The holiday of DOOM
BY NATHANIEL TUNBRIDGE
While you may have thought spent most of Christmas in Hell. Not just any hell, either. This was the most that the most important event eagerly awaited hell in his- tory. From id software, Iwhich gave us Wolfenstein 3-D, in computing was Windows comes the most important event in computers since their incep- tion, the unparalleled gaming (or maybe OS/2), Nat experience that is . . . DOOM. The plot is simple and hideous. Something evil has emerged Tunbridge sets the score from the Gateway that had been created as part of research into interdimensional travel by the straight with his review Union Aerospace Corporation on Mars. As the only living security guard shoot me with a rifle, but who ended up for 50,000,000 miles, it's up to you to inves- being thrown backwards while being of DOOM. tigate. gouged by my machine pistol bullets. This DOOM's game screen is much the same was a Former Human. By the end of the as Wolfenstein's in that there's a view of game I had come across Sergeants, Imps, your surroundings with an information bar Demons, Spectres, Lost Souls, along the bottom (although in DOOM you Cacodemons, and Barons of Hell. There's can expand your view to full-screen). Move- also the boss monsters: the near-invincible ment is smoother and faster than ever, at 35 Cyberdemon Lord and the truly hideous frames per second (faster than most car- Spideremon. To combat these mutants you toons) but gameplay has been deepened have seven different weapons, including with the addition of switches and levers. The rocket launchers, plasma rifles and a graphics have as much similarity to Wol- chainsaw! There are also special items to fenstein as the special effects in Jurassic Park help you, such as radiation suits, different do to Blake's Seven. The walls, ceilings and types of armour, computer maps, and ar- floors are all fully texture mapped, giving tefacts such as soul spheres and blur orbs. unparalleled detail, but it's id's incredible The range of environments is stunning. achievements in the area of light-sourcing Rooms can be of any size or shape and that, when combined with the awesome walls can be of any thickness. The walls dynamic directional 3D sound, make could be made of metal plates leaking rust, DOOM the most realistic virtual reality game plain grey slates streaked with grime, ever. The further away an object is, the wooden boards banded by iron, bizarre darker it becomes (and the less sound it hieroglyphic panels, pink pulsing flesh, makes). Corridors recede into darkness, and sandstone blocks covered with ivy or racks if there's no light sources around, there's no of computer terminals. Ceilings may sud- light! The readouts from your weapon pro- denly plunge down to just above your vide a very faint illumination if you're close head, rise to a cavernous vault, or disap- to an object, and when you fire any of the incendiary weapons, the spark provides a little light, but there's still an awful lot of The Holiday of Doom pitch black rooms to cross, with monsters Distributor: Manoccom lurking around every comer! Phone: (07) 368 2366 And what monsters! The first to die was Price: $69.95 a bloodied, rotting zombie who tried to
APC MARCH 1994 PAGE 229 pear entirely to reveal the sky and Vis- ceiling turrets and electric barriers, but it's here, Android. With left, right and central tapro-style mountains in the distance. really just Wolfenstein in space. ramps, bumpers, skill shot and side vents, There are stairs, lifts, slime pools and There are even some areas which use all the usual elements of a pinball game are lightwells, corrugated iron barrels filled the same graphics files as Wolfenstein here. What makes this one impressive are with explosive waste, and a variety of dis- (remember the grey stone walls flecked the polished graphics that give a fairly membered and eviscerated humans. My with blood?). Sound is dynamic and direc- deep 3D feeling, and the sound, which is favourites include the conveyor belt of tor- tional but kept dropping out. There are a constant litany of clunking, squeaking tured souls in the Unholy Cathedral, and white-coated bio-technicians, a wide and beeping. Other tables include the 50s- the sea of fire in Mount Erebus. The climax range of slavering mutants, and weapons style Magic, the Formula One theme of occurs in a vast marble arena open to the ranging from a pistol to a plasma discharge blood-red sky of hell itself. unit to shoot them with, but it's all so passe. DOOM is so far ahead of everything Buy the indescribably superior DOOM in- else, it's difficult to