Over the past year 5th Dimension as had quite a few of it's titles reviewed in the Amiga press, here's just some of the comments they have made.
Hilt is a cross between Gauntlet and Dungeon Master. Four characters have to be selected from a preset 'rogues gallery' so that you can form up your adventuring party. Then it's off into the unknown to hack at monsters and collect the treasure. Although it's not as fast as Gauntlet, you have to move and control the actions of each charcter individually, it is a slick AD&D style game. Unlike Dungeon Master, the view is from overhead, so you know where everybody is at all times.
A lively and amusing entertainment well worth spending some time on.
Two player games are few and far between. It's much better to go round killing your mates virtually than in real life, and here's your chance. Contentious is a split screen scrolling maze game where you and your opponent must quickly search each other out and put paid to their activities. Otherwise, if you don't, your mate - the enemy - will get to the best weapons first, and you end up the hunted rather than the hunter. A bit gory at the end, but quite exciting.
You can even design your own levels.
This is a great little program, in that it combines power with a really easy to use interface. Essentially, it comes with a creator and a player. You create the project and then distribute it with the player. Within the interface as the ability to choose the files and select how they will be shown, whether faded in or shown using a set of special effects.
The program automatically recognises the file type, so it knows whether to play a module or show a picture. In fact, if you were just starting out, you need know little more than how to select a file with a requestor. It even supports powerpacked files to save on disk space. 5D Licenceware are showing that some quality software can be released for a price that anybody can afford.
This is a golf game that I actually found easy to use. Running on any Amiga with 1MB chip memory (A600 upwards), the full version is just £5.50 and includes four courses, tournament play, a choice of up to 64 opponents, and lots of little things like birds twittering to add to the enjoyment. Ideal for the armchair golfer.
Everyone seems to be knocking out platform shoot'em ups at the moment. This is one of the better examples and plays extremely smoothly. The gameplay is simple enough - hop around the levels, flick a few switches, zap the baddies along the way and then jump through the exit to the next level.
Strategy games are rarely my favourite's but Hilt 2 really enveloped me. It's simple enough to get to grips with, you control up to six characters who must venture through various worlds in order to destroy the enemy. To do this you must solve puzzles and cunningly use your forces to out-wit your computer opponent. Each move consists of any combination of possible actions, such as walking, using computers, firing weapons and so on. The range of possibilities within the game seems to be endless, and there's plenty of depth, especially with the prospect of extra mission disks becoming available.
This is an extremely well executed game - as the polished graphics and sound testify - and fully deserves your attention.
Hilt II is a beautifully presented and hugely absorbing strategy game. The objective of this space age role-player is to successfully complete either single missions or entire campaigns using a team of one to six characters selected from eight to suit the demands of the particular mission.
The game is turn-based and is entirely mouse controlled. During a mission the screen displays a section of the map and a number of easily identifiable icons through which the characters can perform certain actions such as picking up and dropping objects. Movement is accomplished by simply clicking on the map, providing the currently selected charcter has sufficient "Action Points" left. Firing weapons and using objects also requires the expenditure of Action Points.
Included on the disk is extensive documentation, including a walk-through tutorial, a complete game reference document, and a helpful guide to the weaponry available. The latter is written in an entertainingly atmospheric manner, frequently including details of when and where a type of weapon was first employed, and where and by who the weapon was manufactured. This adds considerably to the mood of what is already an involving role-playing adventure game. There is also a two-player mode in which each player controls upto 16 characters.
Hilt II runs perfectly well from floppy disk, it's licenceware too, which means the authors get a percentage of the sale fee so that once you have purchased the disks from an official distributor you have nothing more to pay. For just four pounds, Hilt II represents excellent value for money and comes strongly recommended.
An astonishingly high number of PD and Shareware games are essentially variants of classic arcade machines, and OutLiner is no exception. Owing a considerable debt to Asteroids (not least in graphical style), OutLiner is an enjoyable blaster for one or two players. It also has a few nice tricks up its sleeve.
There are a number of different game modes which crank up the interest level considerably. In the basic one-player mode your task is simply to fight your way through wave after wave of alien spacecraft. There's an onslaught game in which the odds are stacked hopelessly against you, which can also be played by two players. Then there are a variety of two player modes, including a particularly inventive one in which the second player decides which enemy craft should attack the first player's lone space fighter.
Although the in-game graphics understandably have a distinctly 8-bit quality about them, OutLiner is nevertheless neatly presented and the introduction and the menu screens are clear and uncluttered. In play, the controls are refreshingly responsive, although the feel of the craft is rather different to traditional Asteroid clones.
This is certainly one of the best presented games I've seen in a long time. The controls can sometimes be a little sticky, and gaining enough bounce takes a certain nack. But once you become accustomed to these little quirks it's an enjoyable romp, and will last for quite a while.
Licenceware games are often better than PD offerings and this game is certainly no exception. Following in the style of "Executioner" and "Exile", this floating platformer has an added challenge when moving, GRAVITY. The aim of the game is to collect all the crystals on each level while avoiding spikes and obstacles. It sounds like it should be easy but the game certainly isn't. However you will play it for hours (as I did) just trying desperately to get to the next level and ultimately the next world.
The animation is perfect, as are the graphics. The sound is also excellent, for example, when you finally collect the last three of the crystals you are rewarded with a little speech, which I thought was a very nice touch. There is a hard disk installer provided, so if you enjoyed the game as much as I did it can stay on your HD. There are options for saving, so you can continue where you left off, and the ability to choose your levels from all the worlds.
The controls are a bit tricky at first as you have to get used to being careful with the gravity, but this is soon mastered and once done manouevering becomes easy. £4.95 is a great price for an excellent game.
