@3 Green 5 ~~~~~~~ @2 It's very rare to find near-commercial quality games in the Public Domain, even rarer still to find one written in AMOS. This is exactly how Green 5 could be described. It's a slick arcade puzzler very similar to Another World. It's extremely similar in fact, even down to the way animations are shown for actions, such as picking up a gun. The plot is obscure to say the least so I won't bother repeating it but the general idea is to run, jump, shoot and puzzle your way out of trouble. Along the way you'll see a strange woman wearing a red dress with high heal shoes who will help you out. The first time you meet her you will be given a knife. She drops the knife into your hand and the scene changes to a hand which catches the knife. The first time I saw this animation I thought 'coorrrr', it is brilliant. It's obvious to see that the author has got much inspiration from Another World. The background graphics are odd to say the least but this adds to the overall atmosphere. Also in places, the background is rather tackily drawn with an obvious over-use of DPaint's gradient fill option, but this doesn't really matter as we all know it's playability which counts. The controls are also very responsive and the man moves quite smoothly although collision detection can be a bit dodgy at times which leads to energy loss. The sounds effects are quite odd as well although they are very atmospheric. The whole game is in fact, weird, but immensely playable. @2 While I'm on the subject of playability, I feel I need to mention the difficulty of the game. Some parts are extremely tough to beat. When you have fought your way outside you pick up a gun (cue mega impressive animation). When you have picked up your gun, a gun battle is initiated with a guard who is also armed, but his advantage is that he has a sheild. When I tried to kill him, I tried everything but to no avail. He always won, I could never get a shot on him. It was this bit of the game that almost made me give up. A lot of experimentation and thought was needed to beat him. When he takes a shot he moves his shield out the way, so he is vulnerable so you must get a shot on him before he does on you. The only trouble is sometimes he ducks, so you must do the same. When you have hit him, he flashes white. You must then run off the right hand side of the screen so he cannot shoot you and then go back again, then you repeat the above process 4 more times. When you do finally kill him, he melts into the ground. The animation for this is quite impressive. Although Green 5 is difficult to play in places, it is possible to beat, and the feeling of satisfaction when you have blown that baddie to smithereens in enormous. @2 Hard disk owners are going to love the programmer of this game, for this is the first P.D. game to my knowledge that really does need a hard drive to be playable. Because of all the animations, the disk is accessed quite a lot and we all know that floppy disk access is at best, slow. Playing Green 5 off hard drive is a dream compared to floppy. So full marks to Mark Judge for that. Value for money wise, the Public Domain version at least is a bargain, but I'm not too sure about the full registered version. The full version costs £10 and comes on another 3 disks. There are 4 missions in total and the first one is supplied. The first mission seemed very short so at a guess the other missions are of equal size. If this is the case then I don't think £10 is a fair price. Hopefully I'm wrong, but it does make you wonder. @2 So at a glance, Green 5 is a wonderfully slick game, which is very hard in places. But effort reaps rewards and the animations are so cool it's unbelievable. It's works slowly off floppy disk but everyone should own a hard disk these days, if you don't own one, then get one. Green 5 off hard drive is a dream. Unfortunately, there is no music whatsoever in the game and the author would be well advised to either write his own music or get some decent musician to do the music for him, there are plenty of them around! £10 seems a high price if the full game is only 3 times bigger than the demo version, but you're meant to pay shareware fees anyway if you like a program. But yes, a game you should add to your collection, if you don't then quite frankly you are plain stupid. @1 Green 5 - Summary ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ INSTRUCTIONS : 0/10 Erm, what instructions? GRAPHICS : 10/10 Background graphics range from weird to even weirder. They are extremely atmospheric though. The main charcter and all other sprites are well drawn, detailed and move as fluidly as anything seen on Another World. The animations are as cool as hell! SOUND : 7/10 No music whatsoever. Sound effects are varied and suit the action perfectly. A bit more sound effects for the outdoors would have been nice, such as wind or creatures growling. PLAYABILITY : 8/10 Fluid playability. Wonderful response from the main sprite although collision detection can be dodgy sometimes. Some parts of the game are too hard...... HOOKABILITY : 9/10 ......but the promise of even more juicy animations and more puzzling more than make up for it. VALUE FOR MONEY : 7/10 A bit of a grey area really. The author should have said how much more of the game you get. Of course, if he contacts me and tells me, then I can put this rating straight once and for all. OVERALL : 7/10 Yum yum, slobber slobber. A great game, but you need to be patient, and the patient will be rewarded. A great game to get someone for Christmas. One question to the programmer: Will there be a sequel?? Certainly hope so! @3 Released as : Shareware Price : £10 Author : Mark Judge Address : 46 Longstraw Close, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 5YZ.