Developer Pivotal and original Conflict: Desert Storm publisher SCi give you the opportunity to travel back in time to 1991, and get fully involved in the fierce battles that took place in the Gulf War. Conflict: Desert Storm II follows the activities of soldiers Bradley, Foley, Connors and Jones, 300 kilometres behind enemy lines – that’s even deeper into enemy territory than before. The game begins with the troupe receiving an urgent call for help to rescue a stricken Black Hawk’s crew in a heavily fortified city and ends with the allied endeavours to liberate Kuwait City. What happens in between is entirely down to you and how you approach your missions. In the assignments that the game dictates, you’ll spend just as much time stealthily sneaking around trying to avoid detection as you will gunning down everything in sight. In the end, your squad’s mission is clear: to eliminate the Chemical Warfare, Supergun and Scud Missile threat posed by the enemy, and to rid Kuwait city of the last elements of the Republican Guard from their fortified positions. Older readers may recall the phrase ‘The mother of all battles’. This term was applied to hostilities in the Gulf by a certain President Bush of the United States. While those familiar old bells are ringing, let’s just say that when the action kicks off in Desert Storm II, the term comes alive. We’re not saying that this game is the mother of all strategic combat titles – the genre is too crowded, and time constraints mean that we unfortunately don’t get to play everything that comes out as deeply as we would like to – but Desert Storm II packs a powerful punch. To start with, it looks fabulous, and if you’re one of those gamers lured in by visuals at the outset, Desert Storm will command your attention. Enemy AI has been tweaked to flit from dastardly to clever, visiting all points in between, ensuring that the player has to stay alert absolutely all of the time; the TV screen erupts with some stunning visual effects when the firefights start; and the noise! Jeez, the noise is, to quote Fidel Castro, louder than war. Keep the remote handy, we say. Conflict: Desert Storm II offers the gamer a trip through a virtual hell. The likes of Rainbow Six and Medal of Honor may rule the roost as far as the strategic combat genre is concerned, but Sci’s second offering in this series deserves your full attention.