Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Action Pack: Earthsiege 2 + Silent Thunder delivers a generous blend of mech combat and flight simulation that will satisfy fans of both genres. In Earthsiege 2, you step into the cockpit of a HERC (Humaniform-Emulation Roboticized Combat Unit) and engage in tactical missions against the Cybrid menace. The controls are intuitive, offering a balance between accessibility and depth; you manage heat levels, ammo types, and weapon ranges, creating a satisfying layer of strategy beyond simple point-and-shoot combat.

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Switching gears, Silent Thunder: A-10 Tank Killer II plunges you into the cockpit of the legendary Warthog. Here, the focus shifts to precision strikes, close air support, and dynamic battlefield conditions. The targeting systems—ranging from radar-guided missiles to iron bombs—challenge you to adapt on the fly, while emergent mission events (such as sudden SAM threats or ground counterattacks) keep tension high and reward quick thinking.

Both titles share a mission-based structure but contrast sharply in pace and tactics. Earthsiege 2 missions emphasize squad coordination and medium-to-long-range engagements, whereas Silent Thunder often demands swift low-altitude passes, loiter patterns, and split-second decisions under fire. This variety ensures that players looking for a prolonged, multifaceted single-player experience will find plenty to dive into.

Moreover, the compilation makes mission selection and loading seamless, so you can jump between a HERC operation and an A-10 sortie without fumbling through discs or menus. The inclusion of training modules in both games also helps newcomers learn the ropes, with guided exercises in mech gunnery and flight maneuvers that build confidence before heading into the thick of battle.

Graphics

While both Earthsiege 2 and Silent Thunder were cutting-edge for their late-’90s release, they inevitably show their age today. Earthsiege 2’s polygonal environments and CHR (Character Hero Renderer) models present a somewhat blocky terrain and mech design, yet the shading and atmospheric effects still convey the weight and scale of these towering machines. Mech cockpit overlays remain crisp, ensuring critical readouts are always legible amid the action.

Silent Thunder fares slightly better in environmental variety, with dusty deserts, rolling hills, and urban rooftops that benefit from rudimentary but effective texture mapping. The A-10’s cockpit is rendered with more detail, featuring functional gauges, HUD elements, and subtle lighting changes that reflect heading and altitude shifts. Explosions and smoke trails, despite lacking modern particle finesse, still pack a punch and provide essential feedback during strafing runs and missile launches.

Both games offer adjustable graphics settings for the era—resolution tweaks, detail levels, and draw distances—allowing players to balance performance and visuals. Though compatibility with today’s hardware may require community patches or virtualization, the core rendering holds up well when you suspend disbelief and focus on the immersion of piloting advanced war machines.

Overall, these visuals strike a nostalgic chord for veterans while remaining functional enough for newcomers. The crisp HUDs, simple but descriptive environments, and clearly distinguishable enemy units all contribute to a satisfactory visual presentation that complements the gameplay rather than distracting from it.

Story

Earthsiege 2 picks up the saga of humanity’s struggle against sentient machines in the late 28th century. The narrative carries weight through mission briefings, radio chatter, and command updates that reveal the unfolding Cybrid threat. You’ll encounter key characters—both allies and traitors—whose fates intertwine with each mission’s success or failure, adding emotional stakes to the destructive mech duels.

Silent Thunder, by contrast, places you in a more grounded Cold War–era scenario, fighting in hotspots like Iraq and the mountainous regions of the Soviet bloc. Plot elements revolve around high-value target elimination, reconnaissance intel, and the occasional extraction under fire. While the storyline is less epic in scale than the sci-fi rebellion of Earthsiege 2, it excels at presenting believable political tensions and realistic mission objectives that make every sortie feel critical to broader strategic goals.

Together, these stories create an intriguing duality: a far-future, existential war juxtaposed with contemporary military realism. This contrast keeps the compilation fresh, as you switch from battling rogue AI with plasma rifles to deploying 30mm cannon fire against armored convoys. Both narratives are driven by mission success, giving you clear goals and a genuine sense of progression through escalating conflicts.

Voice-overs and text briefings in each game are serviceable, if occasionally campy, reflecting the production values of their time. However, they effectively convey mission intent, tactical considerations, and plot twists, ensuring players remain engaged and invested in the unfolding drama of two distinct warfronts.

Overall Experience

Action Pack: Earthsiege 2 + Silent Thunder stands out as a value-packed offering that caters to mech aficionados and flight sim buffs alike. The sheer content volume—dozens of missions in each game—translates to tens of hours of gameplay. Whether you’re bulldozing Cybrid fortresses with your customized mech loadout or swooping in low over desert sands to neutralize SAM sites, there’s always a fresh challenge awaiting.

Despite aging graphics and occasional interface quirks, the core gameplay loops remain engaging. Customizable loadouts, mission branching, and emergent battlefield events foster a sense of ownership over each sortie. Veterans can revisit classic scenarios with nostalgia, while newcomers will appreciate the depth and variety that even modern titles sometimes struggle to deliver.

Technical setup may require a bit of tinkering—community patches, compatibility layers, or virtualization can help ensure smooth performance on contemporary systems. But once configured, the games run reliably and deliver that old-school simulation feel that many modern releases shy away from.

In the end, Action Pack: Earthsiege 2 + Silent Thunder offers a robust, multifaceted package that shines through its gameplay depth and mission diversity. It’s a strong recommendation for anyone seeking a classic, challenging experience that spans the realms of sci-fi mech warfare and authentic close air support simulation. This compilation remains a testament to Sierra’s willingness to push genre boundaries and deliver unforgettable combat thrills.

Retro Replay Score

null/10