fully comprehend, let stead for the same price. alone describe. It' a quantum leap, a new Nat Tunbridge standard. The multi-player option allows four players to play and interact within the same network game, making DOOM by far Duke Nukem II the best truly interactive virtual-reality game I've played. A few words of warning, Distributor: Manaccom though. There are impaled and crucified Phone: (07) 368 2366 humans depicted in this game. Detailed Price: $49.95 full-body explosions occur. It contains fre- Much along the lines of the first, this game quent high-level graphic violence, and I begins with a long introductory sequence Crash and Burn and the stunning, futuris- wouldn't give it to any child under the age where Duke is captured by the evil Rigel- tic Enigma, where a constantly morphing of 12 who you wanted to remain sane. For latin and imprisoned on their ship. Breaking background accentuates the fact that older players, however, this is the best out with the use of his explodo-molar, Duke bumpers only appear when a ball hits game ever made. DOOM simply must be must find a way back to dear old Earth! them, and the rest of the time there's just experienced again and again. There's plenty of demanding platform- your flippers over the void. style gameplay to be had. Duke can upgrade Within the obvious limitations that a PC his pistol to a laser, a flamethrower or a presents, this is a great effort at simulating Blake Stone and rocket launcher. There's a huge range of pinball, although it's perhaps a little pricey. `Duke merchandise' items to be picked up For pinball addicts, recommended. the Aliens of Gold in order to increase points, such as Nat Tunbridge Distributor: Manaccom televisions, mobile phones and so forth, as Phone: (07) 368 2366 well as the usual powerups (including Price: $69.95 cooked or uncooked turkey), plus special Brix This offering comes from Apogee, which items such as fans that elevate Duke and was originally involved to some extent with bars for him to dangle from. There's an Distributor: Manaccom Wolfenstein 3D. This is an attempt at follow- earthquake level with collapsing temples Phone: (07) 368 2366 ing up that game without the benefit of the infested by androids and cybersnakes, and Price: $49.95 id games team. Even without taking the further levels have a slaughterhouse, green- This is a remake of a very old arcade game, (awesome, hulking) presence of DOOM house and computer theme. and may strike younger users as being a into account, it's a rather disappointing ef- Duke fans will probably enjoy this, but variant of the current arcade game which fort. British agent Blake has to work through I couldn't see anything here that hasn't requires players to spin different shaped six levels to kill the evil Dr Goldfire. been done 20 times better by our very own falling blocks in order for them to fit in with From the first second it's clear that Australian-made Halloween Harry, espe- those below. Don't be fooled kids, this Apogee has re-used the Wolfenstein game cially the sound and graphics. I'd like to game is not only boring, it's unoriginal too! engine without making any great effort to suggest in the strongest possible terms that The bricks of the title are square blocks extend it. The game screen contains upper you check out the far superior Harry with different coloured shapes on them. and lower information bars which make the before buying this import, which is They can be moved sideways, and will fall view of your surroundings smaller than Hmmm. to the ground, sucked by the remorseless ever, but then, there's not really much to see. Nat Tunbridge spell of gravity, if unsupported. When two A limited amount of detail has been added or more shapes of the same type are to the ceilings and floors, there's armoured manoeuvred next to each other, they dis- Epic Pinball appear. The aim of the game is to eradicate all of the blocks that appear on each Distributor: Manaccom screen. Obviously various obstacles ap- Phone: (07) 368 2366 pear to make this difficult to do; moving Price: $79.95 blocks, different-shaped fields of play, odd The problem with most PC pinball games numbered amounts of (yawn) blocks, acid is that they fail to transfer the excitement pools, lasers, strange (snore) blocks. of the pinball arcade onto a computer. This A game this simple needs some stun- is one of the more successful attempts, ning graphics and sound to keep the inter- thanks to some great graphics and sound. est up. Brix has neither of these. However, Using the shift keys as flippers and it does have a 'leave game' option, which holding down the space bar to fire the ball, I immediately took advantage of. Avoid. I attempted the first of the tables included Nat Tunbridge
