Midwinter

STORY / GAMEPLAY
The year is 2039 and the Earth has just being hit by an enormous meteorite. This menace hit our planet with so tremendous force that it caused a worldwide chain reaction of disasters from London to Sydney. A giant tidal wave hit the West Coast of America destroying everything in its path. Millions of tons of dust and dirt had risen into the Earth's atmosphere due to the impact, causing the temperature to drop dramatically. Years have passed and by 2056 things seemed like the beginning of another ice age.
You control a peace keeper called Captain Stark and, along with a number of other officers, you must patrol a region once known as the Azores. Like the rest of the world, all the small islands have been completely covered by treacherous ice fields. The colonies there lived peacefully and calm until one day a hostile army led by General Masters arrived and built their base in the quiet village of Sleeping Hollow, aiming to capture the islands and use the factories and mines for their own purposes.
You must recruit members from the original settlers and form a resistance movement. Those people don't always get along, for various reasons. You must ski your way through to the nearest bases and alert the other inhabitants. Captain Stark may also find snow mobiles, cable cars (that can reach more treacherous peaks) or even gliders. There's a map available at any time to find info about the areas and people you are about to visit, including specific terrain info and more. The terrain must be studied thoroughly to avoid slowdowns and decide the best way to travel. Additionally, you can sabotage enemy buildings or vehicles, hide and snipe enemies but care must be taken at all times as the enemy forces may patrol the area. Finding scientists is a good point and then you'll have to transfer them i.e. to radio stations so that they can make the appropriate arrangements to call for even more of your troops. There are a lot more to write about gameplay, but I think this will need many pages.
Midwinter has the scenario to drop you right in intense action as a second James Bond and you must plot general Master's destruction by teaming up with people whose abilities will prove useful. A real masterpiece in every aspect indeed.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The graphics on the Amiga version are really impressive and will stun you at first sight. Although all screens have up to 16 colors (same as on the ST and VGA versions), the icy landscapes look awesome. The icon system and the map are well designed and all its 3D environments look excellent with their loads of details from the cold areas (snowy hills, huts, forests, snow vehicles moving, airplanes flying and more).
The game's sound is quite adequate with a variety of sampled sound effects like gunshots, explosions etc, but nothing really special.