Hunter

So, its review a great game day. Superb. My choice, Hunter, on the Amiga 500. I couldn’t let this one slip by, as it is one of my most treasured and favourite games on my Amiga. First off though, a little side note. In my review I make the obvious comparisons to the GTA franchise, however, for those of you who have played Far Cry 3, you might have to indulge my imagination for a minute or two at the end…

Either way, onto my review, Hunter on the Amiga 500, a great game, and a pioneer.

Publisher: Activision

Developed by: Paul Holmes and Martin Walker

Genre: 3-D Adventure, Strategy

Year: 1991

Hunter is a game that takes you into a world where mayhem and destruction can reign free on your enemies and in whatever form that takes your fancy. Having first played this on my Amiga I’ve been hooked ever since and it’s the main reason I’m a big fan of games such as GTA. Playing it through again brings back some great memories and is certainly a welcome addition to my games collection. Hunter can be classed as a 3D action, adventure and strategy game, developed by Paul Holmes and Martin Walker (music) and released in 1991 by Activision.

We’re gonna need a bigger boat.

Hunter lets you play three different scenarios; MISSIONS, whereby you receive an objective and a deadline to complete it, once you have completed your mission you return to HQ to receive more orders. The objectives become subsequently harder and the time shorter to complete each mission. ACTION, your man in the field is given a long list of enemy targets, it is then up to you to use the map and log book to locate each target and destroy them. Once again you are racing against the clock to finish the list, but can destroy the targets in what ever order you like.

Finally the main scenario, HUNTER, is the trickiest of them all. You must track down and kill the enemy General by collecting clues from civilians, bribing enemies, and by using a number of objects, vehicles and weapons to help you succeed. The deeper you go into enemy territory and the closer you come to completing this scenario the harder it gets, you are racing against the clock and options can become limited if you aren’t prepared for battle!

The game is controlled via mouse and keyboard, or my preferred method mouse and joystick. The joystick controls the directional movement of your man as well as the stop and start in vehicles and moving them around (point to note, there is no reverse). The fire button is used for any form of attack, be it grenades, bazooka or your trusty pistol. The mouse comes into play with the strategy side to the game and is used in the selection of weapons and sundry items needed to progress (log book, flares, maps, weapons, money, food).

Some of the most common items  you will need to use are aerial observation units, parachutes, maps and radar, and the handiest item you can acquire is the enemy uniform (don’t go into your HQ wearing it though). Both control methods are easy to utilise, and when using the mouse to select from the pop-up menu the game conveniently pauses.

Hat stand? No, The 1st Man!

Hunter has great game play interlaced with simple graphics (as with many other great retro games) and makes the most of its sweeping landscapes and 3D environment. Greens, oranges and blues make up your basic air, land and sea colours, in turn making buildings, vehicles and people easy to identify. Vehicles are well drawn and conveniently placed at your disposal around the map, whether it’s a car, tank, helicopter or bicycle (less said about the windsurfer the better) you’ll be glad of the free ride as walking can be slow and tedious. Vehicles run smoother and faster than you would expect and each have their own unique uses (cars are nippy, tanks are slower, but can also take some serious missile damage).

Helicopters are easy to fly after the initial trauma of take off but are a bugger to land, especially if in a rush, best to put down in a safe area and walk the rest of the way!  The variety of weapons and sundry items is impressive. You can use a number of explosives to destroy targets or just have some fun generally blowing stuff up. The player can use land and timed mines, sea to air missiles, bazookas, 80mm shells, grenades and all the while carrying your trusty sidearm. Aerial observation units and radar help you scope out and assess the landscape and can be useful in finding people, buildings and vehicles. The food and money collected is used to bribe and gather information and the enemy uniform to breeze into enemy territory without a care in the world.

Helicopters. Fly, yes! Land, no!

Apart from the title screen Hunter relies solely on sound effects to create its ambience.  Across the landscape the player can hear gun fire, explosions and roaming vehicles, or a sultry seagull flying overhead, destined to make you its own special target (why else would it be following me…). The maps, a different one for each scenario, give the game a sense of vastness when you begin your mission, and in its quieter moments, especially when dusk has fallen (use flares to light the way, or turn the brightness up on the monitor), can be a little creepy and lonely without anything else around you. Hunter has few drawbacks, however walking everywhere will cost you time and time is of the essence in Hunter. Finding a vehicle can be crucial to success and sometimes its a long walk,  so by the end you’ll be thankful for that enemy disguise, or the fact the soldier who arrived to work that morning forgot to lock his bike up to his guard tower.

Danger! Random objects haphazardly strewn on floor!

