Okay, admittedly there was a lot to be happy about when the Cold War came to an end. But the passing of this wonderful game wasn't one of them. Produced in the days of Ronald Reagan and the Evil Empire, GDW's Twilight: 2000 produces a chillingly plausible scenario for World War III. NATO and the Soviet Union clash over the attempted reunification of Germany, and all Hell follows in their wake. The nuclear exchange of 1997 brings civilization to a grinding halt, and three years later, the world enters a new Dark Age. Players portray a squad of U.S. soldiers stranded behind enemy lines, forced to survive among the warlords, bandits, loyal army units and refugees of southern Poland. A series of sequential modules moves the action through the chaos of Europe back home to America, where military and civilian governments struggle for control of the nation alongside a eerily accurate movement of White Supremacists…
The system for Twilight: 2000 was praised upon its release for its realism and military accuracy. Character creation followed a straightforward format of die rolling, the combat system was fast paced without sacrificing too much detail, and a wealth of information on weapons, vehicles and military tactics was included. A second edition streamlined the system a great deal, using a "life path" PC generator and a greater variety of background options, as well as simplifying combat a great deal.
Unfortunately, the fall of the Evil Empire swept all things polar under the rug, and this game went with it. Although GDW tried valiantly to roll with the historical punches (the second edition contains updates to the background), it was ultimately forced to concede the cause as lost. And it's too bad, really. There isn't much out there that can make people long for the Cold War again, but for those of you nostalgic for the days when imminent nuclear annihilation lay constantly above our heads, Twilight: 2000 provides an excursion that you will not want to miss.
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© Copyright 1996 by Alderac Entertainment Group