Ant Attack

Crash

Overall 22%

Will Brooker 22%

LOOKING FOR AN OLD ANGLE From Ultimate's classics to the cute and quirky Head Over Heels, we've had our arcade adventures in the strange 3-D of isometric perspective. But, says WILL BROOKER, some of those first tentative steps in the new dimension work better than today's glossy games. Way, way back when Hungry Horace was still a national hero, 3D Ant Attack sneaked out under the Quicksilva label. Its Softsolid graphics of the walled desert city Antescher were hailed as astounding, and 3D Ant Attack wedged itself firmly into Spectrum history as the first game with truly three-dimensional views. The next isometric blockbuster was Vortex's Android 2, released in the spring of 1984. In gameplay it's just a 3-D version of the old arcade game Berserk, but the graphics (which CRASH gave 96%) brought it up to this magazine's Game Of The Month standard. Programmer Costa Panayi followed this up with the impressive TLL - a fighter-plane simulation with a carefully worked-out dynamic playing area. There's not a lot of game behind it, but the flying is enough. The Softsolid technique was soon followed by the first 3-D 'adventure movie' - Hewson Consultants' The Legend Of Avalon. Its adventure element is a bit dubious, and the term 'arcade adventure' would be disputed for years after its release, but the game was a great success with its colourful, pseudoisometric graphics. In 1985 the spate of high-quality isometric games continued: Ultimate's classic Knight Lore was followed by another Vortex game, Highway Encounter, and the next technical advance was Filmation 2. An Ultimate invention, this allows graphics of Knight Lore's quality to be scrolled smoothly over a large playing area. Filmation 2 was used for Ultimate's Nightshade, but was soon knocked into a cocked hat by The Edge's Fairlight. Even back in the golden year of 1986 there were unimaginative clones which sometimes threatened to swamp all the review pages with their identical, and by then extremely boring, isometric screens. But some games brought a breath of fresh air to the already tired genre: the humorous Sweevo's World from Gargoyle Games, Ocean's surprise hit M.O.V.I.E, and Hewson's Quazatron. A Spectrum version of the Commodore 64 hit Paradroid, Quazatron amazed everyone by being superior to the original. Not so original but also well-implemented was Ocean's Batman, and Quicksilva's Glider Rider deserves a mention along with Design Design's Rogue Trooper for taking a gamble and nearly succeeding. Last year Ocean had a megahit with Head Over Heels, M.A.D. had a budget Smash with Amaurote, and Gargoyle brought out the first (and probably last) Hydromation game, Hydrofool - the sequel to Sweevo's World. CRL's 3D Gamemaker utility now enables everyone to rewrite Knight Lore, and last November saw the first real isometric adventure, Incentive's Karyssia. Of course, whether isometric perspective presents a 'true' 3-D view is arguable - the player in these games is 'positioned'somewhere up in the air, outside the playing area, so any game using the technique looks forced, like a technical drawing. Though its representation of object and rooms may be highly effective, if we're going to nit-pick we can't say isometric perspective gives a realistic view. But the technique has proved perfectly satisfactory for countless games, and it's pointless to damn them all for lack of realism. More significantly, it will be interesting to see if the market for isometric graphics ever dries up, and if the public will one day reject the genre as outdated and overused, just as it once refused to accept any more Pacman clones. 3D ANT ATTACK Quicksilva 87% Issue 1 'One day, one year, one hour,'says the introduction. He and She arrived in the walled city of Antescher, 'the signature of a long dead race, the city lost from the world of men for days without number'. But the Ants of Antescher now have your partner (either He or She - unfortunately, this admirably nonsexist feature is undermined by the program's always calling you a 'hero'), and your job is to rescue him or her with the help of some heavy-duty grenades. Complete one level and the foolish girl (or boy) goes and gets herself (or himself) captured again, but this time further away from the starting position. Well, that's life... Back in late 1983 when nobody worried about glaring white backgrounds, UDG-sized graphics and poor sound, 3D Ant Attack was a wonder to behold. But even if you overlook these faults the fact remains that there isn't much gameplay, and what there is soon grows repetitive. Next to modern software, 3D Ant Attack looks rather dismal. TLL Vortex 81% Issue 7 TLL involves navigating a landscape sprinkled with houses, pylons, cliffs and bridges in order to eliminate 'enemy dots'. This top-priority procedure (you don't know how dangerous enemy dots can be if you let them get out of hand) is carried out by swooping low over the ground (hence the title - Tornado Low Level). You always run the risk of crumping your fighter against an obstacle, and once five of the dastardly dots have been wiped out a new mission begins - it's on the same landscape, but this time those devils are hiding below bridges and in the water and all sorts of underhand places. TLL was seen as a masterpiece when it first appeared, and its appeal has hardly diminished since. The landscape is described in effective, clean washes of colour and the fighter is well-drawn, rotating smoothly. The whole thing handles really well and though destroying evil dots is a bit of an artificial exercise the dynamics of the game come together perfectly. Perhaps more a simulation than an arcade game, TLL would, I'm sure, still do well at a budget price. HEAD OVER HEELS Ocean 97% Issue 39 'The best Ritman/Drummond game yet - it's