PowerDolls
(1995 MegaTech Software)


The last MegaTech game, and curiously enough the only one that does 
not feature semi-nude females in Manga (i.e.Japanese cartoon) style, 
PowerDolls is a fun, but shallow turn-based, squad-level tactical 
strategy game set in a futuristic world. The story is straightforward: 
in the far future, "undesirables" and free-thinkers are shipped off 
Earth to colonize alien planets. After several centuries, Earth decides 
to reclaim its lost colonies. The PowerDolls are an elite team of loader 
pilots, aircraft pilots, and drivers, who defend their homeworld from 
imperialistic Earth forces.

Pretty graphics and neat anime scenes aside, The game itself is a 
pretty straightforward tactical game that offers nothing new to the 
genre. Each loader is allotted action units per round of combat, which 
can be used to move, fire, and so on. There is a good variety of missions, 
each with unique objectives that advance the plot, and an assortment of 
ordnance to accomplish them with. One interesting touch is that if a 
Warrior is killed, she is gone forever from the game. Run out of fighters, 
and it's game over.

Overall, PowerDolls is an average strategy game by today's standards. It 
offers more "bells and whistles" than many tactical games, but gameplay 
is below average due to poor AI and ridiculous number of enemies the 
computer tries to disguise with. The manga artwork is beautiful, but 
the actual in-game animations of the loaders on the battlefield are 
uninspiring. Recommended only to anime/manga fans and casual gamers. 
Die-hard FASA experts and fans of challenging strategy games should look 
elsewhere, particularly to MicroProse's underrated Mech Commander.  


Further Comments:
"All the pilots are women, because of the finesse and reflexes required 
by a loader. Their statistics play a big role in actual combat. If you're 
using an Mc88 with a pilot who has a poor AG stat, you've wasted the AP's 
which could have been used for spotting, calling artiller (very important 
in some missions), or other mission objectives. Getting up close and 
personal with an X32 is only as good as the pilots close combat skill. I 
also find it refreshing to have a game where there isn't a single "kill 
everything" mission that has no real point. You can also fail a mission, 
and still win the war (game). You just can't fail too many. And pilots 
are not "replaced", you simply gain more as the game progresses, 
regardless of outcome. If a pilot is injured or MIA, it may take a turn 
or two for them to return (if at all). There's 21 members in all, once 
you're down to 6 it's game over, according to the manual at least. I've 
never tested that."