Essentially, this is a point-and-click adventure and though keyboard keys may be used during the game, they are largely of no use at all. I quite enjoyed playing it to begin with - killing huge monsters with arrows can be reasonable fun in itself and there are plenty of things lying around to hunt for, ranging from arrows, magic arrows, energy, and the all-important portal keys. *
Role playing games have been taken over by the Doom clones and therefore many of the PD role players are being stamped into history. Nevertheless, they do still keep appearing and hopefully they'll do well.
The author of ThunderDawn makes it very clear in his text document that this is not an attempt at a Doom clone. Instead it's more of a Dungeon Master game. The aim of the game is to collect some blood crytals and kill lots of really big ugly monsters. Basically, you go into `portals', run around killing enemies and then attempt to get out (without dying) by collecting a key and a crystal.
The game is played from a first-person perspective, with the keys to control movement and the mouse to control your weapons. The graphics are very good - but don't expect Alien Breed 3D II - and the sound works very well in building up the atmosphere. The game can become particularly tense when you become trapped in a corner by a huge two headed monster and you run out of arrows! There are many portals that lead into different worlds and, as a result, the game is huge. It becomes very addictive as you try to find ways to complete each level.
If you're into role playing adventure combined with a good slice of action then this is a great way to pass your time.
There have been demos of this game around for ages and finally the full version is here. The demo was PD Selection of the Month (AF88) and I'm equally impressed with the full game.
This is a role playing game in the BlackDawn series, written by the original programmer, Andy Campbell. It's ideal for all RPG freaks. The author says " ...takes the usual elements from RPG games and piles on the dark fantasy atmospherics", and the game does create an excellent atmosphere. There is no real storyline, except that you are a warrior trapped by some force and you have to collect crytals by killing loads of bloodthirsty hydras, phantoms, zombies, and other ugly big Evil Dead-style monsters.
The author admits that he created this game for fun, never intending to break any new boundaries. The movement isn't particularly fast, but this isn't essential and it is, importantly, playable. The game oozes atmosphere, from the dark and hazed graphics to the melodious moans of sound - this is fantasy adventure mixed with horror, and the monsters certainly pack a punch. If you're looking for "Eye of the Beholder" or "Doom" then forget it but if you want fun with blood, puzzles, and good graphics then play on!
Move your crab paddle across the ocean bed while keeping the ball in play, displacing the assortment of fish which lurk above you - some of which require more than one hit. Additionally, there is a bubble which floats around, randomly deflecting the ball, which I thought was a nice touch - however annoying the function is.
There are fifty levels in total, each with a different series of fish to batter (sorry), which should keep fans of these games happy for quite some time. Especially since you only have nine lives with seemingly no option to gather any more. Pressing the right mouse button during play will select various bonuses such as a megaball and magnetic force. ****
This is a reference work for Workbench 2 and 3 beginners. It covers quite a few useful topics like AmigaDOS, CD-Rom, Memory, Hard drive, Monitor, Amiga Models, Internet, Workbench etc. No one subject is dealt with in particular depth because of the variety covered, in other words you won't become a master of AmigaDos by reading this disk, however it will give you a good grounding on the basics. Most of the text is well written and researched and there is the odd picture and diagram to illustrate important points. There is also a rather good A-Z of terms.
Amiga Assist! is very easy to use and will help total beginners no-end. Good value for money.
This is a beginners disk designed to show less experienced users the ins and outs of the Amiga. As the author acknowledges, the documentation from Amiga Technologies is not easy to follow and this disk is designed to rectify this.
The program uses a simple, well presented point-and-click interface. There are 15 topics available, ranging from descriptions of the Amiga range and speeds of computers to DOS commands and upgrading. Pictures accompany the documents and you also have the option to print them out.
The documents are obviously written by an enthusiast and cover every aspect of the computer, allowing you to understand CD-ROMs, printers, memory upgrades, and many other topics.
If you're relatively new to the Amiga and the terms bandied around by experienced users leave you baffled, invest £3.95 in this disk. It's an introduction to the more confusing aspects of everyone's favourite machine and covers everthing from the various models in the Amiga range and the upgrades available for them, through to instructions on using Workbench and creating script files. It runs on any Amiga with 2MB of RAM.
From the main menu it's simply a case of clicking on the subject you'd like to know more about and reading an informative, well-written text file - the advice can be printed out. Some subjects are accompanied by clear diagrams and illustrations. In fact, the whole guide is well presented and easy to digest. Even relatively experienced users may learn something here, the author gets to grips with a lot of interesting topics. Whether you want to know about the best upgrade path to follow or need advice on how to get connected to the Internet, you'll find good advice here. There's also a really comprehensive A-Z jargon buster with helpful definitions of all sorts of terms.
This latest version of Amiga Assist! has been updated to incorporate recent developments in the Amiga market, so you'll find newer hardware such as the Surf Squirrel and software like Active's Netconnect discussed too. This is an indispensable disk for the newcomer and is thoroughly recommended.
After the British summer of sport, it's nice to see another attempt a producing a playable "Football Manager" clone costing a fraction of the price of commercial offerings. Enjoy reliving the days of buying and selling fictitious players in a desperate attempt to climb up the league. Marvel at the sight of appallingly animated characters scoring simple goals during tense match sequences - penalties! free kicks! silky-smooth passing moves! It's like owning a Spectrum all over again.
The bottom line is that while it's certainly not a realistic rival to Championship Manager, British Manager is a hugely entertaining return trip to 8-bit gaming brilliance. Those were the days, when you could pick up a decent game for about three quid (£3.95) - which incidentally is all this gloriously old-fasioned game costs.
