Ace of Aces By Accolade
Why what on earth is going on at Accolade??? Are they
ignoring Electronic
Arts which now owns them and making software for Atari's behind their
back.
Looks like some really smart, sharp, courageous bunch of people are
showing
their stuff, their BEST stuff for Atari 8-bit computers.
I was astounded by this software package, the graphics, sound
and animation
quality are of the HIGHEST QUALITY, the game pits you as a World War
II bomber
pilot over Europe, you have a great number of missions to choose from,
V-2
rockets, prisoner trains, Submarines, bomber to fighter etc... and
you can
pratice or go for the real thing. You start off by selecting
pratice or
mission, you use your joystick to move the generals arm and pointer
to your
selection on the black board, then you select the type of mission you
will go
on, after that you get an intelligence report on who and what you'll
go
against, after that, you see a full map of the area you will fly over
(Everything is in beautiful detailed, colored graphics with some animation
here
and there) You are then asked if you accept or reject your mission,
if you
reject you go back to the general again, if you accept you have to
load you
bomber, you point to bombs, missles, fuel and gun rounds, be careful
what you
select, remember this is a simulation, weight is very important!!!
OK, then
-More-
you point to DONE, you see (I think is a very nice touch) an old black
and
white photo album with picture of sirens, people running to plans,
propellers
starting, wheel chocks being pulled and a pilot waving, all at the
same time
you here accompanying sound effects in the background, you then sound
the Ace
of Aces title screen, press the fire button and its off to the simulation,
your
in a real view perpective, everything moves very smoothly, you have
guages and
dials and you see your pilot joystick moving realistically as you control
the
plane, you also have left and right views and bomb bay view for bombing
runs,
all are done in excellent graphics and animation. One note, it
take about a
dozen games before you get used to it, but you can accidentally very
easily
switch views which during fighter to bomber combat can cost you, your
crew and
your plane, but after a few games you get the feel of the game and
learn how to
not make those accidental view changes. The game is very
complex, yet not too
difficult to play, the animation is top quality, it is colorful and
very very
enjoyable to play, the game is a bit pricey: $27.99, but for such a
very high
quality product, its more than worth the price, if you buy the game
and enjoy
it as much I as did and still do, please do yourself and others a favor,
send a
thank letter to Accolade, they deserve it!!! This is the finest
piece of
software I"ve seen in quite some time.
The Infiltrator By Mindscape
-More-
Mindscape has been a complany who has stayed with Atari thru
its long rough
periods and has come out with quite a few nice titles. The Infiltrator
is a
good piece of software. You'll find the accompanying manual to
be a hilarious
addition to the software as it states humerous punchlines such as:
Johnny
"Jimbo-Baby" McGibbits says: "I never go anywhere with my McGibbits
Trim-Fit
bulletproof designer jeans. Timeless style, seamless fit, and
safety from
close range machine gun fire-all at a sensible price."
The manual also
includes an indepth description of your Wizbang Gizmo DHX-1 Attack
Chopper and
other technical stuff and they call it in the manual. Of
course putting aside
the cute manual and it humour, its the game play thats important, the
graphics
are good, colors are a bit drab, but hey! its an attack helicopter,
not a
BMW!!! The animation is good to fair in most areas, the
sound effects are
good, warning indicators are small, but the audio helps you to spot
and react
well enough to keep yourself from becoming a new SOHO art exhibit in
the middle
of enemy territory. The Status, ADM Tracking and Communication
screens and
excellent and include animation for a top notch effect, overall, this
is a good
game, a little difficult to get the hang of at first, you'll find yourself
seeing the crashed helicopter with your foot sticking out of it screen
for the
first couple of games, but once you get the hang of things, you'll
really like
it and get into it, for $19 this is a game you should look into.
Reviews by Curtis Vendel Via: THE EARTH ACCESS CENTER
(Next time: The Guild of Theives by Firebird Licensees Inc.)