Review by: Chris Harding
Published: April 12, 2000

“Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan”.

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech to the Congress of the United States on December 8, 1941 put it all in perspective. The U.S. was at peace with the Japanese Empire and in the midst of negotiations to continue that peace. In fact on the same morning of the bombing raids on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Ambassador’s office delivered a message to the Secretary of State. The message contained only a request to halt the current diplomatic negotiations; there was no hint at the possibility of an armed attack or war. The sizable force marshalled by the Japanese Empire made it obvious that this attack had been planned and in process for some time. The treachery of the Japanese loomed large as the two countries had been carrying out extended negotiations to continue the peace in the Pacific. As such, this attack took the U.S. military by complete surprise — an attack on U.S. ground forces was unthinkable. The U.S. and her military might had not seen an attack on home ground since the Civil War over seventy years before.

The death and destruction of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in the early morning hours paralyzed much of the nation just as it had our forces. The attention quickly turned from the battlefields of Europe to the islands and countries of the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese Empire, on the offensive, had taken advantage of the supposed peace and attacked more than just Pearl Harbor. In fact in the course of two days the Empire attacked Malaya, Hong Kong, Guam, the Philippine Islands, Wake Island, and Midway Island. The plan of the Japanese Empire came into focus — seize control of the Western Pacific island nations and unite them under the flag of the Rising Sun. With quick strikes the Japanese had gained a stronghold in the Pacific. Not only had the U.S. been surprised but so had the Dutch, Australian, and British forces. Quickly scrambling to meet this new offensive, the Allies struggled to push back the Japanese onslaught. Never before had the Allies seen a force such as this — troops that lived for the opportunity to die for the Empire of Japan. With the addition of these new threats to world security and the expansion of the war front, the Second World War was truly living up to its moniker — the war to end all wars.

The appeal of TalonSoft’s Rising Sun is firmly rooted in World War II, its battles and history behind them. Most of us in the gaming generation grew up with stories of Pearl Harbor and the sands of Iwo Jima; I was eager to be drafted into this simulated effort. Rising Sun puts you right in the middle of the battle for control of the Pacific Theater. Players can reenact famous battles, or even change the outcome of the war. TalonSoft has included 40 scenarios for the single player game; these scenarios are categorized by their difficulty level which ranges from one to nine.

Players new to wargaming or TalonSoft’s Campaign Series needn’t be overly afraid or concerned. Rising Sun is definitely complex and multilayered, but as part of the 40 scenarios the game includes four bootcamp/training scenarios as well as one complete tutorial — Storming Wake Island. Some of the 40 included battles are the marine taking of the beaches of Iwo Jima, the British incursion of Burma, the bloody and fearsome battles of Guadalcanal, the fall and retaking of the Philippines, and the overtaking of Okinawa.

In addition to scenario play there are seven campaigns to choose from — three dynamic campaign games and four linked campaigns. In the dynamic campaigns you must choose what troops to control — the Japanese, American, or British and what level of control you want to assume — battalion, regiment, brigade, division, or corps. The linked campaigns are more historically oriented and do not contain those options. While Japan’s forces and designs were ultimately decimated by the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki those bombings were not even thought of, much less a possibility, without the victories and heroism of the Allied ground troops.

Gameplay takes place at the platoon-level and is turn-based. Each of the scenarios lists the number of turns allotted for its completion which at first glance seems harsh. One of the best things about Rising Sun is its inclusion of multiple victory conditions. When undertaking a new scenario or campaign it is important to read the history of the battles that have gone before as it will help you strategize the placement of your troops. While you are moving your units and giving them orders so is the computer or your opponent. Each of your units has six attributes to describe it. These attributes are morale, strength, fire cost, defense, assault, and action. These attributes can and will change throughout the course of the game. If a unit is under fire, slogging through rice paddies, or trudging up mountains his morale and strength will most likely decrease. Each unit, whether it is an infantry platoon or a truck platoon, has 100 action points to be used during that turn. Action points can be used either to fire or move. Your movement cost will vary greatly depending on the terrain of the map and the weather. A rice paddy takes many more movement points than a grassland. Your firing cost is also affected by weather and terrain. It should be noted that if you use all your action points to move you will not have any left over to fire defensively.