APC MARCH 1994 PAGE 231 RA's graphics are strong. Flight se- the Death Star plans in R2D2. Like the Rebel Assault quences are introduced with near video- three Star Wars movies, RA has a John Distributor: Metro Games quality scenes. Darth does his thing, and Williams soundtrack. Phone: (03) 329 2999, (03) 328 2968 (BBS) we see a replay of Princess Leah secreting RA is not a full flight simulator. The . Price: $99.95 combat flight paths are preprogrammed, It's the arcade game we had to have. Lucas and you make small deviations from Arts has put Star Wars action onto a CD- course to avoid obstacles or blast the ROM. You start your tour of duty as a enemy. These limits let the designers keep rookie pilot (either sex). After training runs the graphic quality high, but may disap- you move onto the real thing — fighting point flight sim fans. Darth Vader's ruthless henchpersons. The Lucas Arts has received many questions game is structured in 'chapters' where you and brickbats on CompuServe from need to complete one level to move onto people who've had technical problems the next. The game gives passwords at key with RA. Pro Audio Spectrum sound cards stages. If you are stuck (and it's easy to be), and joystick sensitivity were the main words like falcon, yuzzem and anoat problem areas. Lucas Arts' fix files should come in handy. help. (The more recent one is available on
PAGE 232 APC MARCH 1994 111111STEIMMITalll
For the 100th issue of APC, we asked a number of self-confessed games junkies to report on their all-time favourite computer games.
A Mind Forever Voyaging is for the beginner. This one is a must for Overall, this program is a winner, be- the competent player only. cause it is easy to get into, is excellent The poet William Wordsworth must have G Hampson educational value and overall, very been greatly moved as he gazed upon entertaining. the statue of Sir Isaac Newton, the world's J Paske greatest mathematician and physicist. Carmen Sandiego Before the day had faded, he wrote of the Education has always been an important statue, `the marble index of a mind forever reason for purchasing an Apple com- Arctic Fox voyaging through strange seas of thought puter. However, if one didn't have the In choosing a game which deserves alone ...' appropriate software, all was wasted. recognition as a real breakthrough in Newton could hardly visualise the fu- 'Where In The World Is Carmen computer entertainment, the criterion in ture, but he certainly helped shape it. Sandiego' was one of the best educa- my book is `will I still be playing it in a Only a mind so free of prejudgment and tional games ever to be released. For an year from now?'. day-to-day assumptions could ponder educational program to be successful, it One of the first truly great arcade such thoughts as to why an object must be entertaining as well as informa- games to be written for the Amiga was should fall to the ground rather than rise tive. Carmen Sandiego is both. Arctic Fox by Electronic Arts. I played it to the sky. In A Mind Forever Voyaging, The overall plot is to capture a per- regularly for well over six-months — and such qualities (on a much lower level, of petrator of some terrible crime (such as it is still one of my favourites after more course) are needed. It is the qualities of stealing the Crown Jewels). With a user than two years. As commander of the interface that is simplicity itself, one jour- world's most advanced tank, you have at neys from city to city seeking clues to your disposal canon shells, mines and the criminal's identity. For example, on guided missiles to help in the fight baar a message coming in ch fficial wessage line: 'MIDI, Perelnen here, The psych tests have all ecked out at 188:0, which means that atone remai teenn: the, ah, atialterting without any trauma or other serious effects. arriving in Sydney, an airline official against an alien invasion force which we'll be reaCy to begin the simmlation soon. By the Vac, year piece Is in the gavot issue of Dakota Online.' might say that he saw a man with red has put a force field around the Arctic I - a science fl tion story hair asking which way the museum was. appight infocon, /no. Allorairs Jeserved. regions. Enemy tanks, aircraft and float- aginglig5Z g5116.'"' f° ". Following him to the museum might ing mines are just a few of the hazards You tare CAIMAintions Mode. IAe fettaaigq.I outlets: provide another clue. When you think encountered as you make your way t