Hogs of War

Hogs of War for PlayStation is a 2000 turn-based tactics game from Infogrames, developed by its Sheffield studio. It turns a parody of First World War-style military conflict into a comic artillery contest between squads of armed pigs. Released for Sony's original PlayStation, the game places a player in command of a regiment competing to seize the swill-rich islands of Saustralasia. Its blend of careful turns, deformable-looking 3D battlefields, broad slapstick, and character voices gives this PS1 strategy game a distinctive personality.

Each battle is fought by rival pig teams on a compact 3D map. A turn gives control of one hog: move into position, jump across obstacles, use the terrain for cover, and then make an attack before time runs out. Weapons demand more than simply selecting a target. Mortars, bazookas, grenades and other explosive tools reward judging distance, elevation and the line of fire, while a bad shot can damage allies or send a unit into water. The third-person camera and fully three-dimensional terrain distinguish the action from the flat battlefields often associated with artillery games of the period.

A squad can be shaped around several military specialties. Heavy weapons pigs bring long-range firepower; engineers deal in explosives and traps; spies emphasize concealment and sniping; and medics can restore wounded comrades. As the campaign advances, the player earns medals and promotions, improving the available roles and equipment. This progression makes the choice of which hog to move and protect important, since campaign soldiers can be lost after repeated defeats. Tanks, artillery positions, pillboxes, bunkers and other map features further change the tactical possibilities from one mission to the next.

The single-player career begins with a choice of national team and lets the player name members of a squad. The competing forces are comic caricatures rather than a historical simulation, and their dialogue, accents and presentation are central to the game’s tone. The campaign moves through five territories of Saustralasia, with the ultimate objective of taking control of the islands’ valuable swill supply. Between battles, faux instructional films and military-themed jokes continue the pig-war premise. Rik Mayall provides the English narration and voices associated with the game’s irreverent style, while Marc Silk also contributed to its English voice work.

Hogs of War also supports local multiplayer for up to four players with a PlayStation Multitap, allowing separate squads to trade turns on the same machine. Multiplayer and standalone deathmatch-style battles put the emphasis on picking a team, using the landscape, and timing a well-placed shot rather than completing the campaign map. The PlayStation version is entirely offline, so its social mode is built around sharing the screen and controller handoffs. Those options sit alongside the longer career mode, making the game suitable both for a short tactical match and for steadily developing a regiment.

Although it was published as Hogs of War in English-speaking territories, several European releases used localized titles, including Frontschweine in German, Les Cochons de Guerre in French and Marranos en Guerra in Spanish. The localization extended beyond box text: the game’s comedy and voice presentation were adapted for different languages. Infogrames released a Windows version in Europe later in 2000, but this entry represents the original PlayStation edition, whose controller-based movement, 3D aiming and couch multiplayer define its particular feel.

The game arrived late in the PlayStation’s life, when turn-based artillery contests were already familiar, but it adapted that formula to free-roaming 3D environments and a squad-class system. Hogs of War remains notable for combining a deliberately silly wartime fantasy with mechanics that ask players to think about angles, cover, positioning and the survival of their promoted units. For players exploring PS1 strategy games, it offers an unusual meeting point between comic presentation, artillery aiming and campaign-based tactical progression.