In the near future, humanity has created the ultimate weapons of destruction: OGRE tanks. These massive behemoths are nearly unstoppable, with enough armor to be nearly impervious to everything short of nuclear weapons, as well as enough firepower to obliterate an entire infantry division single-handedly. In addition, they are sentient, capable of thinking and reasoning for themselves.
Your mission: stop one of these OGRE tanks before it destroys your Command Post.
Ogre is based on the board game of the same name, which makes knowing the board game's rules beneficial, and is set in a near-future science-fiction Earth. Using multiple units to make one combined attack against the OGRE is required in order to stop it.
The graphics are simple symbols and colors, mostly black and white, set on a hex grid.
The sound consists of simple PC-speaker noises: beeps and blips to represent attacks, hits, and misses. The only music is in the intro and ending, when either the OGRE or the Command Post is destroyed. The sound effects tend more towards the annoying, and there is no way to turn them off.
The game is controlled completely with the mouse, using a click, hold, and drag system for all orders. You click on something, hold down the left mouse button, and drag the cursor to where you want the unit to move or what you want to attack.
You can play either single-player or with a friend. Single-player puts you in control of the units defending the Command Post while the computer controls the OGRE. If you play two-player, one player controls the defending force, and the other controls the OGRE.
As the Defender, you place your units, craters, and rubble (represented by black hex sides) however you want to on the map. Once the Defender is finished placing his units, select "Play a Game" from the menu, and the OGRE is placed along the bottom of the map.
Ogre can be played in less than thirty minutes per game. Replayability is rather limited, since you are only able to change the number of units you place, where and how many craters there are, and whether you fight against a Mark 3 (Easy) or a Mark 5 (Hard) OGRE.
It is a simple game you can play quickly. It is best played once in a while instead of repeatedly for hours, as this will burn out any enjoyment you may have for it.
Ogre was more of an advertisement to increase sales of the Ogre and GEV lines of board games and miniatures than an entertaining game for its own sake.
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