Hunter is a game (for its time obviously) with the freedom and almost limitless possibilities of any of today’s titles that fall into the sandbox genre (think GTA, but slower, and with simpler graphics). Hunter is a classic and still fantastic to play, its open environment and vast maps make it challenging, fun and atmospheric. This concluding sentence from Amiga Power (Aug 1991) really summed the game up for me and my own experience of playing the game back in the day. Jonathan Davies wrote in The Bottom Line “Hunter was a real all-rounder, there was something for everyone in there, all wrapped up in a believable 3D world you can get lost in for hours.”  You can read the full review here on Amiga Magazine Rack.

Home Sweet Home, a rabbit in every pot and a tank in every garage.

Now, If you’ll indulge me a little longer, onto a more modern comparison. Far Cry 3 and Hunter both are set in an ‘open world’ environment and set across multiple islands, where the gamer can either play the linear story line, or just mess about as they see fit. You’ll come across friendly areas and characters, with ammo stores and resources to buy, alongside the clearly marked enemy territories and bad guys (even the enemies in Far Cry 3 are wearing red). A variety of vehicles are strewn around at your disposal, although as far as I can see there isn’t a hover craft or wind surfer in Far Cry 3… The comparisons in my opinion are pretty clear, Far Cry 3 ‘feels like’ Hunter, specifically from a game play point of view, right down to the ‘night and day’ effects and abundant wildlife in both games (although in Hunter you lose money for killing animals).

In this gamers opinion, I think Far Cry 3 is what a modern version of Hunter would look like. A pretty bold statement, but maybe something to think about.

Thanks for reading!

The only music in the game comes from the title screen, listen to it here  Hunter Main Theme.

To give you an idea of the game play check out the first mission (in the MISSIONS scenario) being played out. This video is over 6 mins and just gives you a feel for the game play.

Also check out the Amiga Longplay for the Hunter scenario (retrieving the Generals head)

Favourite Amiga demo disks

Below are a few of my favourite Amiga demo disks, retro gaming memories, with added nostalgia.

These demos were something I either bought the magazine deliberately for (Cannon Soccer, Christmas Dizzy, T2) or were something that just came with the mag, and turned out to be something awesome (Extreme Violence).

Below are a few thoughts on why I remember these particular demos so fondly.

Cannon Soccer - Amiga Format Cover Disk 54b

Cannon Fodder meets SWOS. What more could you want at Christmas? A great little idea and game this demo mash-up was a winning combination. I still enjoy giving this one a play now and then. One of the main reasons I actually remember this is the fact that it came on a green disk. It looked cool and kinda futuristic, so it made me buy Amiga Format, so it kinda worked on many different levels of awesome.

T2 and Christmas Dizzy – Amiga Power Cover Disk 33

Being a huge Dizzy fan back in the day I enjoyed seeing this Dizzy mini game release on the cover disk of Amiga Power 33, and bought the mag immediately. I also originally remember being slightly disappointed that the game didn’t actually have a Christmas theme to it and that it was in fact a Christmas preview of Fantastic Dizzy.

Despite this I enjoyed the opportunity to play anything new and Dizzy related (although I still wanted snow and Dizzy wearing a santa hat). The T2 demo was also a nice bonus and actually led me to buying the full game, however it was promptly destroyed when I lent it to a friend (who had clearly tried to copy it and failed) and returned the disks defective.

Extreme Violence – Amiga Power Cover Disk 24

Extreme Violence is a game I first played at a mate’s house on his Amiga. Finally, having discovered the cover disk again (in a bunch of disks I bought from a carboot sale) I had the opportunity to revisit this on my Amiga, and I still love it. Still one of my all time favourite PD games and cover disks, it is definitely one to cherish. I go into a little more detail about Extreme Violence in an earlier blog post here!

Thanks for reading, please leave comments below, bearing in mind the question:

What have been your favourite demos from your gaming past?

Cover disk scans from Hall of Light the Amiga Games Database!

A quick question, retro gaming collectors…

A few weeks back I posted a question on twitter:

“What do you think is the hardest retro console/computer to collect for?”

A collectors dream… (nightmare)?

I’ve been collecting games for the Commodore Amiga since I was old enough to start buying them myself. Early Christmas presents aside, some of my first games I bought 2nd hand were from a shop down in charlotte street market in Portsmouth, from a shop called Silver Moon games. I bought Lemmings 2: The Tribes and Lure of the Temptress. The shop unfortunately is no longer there, it disappeared along with the market itself and eventually the entire Tricorn centre.

Since Amiga titles are no longer available on a large-scale (naturally), it’s becoming more and more difficult to track down titles I’d like to buy (even from retro gaming stores) and sometimes if I do find them they are way out of my price range. I’ve been to many car boot sales across the South coast, and I’ve never successfully found an Amiga game for sale, aside from a few close calls when I mistook a selection of big box PC games, from a distance, for Amiga games.

