 2018 and is still updated regularly (yearly).

<i>James Bond 007: Nightfire</i> 2002 first-person shooter video game

James Bond 007: Nightfire is a 2002 first-person shooter video game published by Electronic Arts for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows, with additional versions released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003, and the Mac OS X in 2004. The computer versions feature modifications to the storyline, different missions and the removal of driving sections used in home console versions.

<i>Robotron: 2084</i> 1982 video game

Robotron: 2084 is a multidirectional shooter developed by Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar of Vid Kidz and released in arcades by Williams Electronics in 1982. The game is set in the year 2084 in a fictional world where robots have turned against humans in a cybernetic revolt. The aim is to defeat endless waves of robots, rescue surviving humans, and earn as many points as possible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Bond</span> American author and wargame designer

Lawrence L. Bond is an American author and wargame designer. He is the designer of the Harpoon and Command at Sea gaming systems, and several supplements for the games. Examples of his numerous novels include Dangerous Ground, Day of Wrath, The Enemy Within, Cauldron, Vortex and Red Phoenix. He also co-authored Red Storm Rising with Tom Clancy.

Matrix Games is a publisher of PC games, specifically strategy games and wargames. It is based in Ohio, US, and Surrey, UK.

<i>Wing Commander</i> (video game) 1990 video game

Wing Commander is the first game in Chris Roberts' space flight simulation Wing Commander franchise by Origin Systems. The game was first released for MS-DOS on September 26, 1990 and was later ported to the Amiga, CD32 (256-color), Sega CD and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and re-released for the PC as Wing Commander I in 1994. An enhanced remake Super Wing Commander was made for the 3DO in 1994, and later ported to the Macintosh.

Three-Sixty Pacific was an American video game publisher and developer. Founded in the late 1980s by avid wargamers and military history enthusiasts, they were acquired by IntraCorp Entertainment Inc. in 1994.

<i>Gary Grigsbys Pacific War</i> 1992 video game

Gary Grigsby's Pacific War is a 1992 strategy wargame released by Strategic Simulations, Inc. It covers World War II in the Pacific between the Japanese Empire and the Allies, which include the United States, the British Empire, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Philippines, and China. The main map of the game stretches from north of the Aleutians to southern New Zealand and Australia, and from the eastern coast of India to the West Coast of North America. It includes aircraft carrier operations, amphibious assaults, surface bombardments/engagements, strategic bombing, kamikazes, and the submarine war against naval and merchant shipping.

<i>Harpoon</i> (video game) 1989 video game

Harpoon is a computer wargame published by Three-Sixty Pacific in 1989 for DOS. This was the first game in the Harpoon series. It was ported to the Amiga and Macintosh.

<i>Carriers at War</i> 1984 video game

Carriers at War 1941-1945: Fleet Carrier Operations in the Pacific is a 1984 computer wargame by Strategic Studies Group for Apple II and Commodore 64. The game was designed by Roger Keating and Ian Trout. A remake, Carriers at War, was released for DOS in 1992. A sequel to the remake, Carriers at War II, was released for DOS and Mac OS in 1993. A second remake was published by Matrix Games in 2007 for Microsoft Windows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IW (game engine)</span> Game engine developed by Infinity Ward

The IW engine is a game engine created and developed by Infinity Ward for the Call of Duty series. The engine was originally based on id Tech 3. Aside from Infinity Ward, the engine is also used by other Activision studios working on the series, including primary lead developers Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games, and support studios like Beenox, High Moon Studios, and Raven Software.

<i>Caesars Palace 2000</i> Simulation video game

Caesars Palace 2000 is a gambling simulation video game developed by Runecraft and published by Interplay Entertainment. It was released in North America and Europe in June 2000 for the PlayStation, Dreamcast and Microsoft Windows' PCs. It is named after the famous Caesars Palace luxury hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panther Games</span>

Panther Games Pty Ltd is an Australian games developer, best known for the WWII Airborne Assault and Command Ops PC video game series. Panther Games specialises in developing operational level wargames for the PC Wargame market.

<i>Command: Modern Air Naval Operations</i> 2013 video game

Command: Modern Air Naval Operations is a warfare simulation video game developed by Greek studio Warfare Sims, published by Matrix Games and released on September 24, 2013. Often described as the spiritual successor to the legacy Harpoon series, Command expanded on both the scope and detail of simulation compared to Harpoon and was designed to overcome the earlier series' limitations.

<i>Armored Fist 2</i> 1997 video game

Armored Fist 2 is a video game developed and published by NovaLogic for MS-DOS in 1997.

References

  1. "Larry Bond's Harpoon Ultimate - CE Version 2015.027 is live! - Matrix Games Forums".
  2. "Harpoon - Tied Up" . Retrieved 2013-12-24.
  3. "These Just In". Now Playing. Computer Gaming World. August 1994. pp. 152–156.
  4. Staff (March 1995). "The First Annual PC Gamer Awards". PC Gamer . 2 (3): 44, 45, 47, 48, 51.
  5. 1 2 3 "Harpoon - Overview". allgame . Retrieved 2009-05-09.
  6. 1 2 "Harpoon Release Information for Macintosh". GameFAQs . Retrieved 2009-05-09.
  7. "Harpoon Release Information for Amiga". GameFAQs . Retrieved 2009-05-09.
  8. 1 2 Cobb, Jim (April 1997). "Ship-Shape". Computer Gaming World . No. 153. p. 150.
  9. "Harpoon Classic 97 - Overview". allgame. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
  10. Chick, Tom (9 April 2002). "Harpoon 3 (PC)". GameSpy . IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on 6 October 2002. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Larry Bond's Harpoon 3: Advanced Naval Warfare - Overview". allgame . Retrieved 2009-05-10.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Harpoon -- Commanders Edition". IGN . Retrieved 2009-05-10.
  13. "Larry Bond's Harpoon - Ultimate Edition". Matrix Games . Retrieved 2020-10-10.