| ★ AMSTRAD CPC ★ GAMESLIST ★ FLASHBACK (c) VISUAL DIMENSIONS ★ |
Computing with the Amstrad | The Games Machine |
WHEN I first read the scenario for this game I was singularly unimpressed. The more I play the game though, the more I like it and the greater my respect for the authors. You play the part of Major Catastrophe and have 24 hours to raise the necessary finance to repair your home before the council bulldozers come to demolish it. In the first section of this three part graphics adventure you have to accomplish two things: Find the equipment you need to solve the game and a comfortable location so you can fall asleep. One of the twists is that you have to visit the Major's past in the other two sections - you gain access to this dreamworld by falling a sleep. I'm not going to spoil too much of your fun. but I think it only fair to point out that one of the objects you need is on an alien planet. Visiting this planet could well be the hardest problem to overcome in Part I, though obtaining something cold and something that creates a lot of heat sees you well on the way. You'll also need to consider your attire when visiting the planet and two obvious objects should help here. Having assembled your inventory, you should attempt to find the right location to use it in. You'll be elated when you do. but you should cool off before taking off or you might go out, rather than up. with a blast. The object you find when you get there is not immediately useful, but is necessary if you want to finish the game and will give you a boost when used. The second part takes you back to the Major's experiences in the First World War. You must kill an evil dictator and dispose of a secret weapon as well as collect further objects that may be of use. In the final part, you return to the Second World War and have to escape from a POW camp and find the whereabouts of a valuable Egyptian relic. You now return to the first section and, if you have done everything as you should, you are now in a position to make sure the relic reaches someone who can appreciate its value. Succeed, and you have saved your home. There are several spelling and punctuation mistakes in the game and its documentation, and the authors do not seem to have quite mastered the art of vertical scrolling - so don't adjust your set when loading. A more serious fault is that the game does not seem to have been tested before being released. In Part I it crashed on me when I typed in PRESS EXAM by mistake, and again in Part 2 when I entered OPEN DOOR. On both occasions I had to reload from scratch. Aside from these bugs. I have nothing but praise. The storyline is completely original, the puzzles well constructed, the graphics complementary and I found myself totally immersed in the atmosphere that it evoked. CWTA |
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