Control Tenter (PFCC Rooftop iftC110/ you have enough clues, a visit to the relman'sterOffice (PDF/ deep into enemy lines to destroy their Facility Cafeteria CPCAT) MOM crime computer is arranged. If identifica- fortress. tion is successful, a warrant for the ar- The joy of Arctic Fox is not just in rest of the culprit is issued. This enables destroying the enemy, but also in an arrest to be made once the bandit mastering the awesome potential of the has been cornered. If, upon visiting a machine at your command and recognis- the unknown and the untested which particular city, the bandit is not ap- ing its limitations. Planning and strategy makes it such a bold, outstanding game. prehended nor any clues given to his are called for throughout the game, As Perry Sim, you must venture into whereabouts, one then has to back-track ranging from a choice of best typo- the future with the lingering memory of a to a previous location and try to pick up graphical positioning to simple hide-and- frightening disclosure: you have just dis- a stale lead. The only problem with this seek. Use of the tank's radar is absolute- covered you are a computer. The life you is that a time limit in which the crime have led — or thought you had led — as must be solved is always set. husband, father and writer, has been a The program was so successful for miracle of artificial intelligence. You have Broderbund that it released another two now been programmed with the latest scenarios: 'Where In The USA Is Car- government plan for the future well- men Sandiego' and 'Where In Europe Is being of your country. Carmen Sandiego'. The USA program A Mind Forever Voyaging is as broad as has questions that are more appropriate it is sweeping. The game is not so much to students of that country, and although involved in the solving of puzzles as in the I have not seen the European version making of decisions and reporting back that may well be the same. It would be events as you interpret them. It is a com- great if they would release an Aussie plex game and it would be unfair to say it version!
APC 100th Issue Page 425 AFTER DARK
ly vital to survival, and the decision you charms and reassemble the bracelet. make on spotting enemy targets will Only then will its full power return. eventually be an indication of your worth Exquisite puzzles await you in the long, as a planner. There is no greater feeling tiring journey above and below land and in the game than that of knowing you sea. Each charm itself is a magic key that have hoodwinked the enemy, with will propel you further and further into the enough ammunition on hand to finish the game and towards the ultimate goal. job. This game is for those with steady 1988 was the year that consolidated nerves only. the growing reputation of Magnetic G Hampson Scrolls as thousands of computer gamesters around the world flocked to buy their products. Microsoft Flight Simulator As a relatively unknown software As Lotus 1-2-3 is (or was) the definitive can even set a head-wind that is faster house in Britain, Magnetic Scrolls spreadsheet for IBM PCs, so Microsoft than the stall speed of the aircraft, and began to produce adventure games Flight Simulator is (and still is) the defini- hover over the runway in much the same that, in quality and imagination, would tive game. way seagulls do over beaches. The challenge the mighty edifice of Infocom. The flight simulator first appeared latest version also incorporates a tracker Indeed, the name Magnetic Scrolls has when the IBM PC was initially ascending plane which provides a panoramic view- become synonymous with excitement, to its position of dominance enjoyed point on the aircraft's activity — perhaps challenge and puzzles. The Pawn and today. At the time, compatibility was one of the few graphical vistas which The Guild of Thieves were the stepping quite an issue, and the waters a great has inspired the breathless comment of stones which brought this young deal more muddied than they have been `what a view' from otherwise jaded English David face-to-face witn the for years. MFS was not only the leading magazine editors. American Goliath. gameware available for the PC, but also Its most impressive feature is the ability Although Magnetic Scrolls has the accepted test of compatibility — a to link two PCs together by cable or released yet another game entitled Cor- great excuse for spending hours over a modem so two players can fly in tandem. ruption, it was surely Jinxter which sweaty keyboard! This works surprisingly well, even at proved once and for all that here is a The challenge of MFS is