Sadly, eBay is my main source of Amiga collecting and I’m very picky about what and who I buy from on there. Unless I travel much further afield in my search (North of the country would make the most sense), I don’t think I’ll have much hope of finding a cache of Amiga loot. I still search car boots in the small hope I’ll come across a seller who has cleared their Amiga games out of their loft and wants to sell them to me. I continue, albeit stubbornly, to collect Amiga games.

A moment of curiosity…

In a moment of curiosity, I thought I’d ask the question above. After a few minutes of answers it became clear a few trends were appearing, particularly collectors from  the US who don’t have access to say, specific European releases, and vice versa.

A few consoles were also mentioned a few times, the Neo-Geo and the TurboGrfx 16, it was also great to hear a few names I’d only just learned about. Below are some of the consoles mentioned and their respective tweeters:

• Dave Clark‏ – @imagamegeek

Got to be snes or neo geo, gave up on snes years ago … Neo geo is the ultimate arcade console in the home

• Kimimi - @_Kimimi

As a foreigner, I’d say old Jp computers like the Sharp X-1 and PC88. Hard to find games & usually expensive when you do!

• Retro Corps  – @Retrocorps

Got to be Neo Geo. You have to have OIL MONEY to have a complete collection…

• Weird And Retro -‏ @WeirdAndRetro

Maybe not THE hardest but definitely up there is for NUON! Ironically only 7 games released + 1 Korean, but good luck completing it!

• Paul Darbyshire - @pablo_0151

I reckon the Neo Geo AES might be in with a shout… some pricey stuff on that. Or the Apple Pippin?!

• Steve Petrucelli  – @wizzer2801

Region specific consoles. Still tough to find that ZX over here.

• Retro Nick - @Retron8

I’d agree with that (ZX), unless of course you occupy that region… PC-FX is real tricky to collect for.

• Steve - @chevytecobx

For me I haven’t started any TG-16 stuff, its hard to find local and too expensive (not an eBay fan).

• Robert Crampton - @Smuggsy

My 1st thought was a SNES, not coz of the age, but finding a good condition cardboard boxed game can be difficult!

This was a great eye opener to the perils of collecting for certain consoles and computers, I see from this small example there are plenty of games and machines out there that can be classed as difficult to collect for, ranging from availability and rarity, to finding games in good condition boxes.

My next collecting project? Hmmm, maybe…

Thanks to everyone on twitter for their replies and opinions, and good luck with the collecting! Let me know what your own collecting troubles and problems have been by leaving a comment below, thanks for reading!

Wolfenstein 3D

I love these ‘what happens next’ screen shots…

First a little background reading, Wolfenstein 3D is a first-person shooter set during World War II, it was developed by iD Software.  The protagonist is captured spy B.J. Blazkowicz, this is the character the player will use throughout the game.  It was released in 1992 for MS-DOS and later ported to other systems, most of which included heavy editing, changes and removal of music, images and certain symbols. It was released with 3 episodes, but was eventually enhanced by 3 more.

Back in the day I used to play this all the time at a friend’s house. For awhile, evenings after school were dominated by this game. Door closed to his Dads office, lights off, we turned on the PC to play Wolfenstein 3D (rated PC-13…. ‘Profound Carnage’). The game came on a single (I think) 5.25-inch floppy disk, my memory is a little vague, it could have been more than one as we had more than one of the episodes. Either way, whole game or not, we couldn’t get much further than the first few floors, my friend suffered from motion sickness whenever we played, and I was a pretty terrible shot, a theme that has stayed with me through out my years playing first person shooters.

All green, it wasn’t always this way….

More recently, I’ve re-acquired Wolfenstein 3D. This time through Steam for the bargain price of £1.74. No more trying to get the MS-DOS version I have to run, Steam has done all the hard work for me. I might have missed this bargain if not for a good friend of mine, they were kind enough to buy me The Walking Dead for Christmas, so I logged in to install and play, naturally I got swept up in the Steam Christmas sale at the same time. Wolfenstein 3D downloaded in about 2 seconds and it loaded in about 3 (what, no updates?). It also still shows the memory/hardware and PC-13 screens, which is just awesome in itself.

Bring ‘em on! My level of choice, this pic is however funnier.

Nostalgic feelings take hold as the familiar looking menus appear, all present and correct. The best has got to be the difficulty select page, it actually has some character to it. It’s the little details that make these games great.

Onto the game, I’m currently working my way through Episode 1: Escape from Castle Wolfenstein, and not doing such a bad job either. Collecting as much treasure as I can, making sure I always get 100% kill count and doing my best to run along all the walls rapidly hitting the space bar to find secret rooms, which are often hidden behind the pictures and symbols on the walls.

The game play is just as fast paced and absorbing as it was when I first played it, the graphics and sound effects (was that a door opening or closing behind me?) still give it that great atmosphere, the levels can feel vast and empty sometimes and it can feel a bit like a maze at points, however, the bread crumb trail of devastation should help you find your way through each level. Once you’ve acquired the gold key and found the lift you can head to the next floor.

