There seems to have been a glut of war simulations out recently - perhaps the cold weather is inspiring us to run around battlefields in a bid to keep warm. Whatever…! ARMOURED FIST 3 is one where no running is involved and instead you’ll have the relative comfort of a massive M1A2 Abrams tank wrapped around you.

Being the third in a series you’d expect many enhancements from previous versions and AF3 won’t disappoint you there. Excellent graphics and 32-bit colour make the scenarios realistic and allow for fine detail such as tread marks and ground undulations. They also mean that interior views, based on actual gunner, commander and driver positions, are true to life. Realistic control also means several key-commands to master but for players new to the scene a series of training missions will teach the basics. Confidence can be boosted further by tackling six solo combat missions that will test gunnery and movement skills but after that you’re on your own. 

The remaining 40 or so missions are spread across 4 campaign scenarios and these will expect you to command between 4 and 24 other vehicles in all-out battle. They’ll take you through Africa, Thailand, Pakistan and Azerbaijan and a series of variable weather conditions where it’s you or them in the success stakes. Each action could also have repercussions later in the campaign so you will need to be fairly adept by this time. 

When you feel invincible you may like to try your hand at creating your own custom missions with the scenario editor or taking on the world over the free Internet game server. Here up to 32 players per game can join in deathmatch, capture the flag or cooperative missions that come complete with voice-over-net technology that lets you speak to other combatants rather than type them messages – a real pain in the heat of war. 

So climb aboard and crank your tank in ARMOURED FIST 3