<>@2 +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* *4@3 DOOM CLONES *3]5@1 by Nexus / A51 *1]1@2 *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ *2 @4 Before I comment on any of the, "Doom" style, first person perspective games currently available for the Amiga I will mention that my setup consists of an Amiga A1200 fitted with an 850 meg hard drive, an Apollo 1240 accelerator board (68040 25 mhz, FPU, MMU), and 8 megs of FastRAM. Some of the games I have commented on have only been demo versions. So the final versions may have been improved before their release. These comments are just my opinions so there will probably be loads of people out there who disagree with what I have to say. Oh well, here goes! *4 @5 Alien Breed 3D *1@1 One of the first Doom clones released on the Amiga. On my expanded Amiga this runs pretty fast, and so it should as the playing area is only a small window in the centre of the screen. Pressing Enter enlarges the playing area to a full screen window, but as the game can only be played in 2x2 pixel resolution this exaggerates the blockiness and makes the game unplayable. Despite the blockiness this game still reminds me most of Doom. There are staircases to climb, a swimming pool to jump in (as well as a nice underwater effect), raised platforms between walls from which baddies shoot at you. If this game had the option to resize the screen and use the 1x1 pixel resolution it would be one of my favourites, as it is I'm not sure. *4 @5 Alien Breed 3D 2 (The Killing Grounds) *1@1 I have only played a coverdisk demo of this game and I hope Team 17 have improved the speed for the final release version, because it's a joke how slow it runs in 1x1 resolution. If you don't mind playing the game on a screen the size of a floppy disk then it's fine, otherwise you have to use 2x1, 1x2 or 2x2 resolutions to be able to play the game fairly smoothly. Okay, so there are some nice effects such as aliens with searchlights so that when you kill them the corridor/room is plunged into darkness and the transparent water effect mentioned in the previous game. But are these effects worth the amount of slowdown they cause? The final version of this game is said to incorporate a level editor which may add to it's lifespan, but I'll have to play the full game before making a decision. *4 @5 Fears *1@1 Supposedly a game for A1200's and A4000's. This game refused to load on my accelerated A1200. I returned it to the shop and got a replacement which also refused to load. A bad batch? Who knows, but I took it back and replaced it with Xtreme Racing. *4 @5 Nemac IV *1@1 On an unexpanded A1200 don't even consider playing this game, but what a difference an accelerator can make. On a standard 2 meg A1200 this game was the slowest of the lot but with an accelerator board added it became one [4 of the fastest. You play as an ED209 type robot sent into a Nuclear bunker to destroy a mad computer capable of "nuking" most of the planet. You start off with a chain gun but can pick up grenades, bombs (which can be thrown into a room and detonated by pressing the Del key when you have moved to a safe distance), and ammo for your plasma gun. It's great fun running into a room full of enemy robots, chucking in a few bombs, then running back out detonating the bombs on the way, and watching all the baddies go up in one big explosion. Or, if you have no bombs you can wait until they pass by a barrel and shoot it, blowing it and the enemy robot to pieces. You can play the game smoothly on a large screen in 2x2 resolution. By reducing the screen size slightly you can also play the game fairly smoothly in 1x1 pixel resolution. Nemac also supports Virtual IGlasses (even if they are a complete rip off!) and the new Graffiti graphics card. Although I have only played a demo version of this game, it is still my favourite Amiga "Doom" clone so far. *4@5 Breathless *1@1 Again I have only played a demo version but this is still a good game. Although not quite as smooth as Nemac IV, and a bit too gray for my liking, Breathless has some nice features such as the ability to look up or down, (great for shooting androids whilst looking over the edge of a raised platform at a safe distance), flickering light effects, etc. There was a Breathless patch given away on a coverdisk recently which increases the speed of the game by around 20%, adds player inertia, and enables you to define your own keys. This patch only works on the full game so I was unable to test it, although I plan on getting the full game soon. *4@5 Gloom Deluxe *1@1 One of the smoothest "Doom" clones around at the moment, even on a fairly large screen (accelerated Amigas) and on a smaller screen for standard A1200's. Whilst some of the other games mentioned have raised platforms, lifts and so on, Gloom Deluxe seems very flat. Neither of the coverdisk demos I played had raised platforms or steps of any kind, making it a bit dull to play. All you're given to do is run around, press a few buttons, and kill loads of monsters. The sound effects on the other hand are quite good. The moaning sound a ghost makes as it floats through a wall towards you, or the screech of a monster as it runs out from round the next corner to attack you. The sound effects manage to add some atmosphere to an otherwise average game.