You start off with a hand-gun and find better weapons as you progress. I’ve recently come across the chain gun, an awesome and devastating weapon. Enemies in this particular episode come in the form of your basic Nazi soldier, attack dogs, and blue Nazi soldier with machine gun. If I remember rightly, the other episodes include some more interesting variations on enemies.

Red blood, not green, red. People also don’t bleed sweat when they get shot.

In the other episodes the game play stays the same, you make your way through each maze like level, the difficulty increases and the enemies change as you get closer to the boss. However, each episode has its own unique story, bad guys, boss and has been visually changed. The bosses are certainly some of the more memorable from over the years, two of my favourites are a psychotic Hitler in mechanised suit of armour and chain guns (Episode 3: Die, Fuhrer, Die!), and a crazy scientist called Dr. Schabbs, a creepy guy who attacks you by throwing syringes and is surrounded by his mutated zombie experiments (Episode 2: Operation: Eisenfaust).

Ho Ho Ho! Now I have a machine gun!

I still think Wolfenstein 3D looks great, the game play is really absorbing and the playability just as good as it was before. I’m enjoying playing this again and want to get through this episode by episode. At the same time I’m looking forward to being able to try episodes 4, 5 and 6, ones I’ve not played before. But right now, I must escape the castle, bring ‘em on!

For more information on Wolfenstein 3D, please visit Wolfenstein Wikia.

Or for a quick go of the game, Wolfenstein 3D, enjoy!

Found this excellent collection of maps for Wolfenstein 3D over at VG Mapper, great maps, amazing work.

Bill and Ted, the LAN and the way we used to be…

I thought I’d start 2013 with something a little personal, something I’ve had stored up inside for a long time, look away now, this could get a little… sentimental. These are two things that have been on my mind for over 6 years…

Martin, with some sort of shoulder growth…

Part 1 – Bill and Ted

Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure, one of my all time favourite movies as a kid, and also a favourite of one of my best friends, Martin. Coincidentally (or not…) one of us was short and blond, the other tall and dark. We weren’t part of a band, but always wished we were part of Wyld Stallyns, neither of us played an instrument, but always pretended too. Like Bill and Ted we were inseparable, you couldn’t really imagine one without the other, and if apart, wouldn’t be half as good.

I’ve been meaning to write this post since the early days of Reality Glitch, and even though it started as a retro gaming and movies blog I felt I needed to share some things on a more personal level too. Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure epitomises the relationship I had with my best friend, (beyond the height and hair colour) we did most things as a duo, since the earliest days of play school (Kindergarten if you’re in the US) we were together, in and out of trouble,  at home, at the rec, on school trips all the way through secondary school, college, and University.

If I was writing an autobiography, he would dominate the pages from school to University, if there was a story or anecdote from the past he’d generally be involved, he was a huge part of my childhood and beyond, always there, never far, he always had my back and in the later days we could talk about anything, comforting, kind and non-judgmental. You get the point, this man meant the world to me, this blog post isn’t a tribute (although if it was, it would be the greatest one in the world), it is just me, sharing.

Gaming played a huge part in our lives, specifically table top games, AD&D 2nd Edition, Star Wars and Heroes Unlimited, we used to love any sort of RPG, which also included point n’ click and text adventures. I introduced him to the Amiga, and he introduced me to the PC. In amongst all the RPGs one of his favourite games for the PC was Wolfenstein 3D, even though it gave him motion sickness. He loved anything Lord of the Rings, Red Dwarf and Star Wars, favouring later PC and PS games such as Alone in the Dark, Final Fantasy and Knights of the Old Republic.

I’ve struggled with the loss of my best friend, really struggled, not many people know that, I hide things very well. You’re guaranteed to find me in an odd and melancholy mood around certain months of the year, for weeks at a time. I’m hoping this blog post will help me put the loss of my best friend into perspective, help me move on, or maybe even just understand, but who knows. All I really know is that I miss our adventures together and most of all I miss his company and friendship. Bill just isn’t the same without Ted, it’s been a long time since he passed, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop missing him.

This leads me onto the next part of my blog post, I wasn’t sure if these should be separate, given the tone of this next part maybe more ‘ranty’ than I’d like… still, got to press on.

Part 2 – The LAN

On the subject of gaming, specifically PC, I’ve previously written a post about LAN gaming, and to be honest it is a genuine post I still stand by. However, the origins of the ‘LAN’ I feel go deeper than that post, and personally to me, was an idea by 3 guys (2 brothers and some blond guy) sitting in a bedroom finding a way to hook up their 3 PCs to play some Command and Conquer Red Alert. One of the guys was a lot more helpful than the other two (I was not the one guy). We played many games of Red Alert after that, and from here the idea of the ‘LAN’ began to grow.

