adam payne @ZEUS_GB
Reviews
Shadowgrounds (Windows)
Alien Breed lives again and gets an update as well!
The Good
This is a great budget release that really shows off what smaller developers can do.
The graphics aren't the best in the world but for a game like this there awesome. The developers have made great use of lighting that adds really good atmosphere to the game and makes it really creepy in places. Another good use of the lighting system is the torch, some of the aliens are scared of the light and will run away but others are attracted to light.
The sounds make this game creepy as well. It's not uncommon to be walking down the corridor and heard the aliens before you see them. You'll hear their sounds, you'll be checking all round you, you'll be checking the radar but all you'll see are blobs everywhere. Hehehe!
The background music is really good as well. It adds atmosphere to the levels and bounding music when in a battle.
The weapons in the game are the best i've seen in this type of shooter. They are well thought out and imaginative not just thrown in as an after thought like in many games nowadays.
For your shooting pleasure there's a pistol, pulse rifle, shotgun, rocket launcher (what game would be complete without one?), lasergun, grenade launcher, railgun :D, electric gun, flame thrower, minigun :D.
Another great thing about the weapons is the ability to upgrade them. Upgrade points are dropped by aliens after you kill them so that means the more aliens you kill the better weapons you get!
The Bad
There's not a lot to dislike or moan about with this game.
There were a few crashing bugs in it but these have since been fixed with the help of the community and a patches as been released.
The only other thing I can think of would be that the game can eat lower PC systems alive.
The Bottom Line
Shadowgrounds is a 360 top down shooter like you used to get in the late 80s and earlier 90s. The game that springs to mind straight away is the legendary Alien Breed.
The game starts on the planet Ganymede (one of Jupiters moons). Your a mechanic and your fixing a car when all the lights go out. The power is down and you have to fix it. You meet up with a few friends to fix the generators and then all hell breaks loose. ALIENS are everywhere! You have to fight through hordes of aliens to complete your mission and save the colony.
Every so often a little developer that no one has heard of releases an absolute gem of a game that shows the big boys that gameplay rules and this is one such game! BUY IT!
Here's looking forward to Frozenbyte's next release!!!!!!!
By adam payne on October 21, 2006
Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge (Atari ST)
A classic Atari ST racer
The Good
The graphics were average for the game although the graphics tricks used does give you a feeling of speed.
The music is probably the best thing about the game, there are some really good tunes from Ben Daglish that are worth the load time just to listen to them.
The Bad
The AI of the cars was very annoying, they would cut you up while going round corners making you crash into them and lose speed.
Another thing about the AI would be that they seemed to slowly zig zag down the road.
The only other annoying thing was when you hit any of the obstacles the car would steer into the next obstacle.
The Bottom Line
The gameplay is really quite straight forward. Fight your way up to first place and stay there for a few laps. The higher the finishing place, the higher the number of points scored and the higher up the league table you'll be.
The developer also included a fuel gauge so on certain tracks you've have to refuel your car. If you don't refuel your car and you run out of fuel then you'll finish last and of course that means no points.
It's a fairly decent racer with good music and average graphics. It has some annoying problems but if you can try an over look them then you'll find a game worth playing.
This game is a classic that everyone should have in their Atari collection.
By adam payne on October 3, 2006