| ★ AMSTRAD CPC ★ GAMESLIST ★ HIGHWAY ENCOUNTER (c) VORTEX SOFTWARE ★ |
| A100% | AMTIX | Hebdogiciel | CAHIERS DE L'AMSTRAD MAGAZINE n°6 |
Vortex have released two other games prior to Highway Encou nter; Android One and Android 2. All three games are by the same author. However for Highway Encounter Costa Panyi has used a very different technique that produces distinctive 3D graphics. Tne game's plot is deceptively simple. A large collection of unpleasant aliens have invaded Earth. If their invasion plans are going to be successful they must secure a 'beach head'as a base for further expansion. The mother ship is the weak link, if that can be destroyed then their plans can be thwarted. Earth has but one device which can guarantee the destruction of the alien stronghold — the Lasertron. Before the Lasertron can be detonated it must be installed within the enemy camp where the enemy ship is positioned, at the end of a long, long road — zone zero. At the start of the game your contingent, the Lasertron and five droids, are some 30 zones down the road. Your team forms up so that the main controllable droid takes the lead, followed by the Lasertron and the four remaining docile droids. The Lasertron has been programmed to move down the centre of the road, which it will keep on doing, followed by the spare droids until its progress is checked by an obstruction. While the Lasertron is indestructible, the spare droids are not; if enemy troops get behind the main droid they could carve up your reserve forces while you are otherwise engaged — as such, the spare droids are your spare lives.
To get your entourage across the thirty zones you must clear a path through the obstructions and enemy defences. The droid behaves rather like the doohickey in Ultimata's Alien 8 in as much that when you instruct it to move forward it does so in the direction that it is facing, so before moving off you must rotate the droid asteroids style until it faces the required direction of movement. However, when under pressure from the enemy it is all too easy to panic and watch helpless as your droid moves at great speed in ever decreasing circles. The obstructions, in the form of barrels and boxes, are a nuisance as they block the Lasertron' s path, but they can be put to good use to get around the enemies defences. The enemy have three basic means of attacking your droid. The first, the stationary mines, can only be avoided. The mobile mines move from side to side across the width of the road. While you can dodge these, the chances of getting the rest of your party through them are very remote. The best plan is to obstruct the mines by manœuvring some of the barrels or boxes in such a way as to block their preset paths, effectively boxing them in or trapping them between a block and the side of the road. By far the quickest way of moving any of the objects is to shoot at them, but beware, some of the boxes can't cope with being blasted — they evaporate. As you approach zone zero you find that the mines become harder to deal with, not just because there are more of them but because the patterns of their movement become much more complicated. They can, for example, criss-cross the width of the road so you can easily collide with one while you are trying to block another. To make the task even more trying, enemy soldier droids constantly harass you. These vary in design and in their general outlook on life. Some are quite happy just to meander about, if they chance upon you and blow you to bits then so much the better. Others, seemingly fairly harmless, have a nasty habbit of wandering past and then creeping up on you from behind. The only effective way to deal with enemy droids is to shoot them all. but while your droid's laser is devastating it can only fire in bursts of three bolts ancf then takes time to re-charge. Unless you are very careful you are going to land yourself in the awkwara situation of being surrounded by nasty aliens, bent on doing you in, while the laser charges up again. There is a time limit too, you must reach the enemy base before a bar chart under the main display vanishes. Above the time display is a power bar indicating the status of the laser s charge. Alongside the two bars your score and high scoies are shown. The score depends not only on how far you have penetrateo down the road but also how many of your party you managed to take with you. Getting lost should be the least of your problems but if you want to know in which zone you are, then the panel on the bottom left tells you. When you reach zone zero it's all over — or is it? Control keys: O,P Left/Right; 1/Q accelerate/decelerate; Spc to fire. CRITICISM 1. Highway Encounter has been one of the best received games this year. The graphics are sharp, detailed and above all remarkably smooth. The task set is not too daunting, at least not to begin with. Each progressive zone is harder to crack than the last. The aliens become more numérous and just a bit nastier, the movements of the mobile mines become increasingly more complicated I tried the tactic of leaving my crew behind in the hope that when I had cleared a path I could go back for them — I never made it. The game is utterly compelling. I most heartily recommend it. 2. In my mind this was one of the Spectrum games of > this year, the same has to be truefor the Amstrad. The only problem with Highway Encoun ter is the lack of sound and perhaps just a little glitch with the speed, when more than four or five characters appear on the screen the game slows markedly. I really like it, however, it's very playable and graphically superb. 3. This is simply one of the 'best games l've played on the Amstrad brillant graphics,addictive and objective gameplay make this a real winner. The compulsion to keep going back for 'just another go' rs exceptionally high with its challenging qualities. It's a shame the graphics don't scroll, but I suppose that would be asking too much but as it is with the flick screen it is still very good The sound could have been improved upon no end, as it stands there's just a 'poop' and a couple of rustles and nothing else. I'm not too sure how much lasting interest the game has, it's essentially a pattern game (once learned easily done again) but it certainly is addictive. Presentation 83% : Everything helps to make this an easy game to get into, not so simple to get out. Graphics 93% : Some of the best 3D graphics to grace Straddles's glazed face. Sound 61% : No tunes but spot FX well used. Payability 91%: Once the asteroid style control is mastered the action becomes fun. Addictive qualities 90% : 30 screens of road should keep you going for quite a while — and it's the sort of game that makes you want to get better at it. AMTIX n°1 |
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