Probably should be watching my own screen…

We began to involve other people, limited bedroom space this only meant including one other person, we couldn’t think of anyone more deserving to join our exclusive club than Martin, we invited him along and he brought new ideas (mainly involving snacks). The LAN now grew out of 4 guys wanting to play PC games together and hang out. Next we needed a place to hang out. We set about planning and converting a dilapidated old shed at the bottom of my friends garden into a fully functioning and comfortable LAN gaming workshop (affectionately known as The Shed). We had space for at least 8 people, all hooked up and ready to play (PCs and snacks not provided).

This idea took a while to get going, and even longer to set up and build, but it was worth it in the end. By this time as well games had moved on, Red Alert was replaced by Generals and Zero Hour, Battle for Middle Earth, Dawn of War, Quake and Far Cry were some of the more earlier titles we played. In retrospect, these are the days I’m most fond of, the 4 of us.

Me, Martin, Simon, and Spider-Man, apparently…

For me the LANs had their ups and downs when new people started to join in, conflict of interest was apparently inevitable. A major turning point for me was the loss of Martin (as mentioned earlier). LANs for me would never be the same again without him, the seat he always occupied behind me was empty, a depressing realisation. Not that I think anyone really understood but I could be very picky about who sat there. After this more pressure was put on the host, who was unfortunately (in some respects) the kind of guy who really couldn’t say no to anybody. To make matters worse, one of what I call the ‘founding members’ of the LAN group was banished and exiled, never to be allowed to return again, something that still grates me to this day.

Part 3 – The way we used to be…

The second part of this post, although related to the loss of Martin was inspired when I met up with and chatted to the exiled member of the original 4. It was a nice catch up, a hark back to the old days, we reminisced and it was fun. He mentioned the LAN, he asked me could the LANs be like they were back in the day, it was a nice idea, but I was honest (or cynical, you decide) and mentioned that I don’t think it will ever be the same again, things move on, and in some respects I think I’ve chosen not to move with it, not emotionally anyway.

The LAN meant more to me than gaming, and I’ve found it very difficult to enjoy those subsequent events, especially when Martin, Simon and Andrew haven’t been there. The recent LANs are great, and I’ve got nothing against them, the hosts do a great job of keeping it going and I’m still invited, I just know there’s something missing and it’s something I don’t think I’ll ever get back.

Thanks for listening guys, back to the retro gaming next… (promises promises – Ed)

2012 in review (and all that jazz)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

It’s been a slow year for blogging, poor ol’ Reality Glitch has suffered, but I’ll try to do better next year… (that could be a new years resolution…) but don’t hold me to it. Thanks to all the people who keep reading and for those who take the time to make a comment or two, it is much appreciated.

On to the stats… couple of odd ones below:

The post ‘Jackie Chan’ had 1,407 views on the 8th August. If anyone can explain that (given my daily view count is usually between 60 and 120) then that’ll be great, cheers.

I love the ‘where they come from’ stats, no idea how accurate this is, check out my 1 view from New Caledonia, if you can find it!

You’ll find the link to the complete report at the end of this post, and below are some links to a few of my favourite posts from this year.

Sim City

Autograph Collecting, or, the just for Steve post

Eurogamer Expo 2012 – The Cave

The Bitmap Brothers

Thanks for all the support and hope you all have an amazing 2013!

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 34,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 8 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

The Bitmap Brothers

The Bitmap Brothers, a name synonymous with quality game play, graphics and sound who developed a number of memorable games across a number of different genres and platforms throughout the 80s and 90s. Their games not only appeared on the Amiga and Atari ST but the Mega Drive, SNES and PC, although some may argue the Amiga versions were the best. It is certainly the Amiga versions that stick most fondly in my memory. Started in 1987 the Bitmap Brothers were based in Wapping, East London, the company’s MD was Mike Montgomery, who had founded the company together with Eric Matthews and Steve Kelly. Mike Montgomery later went on to take sole control of the business up until 2004.

Their first game was Xenon, a scrolling shoot ‘em up released on the Amiga, ST and C64 in 1988, this was quickly followed by Speedball released for the Amiga and ST in the same year. From here on they began to develop some of the most popular titles on the Amiga and forged themselves a place in retro gaming history, most people will remember a Bitmap Brothers game of some sort and will associate the name with great game play and distinct graphics, I expect most will also have one or two favourites from their collection. Below are a few games of note from The Bitmap Brothers, and my personal favourites.

Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe was originally developed by The Bitmap Brothers in 1990 and was released on  platforms including the Atari ST, Amiga and Sega Mega Drive (amongst others). It’s a fast spaced futuristic sports beat ‘em up where the player takes control of their team to win matches. As you win you can upgrade your players to make them stronger, faster or too just last longer in the arena before being stretchered off. The game play is frantic and the action impressive, the sound effects give Speedball 2 a real sense of being in a sports arena, not only as a player but even as part of the crowd (Ice-cream anyone?).

Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe was a game which added a sports title (albeit futuristic) to the variety of genres already covered by The Bitmap Brothers. It also left a lasting legacy, so much so that Tower Studios (under the watchful eye of Sensible Software founder Jon Hare) successfully released an iOS version of Speedball 2 in 2011. Speedball 2 Evolution, is a modernized remake of the original and was released on a number of phone formats. It also coincided with the 20^th Anniversary of Brutal Deluxe.

Magic Pockets (1991) is one of my personal favorites from The Bitmap Brothers, mainly because I first discovered it being played on Saturday morning TV (Going Live! maybe… answers on a postcard, or in the comments). During the show the contestant called in and hurled instructions down the phone (forward, back, jump) in order to play the game. I instantly loved the little character (Bitmap Kid) and the ’cool’ animated intro sequence.

The Bitmap Kid had an interesting way of taking out the bad guys, although it never made much sense why a snail would change into a candy cane after being engulfed by a whirlwind which came out someone’s pocket… still it was a unique and fun way to take out the enemies. The level designs are brilliant and the secret passages add an extra puzzle element to the game play. The game includes an impressive variety of bad guys, great looking level design spread over several worlds, and extra levels to keep you reaching into to your pockets for a long time to come.

It wouldn’t be a post about The Bitmap Brothers without mentioning The Chaos Engine (1993), an all round classic game and still challenging to this day. The graphics are superb, the fast paced music and sound effects are great which in turn gives the game play a real sense of urgency, making the playability and lastability of this game fantastic. There are a great variety of enemies, huge amount of puzzles and secret passages and enough weaponry to start a small war.

The difficulty in The Chaos Engine came from the multiple ways of going through each level, with a small chance of getting lost or ambushed by enemies along the way, more often than not on your way to a hidden item or passageway. A great feature was the two player mode, or, if in single player, the computer controlled second player was there to help you out. Addictive and challenging game play all tied together with some upbeat music and sound effects. I can still hear “Node Activated” as it is still imprinted on my brain.

Some of my fondest gaming memories come from the Bitmap Brothers and I would definitely feature them as one of my favourite developers for the Amiga. The Bitmap Brothers developed games across a variety of genres, scrolling and top down shooters, platformers, sports and RTS games. Their games, such as The Chaos Engine, Gods and Xenon, brought with them a seal of approval amongst gamers for their quality game play, sound and impressive graphics.

Trivia:

The development team was voted Best 16-bit Programmers of the Year (1989) at the Golden Joystick Awards. Speedball was also voted best 16-bit Game of the Year overall.

Mark John Coleman is a computer graphics developer who frequently worked with the Bitmap Brothers, and along with Dan Malone was responsible for the visual style that became a trademark of a Bitmap Brother games.

Since 2004 Mike Montgomery has worked alongside the legendary Jon Hare at Tower Studios, he now resides at Lightning Fish (Chromativity) as development director, running the day-to-day management of the studio since June 2008.

Alien Bash 2 was a PD game given away with Amiga Format (April 1996) and sold as a tribute to The Chaos Engine. It was in fact a shameless clone of the original, however, it’s still an impressive effort for a PD title and still highly playable, if not a little repetitive.

The Chaos Engine box came with 6 collectible cards of characters in the game.

Xenon 2: Megablast boasted music from Bomb the Bass, where as Magic Pockets took its funky title music from Betty Boo Doin’ the Do.

As well as the games stated earlier they also produced The Chaos Engine 2 (1996), Cadaver (1990), Cadaver: The Pay Off (1991), World War II: Frontline Command (2003), Z (1996) and Xenon 2: Megablast (1989).

The Bitmap Brothers published most of its games under their own publisher, Renegade Software.

Eurogamer Expo 2012: Highlights Part 2

Minecraft meets Earthworm Jim, with a sneak attack from Sub-Zero! Only at the Eurogamer Expo.

Eurogamer Expo 2012 highlights Part 2, a collection of random thoughts and pictures from the event. Tomb Raider and the Wii U pretty much took us up to lunch time (we had burgers). After that it was back to the show floor for some more gaming. At this point I’m actually a little fuzzy on which order we did things in but here are few of the games and other activities we tried in the afternoon.

I headed over to Far Cry 3, another game on the top of my list to try. Unlike the other demo’s so far (Tomb Raider was a whole playable section, no time limit) Wii U and Nintendo Land (you could probably stay there all day if you wanted) where as Far Cry 3 was a more free reign open world experience, with your first and only objective (as far as I could see) to locate the radar station, something pointed out to you by the Far Cry 3 team, rather than the game.

