}2      {2>3 THUNDERDAWN

}3      {4>2 REVIEWED BY SHAUN WATTERS

}1 {0 >4
      ThunderDawn  is  the  latest  in  the long running BLACK DAWN series.
      It's  also the first to divulge from the SCIFI theme.  Overall it has
      a  more  fantasy theme to it.  Now as I myself have coded three Black
      Dawn  games  I  think  it's unfair to compare it to any others in the
      series due to personal bias so I'll review it on its own merits.

      Upon  booting  it's  evident  that it's an Andrew Campbell production
      with  it's  dark  and dismal graphics and moody soundtrack.  I'm sure
      just about everyone reading this review has come into contact with at
      least  one  Black  Dawn  game  so  I've  no need to tell you the game
      basics.

      As  normal  you  go  wandering  around  levels  blasting monsters and
      picking up goodies.  And that's about it.  To be honest there is not a
      great  deal  more  that  can  be  done with the game formula so don't
      expect to find anything REALLY original but that does not detract the
      fact that the game IS fun to play.

      There  are  quite  a  few nice touches in Thunderdawn which are worth
      mentioning.   First  and  foremost  is  the  fullscreen game area.  No
      longer  are  you  limited  to  a  little in the middle of the screen.
      However  if it just TOO BIG for you the option to change screen modes
      and sizes are available.  Another nice new feature is the presence of
      seeing your character in the game area ie the viewpoint is set behind
      the  character.   Which is a really cool idea (Wish I thought of it!)
      Thanks  to the extra big screen you get some bloody BIG monsters, I'm
      talking real pant wetting size !!!

      Overall Thunderdawn is a game which Andy Campbell should be proud of.

      I do however have a few problems with it :-

      The  biggest  problem  is speed (or lack of it), because of it's AMOS
      origins no amount of decent coding is going to get away with the fact
      that  AMOS  can't  handle full screen manipulation.  As a result on a
      bare  1200 ThunderDawn is just a bit TOO sluggish and on a 500 forget
      it.   Another  niggle  I  had  was the lack of a keyboard control for
      sidestepping.   Because   of   the   fullscreen  controls  (more  the
      mousepointer to move in certain directions) it's just not possible to
      move  the  mouse  fast enough to get out of a monsters range in time.
      With a sidestep key it would not be a problem.

      (nb - I did mention this to Andy but he took no notice)

      Overall  it's a decent game that could have done with a serious speed
      boost.


      GRAPHICS   : 9/10   Very Atmospheric
      SOUND      : 9/10   Ditto
      PLAYABILITY : 7/10   There is only so much you can do with the genre.
      SPEED      : 5/10   S - L - O - W (ish)

      OVERALL    : 8/10


      Price    : 2.99
      Supplier : 5th Dimension Licenceware
      Author   : Andrew Campbell