its sophis- 300bps. Orientation is often a little tricky, company to be reckoned with. innova- tication. Jet, another game from Bruce and sometimes the two machines get tion, beautiful graphics and a superb Artwick, the genius who originally out of step, but the facility is still stun- story-line makes Jinxter one of the best penned MFS, never had the same at- ning. all-round games of the year. traction because the FA-18 is a 'fly-by- The original MFS set a standard in Superlatives are wasted here — let me wire' computer-assisted aircraft, and so gameware. The latest version of MFS say simply that Jinxter is funny any accurate simulation of the craft lar- redefines that standard and pushes it (hilariously so in parts), clever and ex- gely removed the challenge of master- considerably beyond the reach of many tremely satisfying in its game-play. ing flight in the primeval sense of the other leading game products. Totally ac- G Hampson word. In short, it is very hard to stall a curate simulations, cerebral challenges plane whose thrust is greater than its rather than shoot-em-up response times, Leather Goddesses of weight. and interplayerability establishes the The original flight simulator, on the benchmark for the next generation. I can Phobos other hand, encompassed the thrill of only look forward to MFS version 4 'Tiffany is about your age and has a flying a single engine aircraft — backed which, I do not doubt, will include LAN body worthy of envy: tall and well-built, up by a degree of avionics, but still with support for squadrons and redefine with wide shoulders, a generous bosom, sufficient sense of adventure to keep it 'workgroups' into 'playgroups'. slim waist and long, tawny legs. The only exciting. I Davies minus seems to be slightly oversized Perhaps the most impressive aspect of feet, but even oversized feet are a plus if the original flight simulator was its de- you're into toe sucking . gree of detail. Truly stunning. Aircraft be- Jinxter With the knowledge that it is mostly havior was mimicked down to a tee, with The best plots are invariably simple: a males who play adventure games — full environmental control — even down magic bracelet has been stripped of its and given that males are the way they to the navigation lights burning out peri- charms, thereby rendering useless its are — more and more software houses odically if left on unnecessarily. Ex- power to protect the community. It is are producing adventures with a distinct- perienced pilots often commented that you, the player, who must find the ly erotic flavour. the MFS simulation was completely ac- Eroticism is a difficult subject at any curate, with its only shortfall being time: it is so easy to succumb to tempta- limited vision and the absence of any G- tion and reduce it to mere smut. In force on the 'seat-of-the-pants'. Leather Goddesses of Phobos, Infocom But flight simulator was not left there. has put itself well above the navel, as it MFS version 2 incorporated the idea of were, to produce a top-class adventure interchangeable scenery disks, better written with humour and savoir-faire. colour on enhanced graphics screens, True, you manage to have your wicked and a few other minor features. way with a couple of the characters Version 3 however, released in 1988, (complete with moans and groans), but
includes more aircraft modes including a rf111111111Mt 4'4 this soon takes second place as you Pradttaar kor.rty, letreding an yum swi. ?gar conatt.torl 1 northir4; `Gates' learjet, multiple view windows throqb i ref podded ifirvr '411*od thP -r,herloa 1141., atc*ttarlet), 'OA begin to realise the quality of the game. and more environmental control. You tallgay lta ,nuttott. Described as a racy, space-age spoof,
Page 426 APC 100th Issue Am= I I :111 MI :1 'kW I
Leather Goddesses can be tame, sug- level, you can enter the cheat mode, gestive or lewd, depending on which Lode Runner giving yourself unlimited men to practise mode of play is selected. Naturally, Back in 1983, a game most Apple with. If you complete the 150 levels, there everybody plays in lewd mode. Much of owners were playing was Lode Runner. are two alternatives: firstly, purchase the the fun is derived from the po-faced The power hungry leaders of the Bungel- scenario Championship Lode Runner (a seriousness of the characters in even ing Empire have pillaged a fortune in much hard& game); or secondly, make the most comical situations. Tiffany may gold from the people by means of exces- your own levels using the game editor. sive fast food taxes. Your mission is to Lode Runner is a good package, for