General Chaos

Electronic Arts has done the impossible. They've made gruesome infantry combat silly. General Chaos combines brain-squeezing battlefield strategy, challenging squad tactics, and real-time button-pressing combat with humorous cartoon graphics.

Marching to Moronica

The story line is simple. Two cartoon countries are locked in a bitter war. You play General Chaos, the Moronican commander, as you fight General Havoc, the military strongman of Viceria. Your goal is to capture Viceria's capital city. You can fight three campaigns, each consisting of 17 battlefields. Sometimes battlefield skirmishes require you to destroy a certain Special Objective, such as an enemy aircraft or a water supply.

You're in the Army Now

Chaos's entertaining soldierin' is... well, chaotic, and it forces you to think fast. Battlefields are laid out in a 3/4-overhead perspective on a single screen. You use a handy cursor to quickly position your troops across the terrain as you fight a running gun battle against Havoc's dogfaces. You can make all your troops fire their weapons at once, but the CPU selects the targets. Don't worry, the solid controls manage the wild on-screen activity like a Marine drill sergeant.

Unless you use a two-man Commando team, every skirmish is basically a five-on-five firefight with Havoc's forces. Five-man Squads consist of five types of soldiers (machine gunners, bazooka men, grenade throwers, dynamite bombers, and guys with flamethrowers) in various combinations. Medics are also on hand to repair battle damage. The game's artificial intelligence keeps your organic intelligence busy by remixing its combos every time you fight a skirmish.

If any of your soldiers get too close to an enemy, the rest of the combatants pause while the two slug it out mano-a-mano. Your hand-to- hand technique has good variety with high, medium, and low punches, plus a kick and a block. The controls in this mode, however, are sluggish but adequate.

Look Sharp, Soldier!

The graphics are cute and cartoony. Considering all the carnage taking place on the screen, Chaos still doesn't dish out the blood and guts. The battlefield animation has a manic yet comical style.

Chaos doesn't overwhelm you with sounds. However, the effects of the weapons are sure to capture your ears.

It Takes Four to Tangle

Chaos's big claim-to-fame is its three-and four-player modes, which support EA's new 4-Way Play adapter. The rambunctious Rambo action during multi-player clashes is a surefire way to start a laugh riot.

Surrender to Chaos

General Chaos is an unusual, entertaining war game. War is hell, war is weird, war is fun. If you let General Chaos invade your Genesis, you just might die laughing.

A new type of military simulator/action extravaganza is here. Entitled General Chaos, you lead your forces through a variety of terrains, and shoot the enemies as they attack. Choose from several combat teams ranging from blood thirsty commandos, to the standard grunts. Strategically place your troops, load up your large arsenal of weapons, and engage in land combat. Special items like the rocket launcher can turn the tide of battle, making a sure win into a devastating defeat. Control your soldiers in the midst of war, letting your fast reflexes take hold. General Chaos molds together the two themes almost perfectly to create a new concept.

General Chaos is also known as Dai Konsen in Japan.