Games section

4. New PD games

Yo, gamers!!

After a horrible December we now start the new year, or millennium if you like. And we can see that the programmers didnīt forget us. Besides several updates of games (half of them for Mattonite which has been updated weekly) there are some commercial games published as freeware.

We will see if this positive tendency has millennium legs.

This month's tests...

-Blade (German version)
-Rags
-BallMasterAGA
-Pishti
-The Lost Islands

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---Blade---
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Blade was originally a commercial game and was to be published by Alive. Due to the fact that Alive sold unlicensed and stolen software, the programmer Mark Sheeky put it on the internet as freeware, and the Amiga Arena put it onto its CD-Rom. But now to the game: Blade is a typical role player game. You control 4 heroes, which you can choose at the beginning of the game, in isometric overview. They can be moved with the mouse, but each of them has just a limited number of points to use on actions - fighting or using things. When all points of all heroes are used up, the round ends, allowing the monsters to move and attack. Fights work the same way, first the hero strikes, then, at the end of the round, the monster strikes back.

It is ok so far, but this system in not only used in the dungeons but also outside. This is disturbing because no monster will attack you when youīre shopping.

The graphics of the game are really good, some of them seem to be rendered. In the dungeons, the graphics create a good atmosphere. The sound is not working well, could be my computer, so this should not be a black mark against the game.

Blade is a role player game which beginners might not enjoy. This is why I donīt want to rate the game: I like to play role player games and action adventures but I didnīt like the principle of Blade and so I advise everyone to play it and make up their own minds.

If you are going to buy the AmigaArena CD, you should give it a try. For those who donīt want to buy the CD, downloading the game is worth it.

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---Rags---
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Okay, you could argue that the new century is not as good for the Amiga as the last one. This might depress a lot of people, but there is the odd silver lining: Some programmer teams are publishing their projects as freeware. Sometimes this is sad (ACSYS) because some games deserve to be finished and in the shops, but with games like Blade or Rags it is not as bad.

Rags is a one on one shootīem up for one or two players which reminds me of the good old Chaos Engine. The story is simple and depressingly familiar: after an atomic apocalypse the world is pretty much destroyed. The survivors have split into two groups: the Dukes live underground in a decadent and rich feudalism, while the Rags have tried to rebuild the old world. They failed and live in poverty.

Being bored, the Dukes have set up a game which allows the Rags to get into their underground world, but only as far as an arena where they have to fight against each other in a duel.

Here the game begins. The arena is shown from a bird's eye view. You start armed with throwing knifes, and you can get better weapons and more energy by grabbing the extras that appear suddenly (and disappear suddenly, too).

The arena consists of several levels and is well designed - you can hide behind a wall, etc. The graphics and the sound are of a commercial standard.

It is not much fun to play the game alone because there are only four arenas. With a second player it should be a lot of fun.

I can recommend downloading this game without any reservations.

BUT caution: Maybe the programmers have built in a virus! After playing there is a strange file in the RAM disk and EdWord Pro has corrupted. Next time I save before I play this game...!

Personal overall impression of the editor: 7 of 10 points

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---BallMasterAGA---
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This game was never commercial but the shareware full version has been published as open source. The challenge is to direct colored balls through pipes to notches on wheels. When there are 4 balls of the same color in a wheel the balls disappear a la Tetris. To complete a level, each wheel in the layout has to disappear a set of balls at least once.

Sounds easier than it is because new balls just keep on coming which complicates the traffic in the pipes. To make it more difficult, there are pipes that let just one color through, one-way pipes and pipes which change the color of the ball.

The graphics in the intro and in the screens between the levels are rendered and grabbed photographs, but the game graphics are more basic. The same for the sound.

The game is really fun but very difficult. Those with ambitions to push tin should try this game.

Personal overall impression of the editor: 7 of 10 points

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---Pishti---
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Pishti is the computer version of a well-known Turkish card game. Unfortunately I didnīt understand the game and couldn't give it a test. For anyone who knows this game, technically it is fine: the graphics are like Windows-Solitaire.

A download is recommended for anyone who knows the game or who can read the (English) guide.

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---The Lost Islands---
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Do you remember the strange 3D version of Pacman in which one is pursued by Intel and Atari icons instead of ghosts? This game is just like that, but instead of fleeing ghosts you have to escape out of a labyrinth.

This is not as easy as it seems: you have limited time. But the great background music motivates to try it again and again.

After escaping out of one labyrinth you go direct to the next one. You get a password for every level so you donīt have to start the game new every time. The levels are quite complex and just running around is not enough to find the exit. After some time the music motivates no more and the game gets boring.

The game is a fun amusement, and the title music alone is worth the download.

Personal overall impression of the editor: 6 of 10 points

So, that is it for this month. I'm going to listen to the title music of TLI once more and tomorrow I will continue my quest for new freeware.

See ya!

Malte Mende