Hogs of War

Hogs can use a variety of items, such as the rocket jet pack.

Hogs of War is a turn-based tactics game, where players take turns controlling individual members of their squad of hogs to engage in combat with the opposition, similar to the Worms video game series. Each level is made up of two or more teams of 5, loosely based on nations competing in the First World War.[2] Each turn, a player takes control of a single squad member in a third-person perspective to move around the map, including jumping over terrain and swimming over bodies of water, yet can only engage in combat when stationary.[2]

Each squad member can be assigned a class type, where they have immediate access to certain weapons and abilities. There are four main class types; heavy gunners that specialize in long-range heavy weapons (mortars, bazookas, rocket launchers, etc.), engineers that specialise in explosives (grenades, land mines, TNT, etc.), espionage that don't appear on the mini map and use sniper rifles and camouflage, and finally medics that can heal other units in both close and long range.[2][3] Other than inventory items, players can also gain access to military vehicles, like tanks and semi-aquatic and stationary turrets like heavy artillery and pillboxes.[2] Bunkers and MASH tents also provide further protection, but without weaponry, with the latter healing a small amount at the start of their turn.[3]

The game features several modes, including a standard deathmatch (either single-player or multiplayer) and a single-player campaign.[4] At the start of each campaign, the player chooses their nation and squad of up to eight characters, who have customisable names. The main objective for the player is to conquer all five regions of the world map, with each region containing five missions against each opposing nation.[lower-alpha 1][4] Through the campaign, characters can be promoted as the player progresses through the campaign by earning medals; given for completing tasks, such as finishing the level with zero characters felled.[5] The campaign features semi-permadeath, where a character will be permanently lost after three deaths on a level.[4]

A pig-shaped collection of islands located in the South Pigsific Ocean, known as Saustralasia, has been found to be a rich source of swill (depicted like oil being harvested by pumpjacks) that is described as the "lifeblood of pigs", and that who ever controls the swill controls the world, thus leading to all nations engaging in an all-out war to conquer the region. The chosen national squadron battles through each of Saustralasia's five main regions; Hogshead, Saustralia, Trottsville, Bellyopolis and Arstria.[4]

Upon conquering each territory, the squad is shown an educational film (in a satirical vintage fashion) on survival techniques, such as "keeping secrets safe", a video showing off a secret military project.[10] Upon defeating all other nations and laying claim to Saustralasian mainland, the squad engages in a final battle on the Isle of Swill with the nationally ambiguous "Team Lard". Regardless of which chosen nation is victorious, all pig nations celebrate the end of the war, and now, a time of peace. Despite the end of the war, a remaining soldier feels like nothing has been accomplished by the war. The narrator, (Rik Mayall), gives an upbeat message regarding the end of the war, stating that the war was all worth it, for the medal received at the end of it.[11]

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings 74%[12] Metacritic 62/100[13] Review scores Publication Score AllGame [14] EGM 7/10[15] Eurogamer 9/10[6] GameRevolution C[8] GameSpot 5.5/10[2] IGN 7.4/10[16] Next Generation [17] OPM (UK) 8/10[18] OPM (US) [19] Play 90%[20]

Hogs of War received average to positive reviews from critics. The PlayStation version received "Mixed or average reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[lower-alpha 2][13] It received a better response elsewhere, achieving 74% from Game Rankings.[lower-alpha 3][12]

Greg Orlando reviewed the PlayStation version of the game for Next Generation, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "War may be hell, but we want to load our plates with it."[17]

The game received high praise for its comedic value, and notably, the voice work by comedian Rik Mayall. Scott Stienberg of IGN praised the "goofy sense of humour and endearing antics" of the game, noting it as a strong contributor to the game.[16] Frank Provo of GameSpot called the game's comedy as "drop-dead funny" and "sidesplitting", before stating the "all-around nuttiness" of the game lifted it into the same realm as Bomberman, or Worms.[2] Nebojsa Radakovic of GameRevolution also stated that "many of the death quotes are just hilarious."[8]

However, the game received less positive remarks towards the graphics used. Nebojsa Radakovic of GameRevolution stated the game's graphics were "only so-so" and the game contained too much "texture warping and simple models."[8] Scott Stienberg of IGN also called the graphics "strikingly primitive", and the game's graphics were "dated".[16]

On 13 February 2008, Infogrames announced Hogs of War 2 for Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 2 and Windows.[21][22] It was slated for release in April 2009, but is now presumed cancelled. During this period Infogrames was experiencing financial problems and was reincorporated as Atari, SA.[23]

The PC version of the game was re-released by Urbanscan in late September 2014, and later added to GOG.com. The PlayStation version was released as a PS one Classic on the North American PlayStation Network store in 2013. The PC version was later re-released worldwide on Steam on 28 July 2015.

In November 2019, Stone Sword Games released a Card Game version of Hogs Of War, Hogs Of War The Card Game. A miniatures game is also in the works.

• Hogs of War at MobyGames