Harpoon (series)
# Harpoon (series)

Harpoon is a series of realistic air and naval computer wargames based upon Larry Bond's miniatures game of the same name. Players can choose between either the Blue or Red side in simulated naval combat situations, which includes local conflicts as well as simulated Cold War confrontations between the Superpowers. Missions range from small missile boat engagements to large oceanic battles, with dozens of vessels and hundreds of aircraft. The game includes large databases containing many types of real world ships, submarines, aircraft, and land defenses (i.e. air bases and ports).

## Overview

The simulations have a dedicated fan base with several websites offering a varying styles of scenarios and discussion forums, especially as the latest edition includes a feature to allow players to create their own scenarios. Often described as a "niche within a niche market," development of the simulation has progressed steadily through the years despite the overwhelming graphical details of first-person shooter and real-time strategy games. Advanced Gaming Systems, Inc. (AGSI), developers of Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare and Harpoon Commander's Edition (with HarpGamer), currently distributes the simulation as a Harpoon Ultimate Edition through Matrix games with technical support handled on a co-operative basis by AGSI, HarpGamer, and Matrix games employees.

Harpoon was originally published by Three-Sixty Pacific and has had several development paths and publishers. Despite the widespread success of the game, Three-Sixty Pacific experienced financial difficulties and went under in 1994. Currently all computer rights rest with AGSI, who continues to improve the series with new developments and releases. In 2006, AGSI released Harpoon Advanced Naval Warfare (ANW) which allowed players to compete with human opponents for the first time in the game's history.

Harpoon's interface emphasizes technical accuracy over graphical polish, with simple 2D symbols to simulate a warship's radar display. There has been considerable debate in the game's user community about the decision of the developers to utilize 3D graphics in later versions of the program. Since March 2009, two releases are available to AGSI civilian customers. Harpoon Commanders Edition is an updating version based on the game engine of the original series. Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare is the current civilian edition of the product. Military customers are offered Harpoon 3 Pro, which is tailored for customer specifications. There was a Macintosh version that lies between the Harpoon II and Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare called "Harpoon III v3.6.3" aka "H3"

Commercial development of both versions has ceased. The most recent release of Harpoon 3 Advanced Naval Warfare aka "ANW" is V3.11.1. (January 2013). While the most recent commercial release of Harpoon Commander's Edition aka "HCE" is v2009.097 (October 2010), Matrix Games makes available version v2015.027 (January 2016) as a direct download from its Harpoon page.

Harpoon Commander's Edition has been under development by volunteers with new beta versions available via the HarpGamer HC Beta Current Files. All beta versions install on top of v2015.027.

The H3 MilSim (aka Harpoon 3 Professional) product is still available.

## Gameplay

The games play in real time, with time acceleration capability in case the action slows down. The player can control single or multiple platforms (thousands if the computing power is available). The game is extremely comprehensive, although certain elements of naval warfare are not modeled, such as radar ducting, sonar bottom and surface bounce, and COMINT/SIGINT.

## Reception

Computer Gaming World said that Harpoon II's long delay helped the game, approving of the Windows-like interface for the DOS game. The editors of PC Gamer US nominated Harpoon II for their 1994 "Best Wargame" award, although it lost to Panzer General.

## Titles

| Title | Details |
| - | - |
| Harpoon Original release date(s): NA: 1989 | Release years by system: 1989—DOS, Macintosh 1990—Amiga |
| Harpoon Original release date(s): NA: 1989 | Notes: Developed by Three-Sixty Pacific and Applied Computing Services Published by Three-Sixty Pacific for the DOS and Macintosh and by PSS for the Amiga It is the first game in the series |
| Harpoon Challenger Pak Original release date(s): NA: 1991 | Release years by system: 1991—DOS |
| Harpoon Challenger Pak Original release date(s): NA: 1991 | Notes: Developed and published by Three-Sixty Pacific It is a compilation of the original Harpoon which includes additional material such as a scenario editor and a strategy guide |
| Harpoon Classic Original release date(s): EU: 1994NA: June 1, 1995 | Release years by system: 1994—Macintosh 1995—DOS/Windows |
| Harpoon Classic Original release date(s): EU: 1994NA: June 1, 1995 | Notes: Developed by Three-Sixty Pacific, Applied Computing Services and Alliance Interactive Published by SoftKey Multimedia for the Macintosh and by Renegade Software and Alliance Interactive in the United States and the United Kingdom respectively It is continued on with Larry Bond's Harpoon Commander's Edition |
| Harpoon II Original release date(s): NA: 1994 | Release years by system: 1994—DOS |
| Harpoon II Original release date(s): NA: 1994 | Notes: Developed by Three-Sixty Pacific. Published on the DOS platform by Three-Sixty Pacific and by IntraCorp for the Macintosh |
| Harpoon II Deluxe: Multimedia Edition Original release date(s): NA: 1995 | Release years by system: 1995—DOS |
| Harpoon II Deluxe: Multimedia Edition Original release date(s): NA: 1995 | Notes: Updated version of the game with multimedia features |
| Harpoon II: Admiral's Edition Original release date(s): NA: 1996EU: 1996 | Release years by system: 1996—DOS |
| Harpoon II: Admiral's Edition Original release date(s): NA: 1996EU: 1996 | Notes: Developed by Three-Sixty Pacific and published by Eidos Interactive It is a compilation of Harpoon II Deluxe and expansions Also includes database editor and a new expansion: Regional Conflicts 2: The Middle East |
| Harpoon Classic 97 Original release date(s): NA: April 1997 | Release years by system: 1997—Windows |
| Harpoon Classic 97 Original release date(s): NA: April 1997 | Notes: Developed by Alliance Interactive and published by Interactive Magic It is a revised edition of Harpoon Classic |
| Harpoon III Original release date(s): June 1, 2001 | Release years by system: 2001—Windows |
| Harpoon III Original release date(s): June 1, 2001 | Notes: Developed by SpearSoft. Published by Advanced Gaming Systems Later renamed to Harpoon 3 Pro It is continued on with Larry Bond's Harpoon 3: Advanced Naval Warfare |
| Larry Bond's Harpoon 3: Advanced Naval Warfare Original release date(s): NA: June 15, 2006 | Release years by system: 2006—Windows |
| Larry Bond's Harpoon 3: Advanced Naval Warfare Original release date(s): NA: June 15, 2006 | Notes: Developed by Advanced Gaming Systems and published by Matrix Games It is rated 3.5 stars out of 5 by allgame |
| Larry Bond's Harpoon Commander's Edition Original release date(s): NA: November 21, 2007 | Release years by system: 2007—Windows |
| Larry Bond's Harpoon Commander's Edition Original release date(s): NA: November 21, 2007 | Notes: Developed by Advanced Gaming Systems and HarpGamer and published by Matrix Games |
| Larry Bond's Harpoon - Ultimate Edition Original release date(s): NA: November 3, 2010 | Release years by system: 2010—Windows |