One thing I should probably clear up first, Far Cry 3 looks good, graphics, game play and control system tick all the right boxes, with echoes of what made the first Far Cry game so appealing. However, the way the demo was set up didn’t do the gaming experience itself any favours. The team ‘on hand’ looking over your shoulder was a little annoying, poised ready to say ‘times up’, plus the sheer amount of onlookers who thought it best to give you a running commentary on your gaming skills whilst you were playing (I had at least 4 backseat drivers). My one and only irritating experience of the Expo. I still have high hopes for Far Cry 3, what I played of the demo I enjoyed, but it didn’t really reveal anything about the storyline and unfortunately I couldn’t block out the external influences.

After Far Cry 3 we wandered the show room floor, taking random pictures and playing random games. This included an arcade shoot em up in the retro zone, one that unfortunately I cannot remember the name of but it was pretty good. There was a stand with Carmageddon on the iPhone which we gave a quick go, as well as watching a few games being played in the indie game area.

Mario, playing with himself (Mario Kart 64)

Resident Evil 6

Aliens Colonial Marines

Wii U Area

Super Mario Bros U

Sonic for Hire?

Sonic, still a poser

Sonic and 8_BitGirl

Far Cry 3, not a great experience, but I’ll probably still get it…

The good ol’ NES, the Replay guys did another awesome job.

Crowd shot, the Wii U area from above

Showroom floor, plenty to see and do.

More crowd…

I took too many of these…

Minecraft meets Earthworm Jim, with a sneak attack from Sub-Zero! Only at the Eurogamer Expo.

Competitions wise we entered to win a Wii U, collecting the stamps for playing Nintendo Land mini games, a competition to win an Alienware gaming laptop by registering with them, and we also went along to the Insert Coin Tee’s giveaway, which was random at best, and occasionally a bit violent. We ended the day playing The Cave, reviewed in an earlier post. A fantastic day all round and another great Eurogamer Expo, already looking forward to next year! Thanks for tuning in.

Eurogamer Expo 2012: Highlights Part 1

That great British tradition, ‘the queue’, and Earls Court.

I arrived at Earls Court on Saturday morning just before 8am and joined the already forming queue of eager gamers. As usual, scared of the inevitable queue banter I hid myself away (banter is fine, just not this early on a Saturday morning). I kept an eagle eye out for the arrival of my gaming companion for the day @8_BitGirl.

We were duly entertained by several queue giveaways of swag, some of which people actually danced for, the hunger for gaming freebies never ends and is often quite funny to watch. Not wanting to miss out people will throw their hands, bodies, friends in the air to catch a free t-shirt or game they probably don’t actually want.

The awesome 8_BitGirl, with quality gaming wear.

At 10am we were let in, after grabbing an Expo guide-book and bag we looked at the array of gaming choice before us, stopping only for a split second to choose between the Wii U and Tomb Raider. We headed for the latter. We had a vague plan about what games we wanted to see but for the most part, and in good Indy tradition, we were making it up as we went along. Below are a few of the games and areas we decided to try out. Two of the games, Tomb Raider and The Cave have been covered in separate posts.

After Tomb Raider, we had a quick go on Borderlands 2, first time I’d played it so it was finally nice to see what the hype was all about. The demo consisted of helping out, and following through the level, the little robot (Claptrap?), who helpfully pointed out how terrible I was at the game.

Fun game, unfortunately I was pretty terrible at it.

8_BitGirl trying out some Borderlands 2

Next up was the Wii U, by this time the doors were opening for another huge rush of eager gamers at 11am, and this would inevitably be when the queues would get longer. Even at this point the queue to try the Wii U was around 40 minutes, there was even a separate queue for ZombiU (something we did not get to try) as this queue was a 2 hour wait. We decided to stick with the Wii U queue.

First off we tried out the Wii U Panorama View, this included making a selection from a menu of places to visit, we opted to take a boat trip and buggy ride through Tokyo, Japan, which included lots of tourists and lots of cherry blossoms. First thing we actually noticed was how light the Wii U GamePad felt, handy if you’re intending to play games for an extended amount of time, and for younger/older users. The Panorama View itself was nice, but more of a novelty and demonstration of the Wii U’s capabilities than anything exciting in terms of long-lasting entertainment.

The massive Wii U gaming area, was worth the 40 minute queue.

Wii U Panorama View, Tokyo’s never looked so good.

We also managed to try out Nintendo Land, which also included a competition to win a Wii U. Up to 5 mini games were playable in this area, by playing the mini games and collecting a stamp for each one, you could enter into the competition to win a Wii U. We managed to get around to playing 3 out of the 5 games available, Donkey Kong’s Crash Course, Animal Crossing: Sweet Day and Luigi’s Ghost Mansion, gathering a stamp for each one.The other 2 games available to play were Takamaru’s Ninja Castle and The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest. Some of the games are pictured below.

