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{subhead} Wasted Dreams{def}{p}
Review by Neil Williams
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This game has been on and off for months now, and at one point looked
like not being published at all, but finally, it's here.  Wasted
Dreams is a sort of strategy, puzzle and action game rolled into one.
Using a method of control similar to that of, say, The Chaos Engine,
you (or you and a friend) control your character on screen, moving from
one area to the next, interacting with characters and items on screen
in a way similar to an adventure game, like Monkey Island 2.  You view
the world of your character from an angle of 45 degrees above, which
is a well used system these days.  Napalm is the most recent game to
use this sort of view point.
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There is no getting away from the fact that the game is huge.  In the
course of researching this review ( :-) ) I must have only scratched
the surface of the game.  In that respect, it puts Monkey Island 2,
a mere 12 floppy disks, to shame.  This game fills a CD-ROM!
Everything about the game is done on a big scale, even the
'environment' sounds playing in the background are all fairly big
samples - The only problem I can see people having with this is that
it pushes the game into the 2MB chip RAM area.  While it needs just
3MB in total to run, 2MB of it must be chip RAM.
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To control the game, you need to use keyboard or joystick.  I was
originally expecting it to be a mouse driven game, as the control
panel at the bottom of the screen looked fairly typical of an
adventure game.  But I'm glad to say I was wrong, this game includes
far more action than any other adventure game I've played which I'm
sure would be hell with a mouse.  The controls are, overall, quite
good.  The on-screen character responds to movements well, there is
some vagueness about it.  I can't quite pin down what doesn't feel
right, so there can't be anything big wrong with it.
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So, to the game's story.  In a plot vaguely like Flashback, you find
yourself on an alien world.  You are part of a survey team, and
having found a new planet, void of higher life, you take off back for
earth.  Then your ship is shot down and you are the only survivor,
apart from a small group still on the planet.  Well, if you're playing
a two player game, there are two survivors, of course.  This is where
you run into the aliens..
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The story is fairly short for such a big game, but there is plenty in
the game itself which explains things further as you progress.  Most
characters you meet in the game will just take an instant dislike to
you and try to kill you, but some are a bit more friendly and will
help you along, sometimes if you help them first.  You're armed
initially with a single gun and a body shield, both of which need
recharging regularly as you shoot or are shot..  A downed alien will
often drop these for you, which you can pick up.  This is 60% an
adventure game though, so you can also pick up other items which you
can carry around until they're needed.  For example, (and this isn't
giving the game away, it's the very first thing you do) there is a
medi-kit in the wreckage of your ship.  If you take this to an injured
alien close the crash site, you'll get some advice in return for the
help.
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There is plenty to keep you hooked to this game for a very long time,
not just because it's a huge thing to play through, but also because
it actually keeps you interested in what happens next.  The story line
slowly creeps out of the game as you play, presenting you with
mysteries to solve as you go and little bits of information to help
you progress.  Unlike the background story, this is a big, well
thought out story line.  Or so it appears, I haven't completed the
game yet!
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Now down to the presentation: the graphics do look okay, and move well,
but the game suffers a bit from being in 32 colours.  While it claims
to take advantage of AGA features (but doesn't take advantage of a
graphics card sadly) it still looks a little 'washed out' - I can't
see it making much difference to the game, but it could have been
nicer to look at I feel.  The variety of graphics in the game is
impressive - but with each area of play having a specific look which
helps stop you getting lost in the vastness of it all..
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Sound is fairly good as I've said above -but I didn't mention the
speech. Vulcan have supplied full English speech for every bit of
written text on the screen, which can get annoying but helps you pick
out important stuff you might miss otherwise.. The speech is only in
English though. The actual text, from the manual right through the
game is available in 16 languages! The Amiga Translators Organisation
strikes again, and they should be commended for their work. I should
mention the introduction movie of several hundred megabytes, which
just gives in sound and video the background story of the game. It's
in the same style as the Genetic Species intro, and looks good.
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I'm genuinely excited about this game.  Which it's biggest flaw being
low-colour graphics, more than made up for by the shear amount of it,
I am hopeful this game will do well.  It's something everyone can
play through at their own pace without compromising their enjoyment
of the game.
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{bold}Created By{nobold}    : Digital Dreams Entertainment - {link http://www.dd-ent.com/}http://www.dd-ent.com/{end}{p}
{bold}Available from{nobold}: All Amiga dealers (UK orders, email {bold}chris@dd-ent.com{nobold})
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{bold}Requirements{nobold}  : 2MB chip RAM and 1MB other, 2x speed CD-ROM, Works with OCS/ECS chipsets and 68000.{p}
{bold}Media{nobold}         : CD-Rom
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{bold}Price UKP{nobold}     : £25.00-£27.99
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{bold}Graphics{nobold}      : 80%{p}
{bold}Sound{nobold}         : 84%{p}
{bold}Playability{nobold}   : 90%{p}
{bold}Lastability{nobold}   : 92%
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{bold}Overall{nobold}       : 90%
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{image AioGold.iff}