Schroeder 1

Reid Schroeder
Professor Tim Fritz
Gaming and Culture
27 Jan. 2022
History & Evolution of Tank Video Games
For this paper, I’ve decided to discuss tank video games over the years, using Tank
(1974), Robot Tank (1983), M1 Tank Platoon II (1998), and Steel Fury: Kharkov 1942 (2008).
Tank was a simple 2D arcade game where two players faced each other in an arena with
mines in the middle. Their goal was just to destroy the opponent as many times as possible in the
time limit. Tank was an original game at the time and spawned many sequels, but it’s vastly
different to my other selected games because it was a top-down 2D game. Many tank video
games went to first-person and 3D as the technology got better, so nowadays, top-down games
like Tank are hard to find.
Robot Tank on the Atari 2600 was one of the first tank games with a first-person view. In
contrast to Tank, Robot Tank was about the player controlling a tank to destroy AI tanks, instead
of another player. It was focused around using a radar to find and destroy waves of enemies until
the player eventually lost. As opposed to my other selected games, Robot Tank had a decent
amount of variability in weather that would affect how the tank controlled. Clear weather or rain,
fog or snow, day or night. There were several ways a level could play out. This kind of weather
system is used in all sorts of modern games, from shooters, to racing games, and even strategy
games.
M1 Tank Platoon II was a PC game, and a big technological leap compared to Tank and
Robot Tank. Not only was it fully 3D as opposed to the previous games, but it focused as much
as possible on realism. The player controlled several crew positions, between several tanks in a
platoon of American M1 Abrams. This was a level of control most modern tank games don’t
even possess. The tanks also had an interior interface with optics, radars, part health, crew
member health, formations, and speed. For shooting at enemy tanks, there was even a selection
of realistic ammo types to use based on the situation. While the game’s probably much more
difficult to learn than most tank games, it has a nearly unparalleled level of simulation. It even
had multiplayer and multiple campaigns.
Steel Fury: Kharkov 1942 was a PC game with very in depth simulation similar to M1
Tank Platoon II, but it was set during the WW2 battle of Kharkov. Despite involving older
technology than the M1 Abrams, Steel Fury had nearly as in-depth simulation, but in ways more
fitting of the era. You only directly controlled a single tank, but could still give orders to other
tanks under your command, even infantry. Ammo types, rangefinding, and balancing orders
between crew members made it a fairly complex game, but it was presented in an easier to
understand format than the older Steel Fury game. You also still individually control crew
members, but could give orders to the other crew members. Steel Fury had multiple single player
campaigns like M1 Tank Platoon II, but a big difference in Steel Fury was that there were three
different tanks to control, each with their own small differences in ammo, communication, etc.
Considering the technology of the WW2 era, Steel Fury felt like it was just as good of a
simulator as M1 Tank Platoon II, but had more variability because of the tank options. The
biggest improvements were definitely in the graphics and details of the tanks and environments.
The crew members had actual 3D models as well. Modern tank games are reminiscent of Steel
Fury, but generally with less simulation aspects, most likely to appeal to a broader audience.
 Schroeder 2

Bibliography
Tank. Kee Games, 1974.
Watched gameplay
Robot Tank. Activision, 1983.
Watched gameplay
M1 Tank Platoon II. MicroProse, 1998.
Watched longplay
Steel Fury: Kharkov 1942. Graviteam, 2008.
Watched gameplay