Baghdad Central: Desert Gunner

"Yes, yuo are the bait"

"Is baghdad, you’re the designated gunner, you’re on patrol… and yes, you’re a target. It’s your assignment to be bait and to draw fire; it sucks but it’s your job. At least you have the fire-power to keep bad-guys at bay……Or make them pay!"

Game description, and also as close as it gets to a story (with original spelling)

Overview

Baghdad Central is an on-rails shooter from Digital Fusion Inc. Set in modern Iraq, the player attempts to kill enemies attacking their convoy and protect as many allied and civilian vehicles as possible. It could be considered a successor to Beach Head: Desert War, also from Digital Fusion, which was in turn largely a Middle-East-themed reskin of Beach Head 2002.

Gameplay

The player commands a single weapon from first-person perspective as the gunner of a US Army vehicle. As part of a convoy, it travels along a set path at a constant speed (just above jogging pace). However, the player can switch between the convoy's vehicles (and armaments on them) at any time, using the best weapon for various enemies and situations. Convoys can have from two to six vehicles, which are destroyed if too heavily damaged during the level, though health packs on the route can repair them before this point. (Losing a convoy vehicle has no impact on later levels, but negatively impacts the score.) Not all vehicles in each level have the same route, and on may split and merge or take entirely separate paths.

Realism leans far towards arcade-game territory. Weapons have infinite ammunition (as do those of enemies) and never need reloading, and only grenades experience gravity. Enemies spawn at predetermined points along the route - not always behind cover, and often close enough that the player can see it happen - and only attack the player's vehicle. AI intelligence is generally poor, i.e. 'car bombs' drive directly towards the player and make no attempt to avoid obstacles or enemies between. Friendly AI is non-existent; vehicles the player isn't in will never attack enemies (or be purposely attacked) but can still be damaged. (In one of the nods towards the real world, while the player can turn their view as fast as they want the weapon movement speeds and vertical limits vary between vehicles.)

While all people the player encounters are enemies, some vehicles are neutral and the player is penalized if they are destroyed. Car-bombs (vehicles that attempt to ram the player and explode, causing considerable damage) use the same models, and are the only enemies that don't have indicators above them, but can be easily identified by their speed and ability to turn.

The game features twenty entirely plot-free levels on a single large map. The map resembles rural Iraq with highways, small villages, distant mountains, army bases and a large river (seen only once, in only one level) among other items. "Weather" is present in the form of cosmetic rain, and the time of day varies, though always in daytime and with no effect on gameplay.

Levels can be saved at any time but have no checkpoints and loaded levels always start at the beginning. The game includes cheats to ease progress - listed on the help screen along with other controls - of infinite health, guided missiles for all vehicles, or just skipping directly to the next level. (Skipping the final level freezes the game.)

The game has many issues, from lighting problems to convoys getting 'stuck' or vehicle textures disappearing.

Weapons

All vehicles have at least one machine gun (usually as an alternate weapon), and tanks have their own cannons.

Vehicles

Individual enemies are worth 20 points.