106 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
106 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
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THE TRAIN
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THE TRAIN is one of Accolade's most original and enjoyable programs. It takes a
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decidedly offbeat mission from the pages of WWII history and presents it in a
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fast-moving, interesting assortment of arcade challenges. At the same time, it
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actually communicates a sense of excitement and danger as you take control of a
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heavily-armed locomotive and maneuver it through wartime France. Three game
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elements -- wargame plot, arcade action, and some simulator skills -- are
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interwoven to create an enjoyable and unusual piece of entertainment. The IBM-PC
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version is the basis of this review.
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In our story, the Germans have appropriated the priceless artworks of France
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and loaded them aboard a train bound for Berlin. Once there, the three cargo
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cars will be held for ransom by the Reich. You (as daredevil Pierre LeFeu) and
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your alert assistant, LeDuc, are to hijack the train and guide it to Riviere,
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where the Allied forces can smuggle the artwork to safety. This will require you
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to not only learn how to engineer the train, but to assist in its defense, to
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capture train depots and bridges through combat, and to carefully plan your
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route and allotments of time and manpower.
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Capturing the train at the very beginning of the game is slightly awkward,
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since it requires both the joystick and space bar to be used simultaneously (as
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do all the station takeover situations). With a little practice, it can be done
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-- albeit incurring greater risk -- without the keyboard. Running the train,
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however, is a little more complex, especially because the train's specs are
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never spelled out. For example, the pressure, temperature, and speed gauges are
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all uncalibrated. They carry no numerical information, only vague markings that
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serve as unknown constants. And the manual does not explain their usage. Through
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experience, you learn to keep the needles within certain boundaries, but that's
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the extent of the train simulation element. There aren't a lot of controls, but
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part of the fun of the game is juggling all of them at once, while the fighters
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are strafing you, and the occupied bridge is just 4 kilometers away, closing
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fast.
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Despite the online prompts, it's still painfully easy to overwork the boiler or
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damage the brakes. And because you can't save your game in progress, it's
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necessary to restart every game from the beginning. The fact that you can
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control the length and difficulty of the game at the outset (as you're robbing
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the train from the Metz station) removes a little of the curse from the lack of
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a save feature.
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There are several screens visible at a single keystroke: the engine cab, the
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front and gunners, and the map. The engine cab consists of all the train's
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controls: the throttle, the brakes, the furnace (to which you periodically need
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to add coal), the forward/reverse lever, the steam blow-off, and the whistle,
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which tells your Resistance friends how to switch the tracks. The front and rear
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gunner screens show a bit of neat animation as the scenery shifts perspective
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and the Messerschmidts swoop by. If the attacking fighters pass overhead of the
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front gun station, you switch to the rear and take aim as it continues its run.
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The arcade portions of the game are very simple, conceptually, but require much
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practice to excel. They consist of shooting down the fighters that strafe the
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train in motion, capturing bridges by destroying the ships that cruise the area,
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and capturing stations by shooting out the lit windows. All three tasks are
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simply aim-and-shoot, but there's enough variety in the screens to keep the
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arcade element interesting.
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The map (duplicated in the manual) allows you to plan your route.
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Straightforward color-coding shows you which bridges and stations are
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German-held, and which are safe. When you enter a friendly station (or take it
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by force), you can use the telegraph. This will allow you to intercept a German
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broadcast and get current information about the routes ahead.
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The Resistance can make repairs to the train; however, they can only do thi
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once per game. They can also "take" bridges or stations at your request, up to
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three times per game. Use of their help, along with a good amount of foresight,
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is essential to completing your mission. A request for repairs (or other help)
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must be transmitted at a captured train station after reading whatever
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information is found there. Resistance fighters will also switch lines for you
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in most cases. At times, you'll want to override their selections, accomplished
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with the whistle.
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Your score is based on many factors: the damage done to components of the
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Train, including the cargo; the damage done to the enemy (number of fighters
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shot down, enemy soldiers killed, etc.). Top scores and names are saved to disk.
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Successfully completing the mission with the cargo even partially intact is
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difficult, even at the easiest level. Finishing with an entirely intact cargo
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and train is currently beyond this reviewer's skills.
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The graphics are somewhat coarse, yet in EGA their muted colors (lots of grays,
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blacks, and reds) are highly evocative of the nighttime bleakness of the
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landscape. There are four graphics modes in the IBM Version: Hercules, CGA, EGA,
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and Tandy 16-color. I recommend either of the latter two, although the game
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suffers less than the usual amount of degradation if you have to go with
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four-color CGA. If you're using a Tandy, you'll need at least 512K to get
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16-color graphics; otherwise, you'll be forced to use CGA. The minimum memory
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required for all configurations is 384K.
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Either joystick or keyboard can be used to play, although a joystick is
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recommended. For IBM users, the game comes on a single, protected 5-1/4" floppy.
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A 3-1/2" version is available for an extra $5.00, only through Accolade.
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Accolade's policy of disk-based protection and outrageous charges for alternate
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disk formats, backups, and graphic extras is horribly outdated.
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Aside from the manual (which I felt was too skimpy on the care and feeding of a
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diesel locomotive), and the lack of a save feature, I really enjoyed THE TRAIN.
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Every time I left a waypoint, with the train slowly beginning to chug and the
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furnace flickering brightly, I felt a real thrill and a sense of impending
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danger. THE TRAIN is a unique game that combines the elements of wargames,
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simulations, and arcade games quite effectively.
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THE TRAIN is published and distributed by Accolade, Inc.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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