110 lines
7.1 KiB
Plaintext
110 lines
7.1 KiB
Plaintext
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SHADOW OF THE BEAST
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SHADOW OF THE BEAST, Psygnosis' latest (and I think greatest) release, goes
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well beyond any other game available in terms of graphics and sound design. With
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an animation rate of 50 frames per second, 13 levels of parallax scrolling, 128
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colors displayed simultaneously, 850K of music data, 2.2 megabytes of graphics
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data, 350 different screens, and 132 entirely distinct monsters, this game
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manages to set high standards on all fronts that will be difficult to exceed for
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a long time to come. The fact that gameplay itself is also rich, deep, and
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exciting seems all the more astonishing, given the quality of the audio-visual
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aspects. SHADOW OF THE BEAST is proof that good gameplay and state-of-the-art
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sound and graphics are by no means mutually exclusive in the design of a
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computer game. (This review is based on the Amiga version.)
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In this program, you're in the classic arcade game situation: You must fight
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your way through several regions to reach your ultimate enemy. In the process,
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you have to overcome both local and end-of-region monsters with a variety of
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techniques. You find keys, weapons, and potions, all of which are collected and
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used in the usual fashion. Keys open up certain areas, certain weapons are
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necessary to defeat certain creatures, potions increase strength or revive your
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energy. There are also various puzzles involving transporters, levers, treasure
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chests, wrenches, etc., that affect what happens in a particular area. You can
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jump, crouch down, move right or left, climb up and down ladders, punch, kick or
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use your available weapon. There are pits and ledges to be avoided, as well as
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ladders to be climbed.
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SHADOW OF THE BEAST is distinct from most arcade games, though, in that
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gameplay isn't really reflex-oriented. Your success in each area has much more
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to do with your astute observation of what-happens-when than with the speed or
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precision of your joystick actions. There are no time limits to pressure you,
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and no restrictions on direction of movement. At any point, you can go all the
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way back through an area you've reached the end of; in fact you _must_ do so in
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some areas in order to get out. You can take as much time as you need to move
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carefully through a challenging section, and can flee (in certain circumstances)
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if a section you've entered seems too difficult. Your heart rate is displayed
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(along with your strength) in the upper left hand corner of the screen at all
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times; if that rate gets too high, your heart bursts and you die.
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The game is advertised as an arcade/adventure, but unlike some others (in which
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the arcade elements are crude intrusions upon an adventure game, or vice versa),
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SHADOW OF THE BEAST really does manage to balance the joys of both genres
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nicely. You'll spend equal amounts of time thoughtfully solving intriguing
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puzzles and gauging how far to step to avoid being hit by, say, a bouncing
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eyeball. As in SWORD OF SODAN, you'll have to discover where your opponents'
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weak points lie while you try to get past them. And you must determine which
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particular weapons are useful on which particular creatures. As should be
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apparent, this is not one of those arcade games in which you simply increase
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your capacities in linear fashion. SHADOW OF THE BEAST's many facets all
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contribute to the richness, variety, and replayability of the game.
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Arcade fans will rejoice as much as adventure fans: Like most Psygnosis
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releases, this is one hard game! While reflexes aren't really on trial here,
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timing certainly is. You have to be very precise in determining exactly when and
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just how far to propel your onscreen character in a particular direction. Very
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frequently, going too far will have an adverse affect on your ability to deal
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successfully with enemy onslaughts; in other words, you have to learn to wait
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sometimes for them to come to you, rather than rushing into their waiting arms.
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But in the end, the quality of the graphics and sound is what distinguishes
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SHADOW OF THE BEAST as a truly exceptional game. Everything moves so quickly and
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fluidly that the creatures onscreen seem almost alive. The parallax scrolling
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gives each scene a real three-dimensional feel (especially above ground). Both
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the background drawings and the huge, animated sprites are colored beautifully
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and subtly, completely free of any "jaggies" or flatness. The pictures' depth
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and dimensionality make them seem more like scenes from a alien space movie than
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an animated cartoon. And the music (by the same person who did the wonderful
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soundtrack for FRIGHT NIGHT) is rich and orchestral; the programmers have
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learned how to use the Amiga's built-in sound capabilities to full advantage.
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Each of the incredible variety of compositions sounds less like electronic music
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than the digitized, electronic simulation of wood instruments. (The lead voice
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in many tunes, for instance, sounds just like Gheorghe Zamfir on his pan flute).
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There are only a few potential negatives. When you die, you're obliged to
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experience the "death scene" and related music for 30 seconds before you can
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begin again (I consider this a built-in inducement for players to rest their
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eyes). You cannot save where you are, so if you're obliterated, you have to
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start over from the beginning (which, in this game, is more of a pleasure than a
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chore). And, finally, the two game disks are copy-protected, not to mention full
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of highly compressed data, rendering them more susceptible to damage, despite
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the ability to leave them write-protected during use. Perhaps the piracy problem
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is so severe in the UK (where this product originates) that no other solution
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was deemed acceptable. We can only hope that some day, after initial sales, an
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unprotected version will be released. The good news is that there are no time
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limits to the warranty; Psygnosis will replace damaged disks at any time, no
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matter how long you've owned the game. Just return the original diskettes for
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exchange (no other proof of purchase is necessary).
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SHADOW OF THE BEAST comes with a black T-shirt (size large, unisex) displaying
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the fabulous Roger Dean graphic on the front. The documentation consists of a
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nice little six-page story to help set the mood, a guarantee that the program
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and disk are virus-free, background information about the designers, and clear
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instructions for loading and play. The program requires a joystick, only 512K
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RAM, and runs on Amiga 1000s, 500s and 2000s. Only the internal floppy drive can
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load the double-disk game; extra floppy and hard drives are not utilized. Game
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saves are not allowed. No manual look-up procedures are necessary, and there is
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no disk-swapping during actual play. Screens and sound load quickly and
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smoothly.
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I rate SHADOW OF THE BEAST right up there with SIMCITY and POPULOUS as one of
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the few choice games that exceed the conventions, technology, and standards of
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most other gaming products. We can only hope that it indeed foreshadows great
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things to come from Psygnosis who, with this release, establishes itself once
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again as the leader of the pack.
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SHADOW OF THE BEAST is published and distributed by Psygnosis.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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