Donkey Kong’s Crash Course, people crashed, a lot.

Donkey Kong’s Crash Course is fun, but takes a steady hand, quick thinking and a large amount of concentration. The player uses the GamePad to tilt a trolley through a platform-based obstacle course. The shoulder buttons and analog stick can then be used in order to activate levers, switches, bridges and lifts to see the trolley safely to its goal, one mistake and you’ll crash and have to return to the last check point. The scale of the level was massive and intricately designed, I didn’t see anyone get past the spirally bridge part (bottom left of big screen).

Animal Crossing: Sweet Day. Literally, cute animal head gear, sugar rushes, and vomiting candy.

Animal Crossing: Sweet Day was actually awesome. I’ve never played Animal Crossing before but this was loads of fun, only second to Luigi’s Ghost Mansion. Four players (wearing cute animal hats) have to collect candy as a team before they get caught by one of two guards (one with a fork, one with a knife) the guards are controlled by another player using the GamePad. As players collect more candies, their movement becomes slower, making it easier for them to be caught, to speed up again and escape the player is able to eject the candies from their mouth. Surreal but fun, we played with 3 other people we didn’t know and it was really refreshing game play.

This is actually The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest, I didn’t get a picture of Luigi’s Ghost Mansion, I was having too much fun.

Luigi’s Ghost Mansion takes its cues from the original Luigi’s Mansion on the Gamecube. In this game up to four players must try to find a ghost in a maze, looking from a top down perspective, and weaken it by shining their torch at it before it grabs them. The ghost is controlled by a player using the GamePad and controlled on their own screen (players on the other screen cannot see the ghost until it attacks them or a light is shined on it). Team work is required to take out the ghost, players torch battery life also needs to replenished by picking up battery packs appearing in the maze. This game was extremely fun and distracted me enough that I forgot to take a pic.

Stay tuned for Eurogamer Expo 2012 Highlights Part 2, covered in this part will be; Carmageddon, Far Cry 3, and the Replay Zone, plus other stuff that doesn’t quite fit in anywhere else.

For more information on the Eurogamer Expo please visit their site!

Eurogamer Expo 2012: Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider was on the top of my list to play at this years Eurogamer Expo, as soon as the doors opened it was the first place I headed for, tucked away in the 18+ area it was nice to get straight onto a machine and play.

The demo was on the X-Box 360, so after familiarising myself once again with the black handheld device with buttons in front of me (keyboard and mouse being my usual gaming weapon of choice) I jumped straight into the game. The demo allows the player to explore what feels like a ‘tutorial’ type level. The level is set on an island and surrounded by jungle, the stormy conditions have led Lara to be shipwrecked and injured, she is alone and must survive, as well as locate her fellow crew members who seem to have disappeared.

Once you have the hang of the controls (which are amazingly simple but effective) you make your way to your first base camp (save point), the usual running, jumping and climbing aside it’s a nice opportunity to familiarise yourself with the game play and your surroundings. From here you learn a couple of more useful survival techniques, including navigating terrain safely (climbing, crossing beams, using the map) and hunting (collecting and using a bow and arrow from a hanging corpse). You must then hunt animals for food, nearby are some unlucky deer, it took some practice at aiming but was satisfying when the target hit home (once in the neck and once in the backside).

Once food was acquired you made your way back to base camp, a walkie-talkie reveals the next clue the whereabouts of your fellow crew members. The demo ends here with a cut scene, which then leads nicely into the trailer. The demo was just a small but satisfying taster of things to come for Tomb Raider. The demo left me wanting to play more and I’m now looking forward to this being released next year, it looks to be shaping up nicely.  The new look and game play already feel different, and better, than previous offerings from Crystal Dynamics (although I still have a major soft spot for Anniversary).

The graphics were brilliant, I really enjoyed the stormy weather for part of the demo as it really added to the realism and atmosphere of the game. The surrounding jungle area did indeed have that ‘Lost’ feel about it, more so with the crashed plane dangling precariously on a cliff side. Even though I feel this will be more survival adventure rather than archaeological expedition (I may yet be proven wrong, naturally) I’m still looking forward to this new look and feel Tomb Raider.

On a rather random end note, when I saw the corpse hanging from the tree in the clearing, it was actually less shock and awe and more “Huh, just like on Monkey Island” (Ed – You bring everything back to Monkey Island).

Tomb Raider is released on the 5th March 2013.

Game synopsis below from Crystal Dynamics:

“Tomb Raider explores the intense and gritty origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a frightened young woman to a hardened survivor. Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance, Lara must fight to unravel the dark history of a forgotten island to escape its relentless hold.”

In case you missed it, or maybe forgot where this franchise all began, check out one of my older blog posts, Tomb Raider: A Brief History. Thanks for looking.