MissionForce: CyberStorm
Windows - 1996
Description of MissionForce: CyberStorm
One of the best giant robot strategy games ever made, bar none.
MissionForce: Cyberstorm from Dynamix is a hex-based, top-down, turn-based wargame set in the same universe as Earthsiege, an earlier Dynamix classic. You control a fleet of mechanized robots called "Hercs", waging war against the Cybrids. Games Domain says it all about this sadly overlooked classic:
"... the player's task in life is to take command of a fleet of Hercs and joust with the dreaded Cybrids, accumulating fame and fortune along the way. It's not all blood and guts though (especially as presumably the Cybrids don't come equipped with either). The budding Cybrid-slayer will have to do a lot of figure juggling and book cooking before he ventures onto the battlefield.
When the player starts their career they are given two basic Hercs and two low grade bioderms to pilot them. What the hell's a bioderm? you may well ask. Well it seems that clever old humanity realized that there was little point in putting their own lives on the line by climbing into a Herc and heading off to battle when they now had the capability to create artificial creatures capable of doing as good or better a job as man so they created the bioderms. These roll your own entities are what steers your precious Hercs into battle and so it pays to look after them.
As the player accumulates money, they can afford to spend more cash on their bioderm. Each type of bioderm has its own set of attributes, things like how well it can pilot a Herc, handle various types of weapons and command other bioderms. Another important factor is how long lived the bioderm is for even without your so called tactical mastery guiding it along, bioderms have a strictly limited lifespan.
The perceptive reader will have by now realized that without credits to upgrade their Hercs and bioderms, they are going to get nowhere in this game. How can they lay their hands on large amounts of gelt? Basically, by completing missions. At any one time, there are nine missions available to the player. Four of these are mining missions, fairly profitable and not dangerous. Then there are four military missions, more dangerous but more lucrative.
Finally, there is the Cyberstorm version of the end of level monster. This mission is a real bastard but if you complete it, you will have cleared the Cybrids from this particular solar system and can go on to the next one. There are three solar systems altogether. [The] gameplay during the missions is quick and easy. Thought has obviously been put into controlling the level of difficulty of the game by such artifacts as limiting the amount of Hercs the player can own and gradually introducing new types of Herc and technology as the game progresses. There is plenty of scope for variation in individual battles as well.
A Herc's capabilities will be determined by the gravity of the world the battle is taking place on (affecting movement and range of weapons), the type of terrain the battle is fought on (providing cover and once more affecting movement) and the worlds electromagnetic field which can severely reduce the lifespan of bioderms and the effect of energy weapons. On some worlds, this effect can even make energy weapons useless requiring a quick visit to ye olde machine gunne emporium. Even replaying missions is not the drag it might be because the battlefields are generated randomly each time a mission is played."
The summary is simple: if you like giant robot games or hex-based sci-fi wargames in general, MissionForce: Cyberstorm is a must-have. I had a lot of fun with the game; the sheer number of Hercs and nearly unlimited ways you can customize bioderms ensure excellent playability and high replay value.
Two thumbs up without a doubt, and a proud entrant into our Hall of Belated Fame. It is also worth noting that the game is much superior to the very disappointing sequel, Cyberstorm 2: Corporate Wars.
Review By HOTUD
External links
Captures and Snapshots
Comments and reviews
Repo 2020-04-04 0 point
One of the best strategy games I've ever played. I still have a copy on my backup HD. Highly recommended for TBS and stat freaks.
juanitogan 2017-11-26 3 points
I patched this game to run on most systems about 2 years ago now. The patch can be found by following the links here: https://namethattech.wordpress.com/2016/01/18/fixing-up-old-computer-games/
My patch, however, will not work on the 64MB "RIP Version" found on this site because that is a cracked version that isn't complete anyhow. I have no interest in supporting such versions. I haven't check the CCD "ISO Version" found here yet.
Person who had this game 2017-11-08 0 point
also I don't like posting more then once but this game deserves it and so does this comp
ok so my new problem now is when I try to save regardless if the game is working partially or fully (full as it gets) the save function does something similar to my other plea but this one Is more solid is says 10019586 blah blah all the stuff I said on the other one memory 00000000 or if too lazy to count, 8 zeros I have limited knowledge as to what this is or how to fix it so if someone want to bring to someone who can that would be amazing :D
Person who had this game 2017-11-08 1 point
im getting a error of sorts and I looked around but found very little so I don't know what to make of this but it says "the instructions at 0046ce06 referenced memory at ( insert different variables of code here) the memory could not be read from (also new note while I was trying to get the info randomly my game started to work after around 10~20 "soft resets" of the game and right now the only issue I saw was the noise of the units at the loading menu and the game seems to works perfectly so far) (another note my game has this incredible annoying high pitch around 2800 hertz loud or maybe my hearing isn't correct and its at 8000 to 9000 hertz) please help its driving me nuts XD
Awesome 2017-09-17 3 points
I couldn't get it working on 64-bit windows until I found this link on instructions how to run it: https://www.gog.com/forum/general_archive/cyberstorm_and_other_256_color_games
here's an excerpt:
1. Installer is 16 bit and won't run on 64bit machines. This can be bypassed by manually copying the CSTORM folder from the CD to desired location on your hard drive.
2. Apply the v1.1 patch (CSPAT11.EXE)
3. Apply the following compatibility options on CSTORM.EXE
a. Windows 95 compatibility mode
b. run in 256 colors
c. run in 640X480 screen resolution (might also need to set desktop resolution to 800X600)
d. disable visual themes
e. disable desktop composition
f. disable display scaling on high DPI settings
g. run as administrator
4. If you encounter abnormal colors, one of the following should fix it:
a. open the "screen resolution" settings window and leave it open in background and then launch game.
b. If the above doesn't work, make a batch file that taskkills explorer.exe (the GUI) before launching the game and then relaunches the GUI upon game exit.
taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
start /w CSTORM.EXE
start explorer.exe
Rodolfo Lima Teixeira 2017-09-06 1 point
I played this alot when i was a child... thanks for hosting the game!
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Buy MissionForce: CyberStorm
MissionForce: CyberStorm is available for a small price on the following website, and is no longer abandonware. GOG.com provides the best release and does not include DRM, please buy from them! You can read our online store guide .
Game Extras and Resources
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1 MB (Windows)
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