140 lines
6.9 KiB
Plaintext
140 lines
6.9 KiB
Plaintext
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THE COLONY
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Every once in a while, you come across a game that defies
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categorization. A friend asks you for a thumbnail sketch and you
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say, well, it's like an adventure game, but there's also some
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role-playing, and it handles like a.... You get the idea. Such is
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the case with THE COLONY (reviewed here on the Macintosh; IBM
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version notes follow).
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In THE COLONY, you are a space marshal who's been sent to
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investigate a communications blackout with the Delta 5-5 settler
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colony. Seems simple enough: It's not as though mankind has
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encountered hostile alien races or anything like that...until now.
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If you've played ARCTIC FOX or the old arcade game BATTLEZONE,
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you'll find THE COLONY's playing environment very familiar. This is
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not a typical graphic adventure in which you see only discrete,
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pre-drawn scenes. As you move, the program changes the onscreen
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graphics to give the impression of movement (similar to a flight
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simulator).
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Using either a mouse or keyboard, you navigate through a linear 3-D
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landscape in order to locate the lost colonists or at least learn
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why they haven't responded. Graphics are displayed in a linear
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fashion to allow for quick redraw; movements feature spiffy sound
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effects.
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After donning battle armor, you can shoot your way through your
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opponents. Aiming and firing can also be controlled either from the
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mouse or the keyboard.
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Aside from firing and movement, the game allows for only minimal
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interaction with your environment. You cannot enter commands like
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"examine" or "hit" as you can in other games, and there are few
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options from the menu bar. The one exception to this is when you
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step up to an object of interest: The graphics then change from
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linear 3-D to "painted" 2-D. An example of this is a desk with a
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computer on it. You move up to the desk in 3-D mode and the scene
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shifts to 2-D. By clicking on the screen of the computer, you can
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read what it says; by clicking on the drawers, you can open them and
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look inside. You still cannot use or pick up objects by entering
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commands. However, if for example you want to use a pair of scissors
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to open an envelope, simply drag the scissor-image across the
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envelope and it will open. The main purpose of these 2-D shifts is
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to give information to the player that would be unavailable in the
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limited 3-D mode.
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There are several frustrating aspects to THE COLONY. For instance,
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when you are "terminated" (and believe me, you will be) the game
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offers no cause of death. As a result, you usually have no clue as
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to why you died or what to do about it. Additionally, during the
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arcade sequences I found the flow of graphics too jerky. The action
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elements are interesting, but imperfectly presented.
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The game's copy protection consists of a decoder that permits you
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to deciph certain symbols. The decoder must be used at various
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points in the game (e.g., to open an airlock), as well as to begin a
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saved game. Frankly, consulting a decoder every time I want to play
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a saved game is a hassle I can do without.
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Novice players as well as standard adventure and arcade fans may be
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frustrated by this game, which combines elements of both genres, but
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ends up as neither. However, THE COLONY is one of the more
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revolutionary games available for the Macintosh, and if you're
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looking for a new gaming experience, I certainly do recommend it.
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THE COLONY requires a Mac 512K to run, and needs 1 megabyte of RAM
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and a hard drive for full use of the sounds file.
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IBM VERSION NOTES
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THE COLONY is an extraordinary game that demands the utmost from
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both player and computer. It requires patience and practice to learn
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the simple yet unfamiliar interface. And no matter how fast your IBM
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or compatible is, you'll probably wish it were faster. The artful
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use of spot color, the stylized graphics, and the wide variety of
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resolution options make the game look impressive, often at the
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expense of speed.
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For starters, you'll need an IBM-PC or 100% compatible. There are
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no specific references to Tandy computers in the manual or in the
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program's list of display options. Therefore, Tandy owners should
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ensure that the program is compatible with their model _before_
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purchasing, or should buy with the understanding that the program
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may be returned if it proves unusable. The minimum memory
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requirement is 640K for all machines. The label says, "Faster
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machines strongly recommended," and I underscore that advice. I
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tested THE COLONY at 26 MHz, and I still could have used more
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speed. Selecting a less-detailed display yielded much smoother,
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quicker animation, but it left me with the feeling that I was
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missing out on some of the nicer details.
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The graphic displays are as follows: AT&T/Compaq 640x400
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monochrome, CGA 320x200 4-color, EGA 640x350 gray scale, EGA 320x200
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16-color, EGA 640x350 16-color, MCGA 640x480 monochrome, MCGA
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640x350 monochrome, and Hercules 720x348 monochrome. Strange: The
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CGA mode requires more memory than the EGA modes. I had to disable
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my mouse driver in order to free up enough memory to run the game in
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CGA. Color in the different EGA modes is wonderful, but is used to
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highlight only the special features of each room. With the "polygon
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fill" feature, the vector graphics -- the skeletal style of arcade
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games like BATTLEZONE and TEMPEST -- become solid and infinitely
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more colorful and interesting.
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The major problem is that the polygon fill cripples the speed and
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fluidity of the animation. Running the game at a coarser resolution
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and with fewer colors eases the problem somewhat. But at 26 MHz,
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640x350 with 16 colors and the fill on, COLONY was marginally
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playable; thus, I cannot imagine a slower machine being able to use
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that combination at all. A resolution of 320x200 in 16 colors (with
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the fill) was more pleasing than 640x350 without fill. The graphics
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modes are not changeable from inside the game, but they can be
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forced with command line parameters when you boot the program.
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Mouse, joystick, and keyboard interfaces are all supported. The
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mouse and joystick are by far superior to the slightly odd keyboard
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arrangement. I found the mouse preferable to the joystick.
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The game is easily installable on a hard drive; indeed, a hard
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drive will make playing the game easier and quicker -- there are a
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lot of disk accesses. The laudably comprehensive IBM reference
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manual offers full installation instructions. There are numerous
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function key and other key commands, all of which are clearly
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documented in the manual and available on-screen as well.
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I highly recommend THE COLONY, with two qualifications: First, you
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should have a more powerful system -- a 286 or 386 equipped as
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described above. And second, you should enjoy lots of mapping and
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clue-gathering in a highly unusual and compelling science-fiction
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atmosphere.
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THE COLONY is published and distributed by Mindscape, Inc.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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