Cannon Fodder 2 Cheats & Cheat Codes for PC

The video game industry has certainly come a long way since the 90s. Trailblazing titles like the original Doom and Wolfenstein 3D have given way to truly advanced titles. These modern games boast incredibly lifelike graphics and revolutionary new gameplay innovations. But the early days of the industry should not be discounted for their own creativity and innovation. One particularly original game from 1994 was Cannon Fodder 2. This title took the darkly humorous military action of its predecessor and refined it with a bizarre, extraterrestrial twist. This uniquely strategic shoot-em-up is unlike anything you could find in the Call of Duty franchise today. For that reason, it’s worth looking at, even thirty years after its debut.

Cannon Fodder 2 Premise

Like its 1993 predecessor, Cannon Fodder 2 is a tactical shooter where you control a team of four soldiers. Each one is armed with a machine gun which can easily dispatch enemy infantry. Of course, the soldiers are similarly vulnerable, and are consistently outmatched and outnumbered by their opponents in every level. With a combination of wits, strategy, and powerful but limited secondary weapons like grenades and similar explosives, you must lead your tiny squadron to victory against impossible odds. The shooting action in the game takes place in real time. However, navigation and control uses a point and click interface, much more common in strategy-focused games. The original game used these tiny, vulnerable soldiers to tell a darkly humorous anti-war story. Cannon Fodder 2, however, takes things in a stranger direction.

While the early levels take place in a grimly familiar Middle East setting, the squadron is eventually abducted by aliens. The team’s attempts to escape their strange, extraterrestrial captors eventually leads them across time and space itself. This introduces a bizarre degree of variety to the levels, which take place in outlandish settings like gangster-era Chicago and medieval times. The heavy weapons you must use to succeed are replaced by thematically appropriate options for these levels. This gives the protagonists the chance to unleash wizards on their foes in place of rockets. This odd outer space adventure is the main thing that sets Cannon Fodder 2 apart from its predecessor, which was a more straightforward military campaign.

Cannon Fodder 2 Main Characters

There isn’t much character to speak of in Cannon Fodder 2. The soldiers do have names such as Jools and Jop, but they don’t have a lot of traits setting them apart from their fellows. Given the expendable nature of these soldiers, it’s best not to get attached. That said, these characters are canonically the same ones who fought their way through the first Cannon Fodder in 1993. If you’re a fan of that game, you can come back to see how your favorite little soldiers carry on. The full title of the game, Cannon Fodder 2: Once More Unto The Breach, emphasizes these characters’ repeated acquaintance with the field of armed combat.

The manual also mentions an unnamed but sympathetic alien, who disagrees with the attitude of their fellows regarding the recent abduction victims. This creature aids the soldiers by keeping them supplied with ammunition regardless of what time period the aliens send them to. This makes them arguably the most significant character in the game, and a very valuable ally to these trapped soldiers. The mysterious alien’s value to the troops and to the overall game is at odds with their total lack of appearance, but they remain one of the most prominent figures in what little narrative the game has to speak of.

Cannon Fodder 2 Titles in the Series

As the title suggests, Cannon Fodder 2 is not the first game in the franchise. The series has actually had a rather bizarre history. Between the first and second games, Cannon Fodder crossed over with, of all things, Sensible Soccer, a soccer simulation game which is still prominent today. Then, after Cannon Fodder 2 came out, the series went silent for over a decade. Eventually, intellectual property holder Codemasters licensed a Russian developer named Game Factory Interactive to develop a sequel. This game came out in 2008, but wouldn’t make it to English-speaking audiences for another four years. Here’s the full timeline of this strange little military tactics franchise.

• Cannon Fodder (1993)
• Cannon Soccer (1994)
• Sensible Soccer 92/93 Meets Bulldog Blighty (1994)
• Cannon Fodder 2 (1994)
• Cannon Fodder 3 (2008)

Cannon Fodder 2 Cheat Codes

There aren’t too many cheat codes to speak of in Cannon Fodder 2. In fact, there are really only two exploits to speak of. While this might be disappointing compared to some contemporaries which boasted page after page of exploits, the cheats in Cannon Fodder 2 can still prove quite helpful to fans in need. According to GameFAQs, one cheat can be pulled off by entering your name as JOOLS, one of the more prominent characters in Cannon Fodder 2’s lineup. If you give your save file that name, you will increase the starting rank of your troops. This is a minor change, but it’s useful for determining which soldier leads the squad as you issue orders for them. The boost in rank also reflects the learned experience Jools earned by surviving the events of the first game. If nothing else, it’s also nice for aesthetic purposes.

Of course, if you want an even bigger advantage, there’s a much more significant cheat you can use. By simply typing in “wellhard” during any level, you’ll automatically make all of your soldiers invincible. It should go without saying that this will completely trivialize whatever challenge you’re facing, as your troopers will be able to freely tear through whatever opposition they face without any fear of reprisal. This makes the challenge of the game virtually nonexistent, of course. You should only use this code when you’re in absolutely desperate straits, or if you really do just want to blast away some aliens.

Cannon Fodder 2 FAQ

Who owns the Cannon Fodder IP? The original Cannon Fodder games were created by Sensible Software, which is why the comedic military shooter franchise got a crossover with the company’s soccer simulation franchise. Unfortunately, Sensible Software went defunct in 1999, whereupon it was acquired by Codemasters. This company then outsourced development of Cannon Fodder 3 to a Russian company, as discussed earlier in the article. Codemasters still retains the IP, but at the time of this writing, there is no sign that there’ll be a new Cannon Fodder game anytime soon.

Can you play Cannon Fodder 2 on PC? Luckily, while there may not be any new Cannon Fodder content on the horizon, the previous games are still available. Cannon Fodder 2 can be purchased on GOG, a DRM-free online marketplace. The presence of Cannon Fodder 2 on this platform makes it a much better preserved vintage game than some of its contemporaries. The game’s unique approach to tactical shooter combat is not common in the modern video game industry, so the opportunity to play it on modern PCs is a valuable experience.

What console was Cannon Fodder 2 released on? Before the game was remastered for modern consoles, Cannon Fodder 2 was launched for the Amiga. It was also playable on IBM PCs and other compatible computers. When it launched in 1994 it received generally positive reviews, but critics tended to prefer the original game. Despite the outlandish new level themes, many felt there weren’t enough changes from a gameplay perspective to justify the existence of a new game. Still, fans who just wanted new Cannon Fodder content were satisfied.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Cannon Fodder 2 Dead Soldiers screenshot.