even better than Batman!' said Crash. We read on: 'cuddly',' cute'. I agree; and that's probably what puts me off Head Over Heels. I can do without poisonous Marmite jars, stuffed rabbits, reincarnation fish and doughnuts, especially when their purpose in the game bears no relation to their appearance (why should stuffed rabbits give you extra abilities?). The scenario is unoriginal (two spies from the planet Freedom are out to destroy the Evil Empire), and the graphics look like something you see on early-teatime children's ITV (not that I watch it). Yes, they're detailed and well-animated; yes, they're cute if you like that sort of thing; but there's nothing to link them all together. As isometric arcade adventures go this is probably the best of its kind - there are lots of features, and the graphics are technically the best yet - but no way is it 'the ultimate game'. I like mine a little less silly and with a lot more logic behind them. KNIGHTLORE Ultimate 94% Issue 12 'Sheer perfection,' enthused the anonymous CRASH reviewers of way back at the sight of Knight Lore's Filmation graphics. The Filmation technique allows your sprite to physically interact with onscreen objects in almost any way, and with Knight Lore, the tenuously-related sequel to Underwurlde and Sabre Wulf, Ultimate's programmers surpassed themselves. In this thrilling instalment Sabreman (the player) must brave the castle of the wizard Melkhior to find the ingredients of the potion that will cure his sudden lycanthropy (Ultimate's instructions take the form of an epic poem, but manage to say nearly the same thing). Fail, and you must remain the werewolf forever - but so what? He's a dam sight cuter than Sabreman. Melkhior's castle is divided into rooms full of traps, structures and useful objects, all of which can be manoeuvred using Filmation. The avalanche of isometric games in this style has lessened the impact of Knight Lore's graphics. Today they seem rather plain and simple, though the old Ultimate touches still stand out (the sprite looking warily over his shoulder, for example). The game itself is a little unsophisticated for our times, too: essentially it's just a set of Manic Miner-type problems of timing, jumping and avoiding, and Filmation only comes in useful for making higher leaps. Still, Knight Lore deserves some recognition for having started off the isometric-arcade-adventure genre proper - it's just a pay the subsequent deluge was so heavy. BATMAN Ocean 93% Issue 28 Crash's Overall comment described this as 'a neatly finished game which does Batman proud'. But Ocean took all the Batman mythos and promptly forgot about it in an (admittedly commercially successful) attempt to cash in on Alien 8 etc - this game has nothing to do with Batman. Even the main character graphic shows a squat little figure who looks more like a Smurf than the Caped Crusader. And the Batcave has become some sort of architectural monstrosity furnished with conveyor belts and spiked floors and populated by creatures ranging from puppy dogs to lion-headed mutants. Maybe he's had it redone, but it never looked that way in the comics, the TV series, the films and the graphic novels. All that aside, Batman is quite a good game. The graphics and animation are superior to Ultimate's, and the Bat Devices and Batpills which give Fatman extra abilities add interest to the gameplay. In fact, leave out the pseudoBatman scenario and title and I'm quite content with this. NIGHTSHADE Ultimate 91% Issue 21 Nightshade just scraped into the Smash bracket, and the autumn 1985 release is now generally considered to have marked the beginning of the end for the former masters of Spectrum software at Ultimate. The gameplay is similar to Atic Atac's: wandering around the playing area (in this case a medieval town) destroying materialising nasties and collecting 'super antibodies' to kill off the four major villains. But the real star of Nightshade is the Filmation 2 technique, which scrolls the highly - detailed buildings about and lets you effectively see through the walls in a cut-away view whenever you pass behind them. It's become a cliche that 'the trouble with Ultimate's games is that they have great graphics but no game bolted on', but in this case it's undeniably true. Though the pseudomedieval atmosphere is strong and the characters are well-animated, Nightshade is extremely boring. It eventually bolls down to searching in vain for the major villains, just for the dubious thrill of getting killed by them instead of by lesser monsters for a change. HIGHWAY ENCOUNTER Vortex 95% Issue 20 You're a lone Vorton droid, pushing a highly brainfrying explosive device to the far end of an alien highway to blow up an enemy base. The road is populated by various aliens resembling anglepoise lamps and other dangerous household items (I gave them all names once but that was ages ago), and floating mines weave across the tarmac in dances of death. Your only strategy is to block up or kill off the nasties on your first run, and then go back to get your slave droids and the bomb. Highway Encounter's graphics are still impressive today; as in TLL, the combination of flat background colour and detailed monochrome overlays works very effectively. All the roadside scenery is beautifully drawn, from the crops in the fields to the golden sands of the beach. The only trouble with the game is its difficulty. I still wonder at Crash's comment of the time 'it will be easy to complete and I will probably get bored with it' - after 2.5 years I still can't clear the 30 zones and get the bomb to its destination within the time limit. But Highway Encounter looks great (better, in fact, than it s sequel - Vortex's Alien Highway, 88%/Issue 29) and would probably still sell as a budget game. QUAZATRON Hewson 94% Issue 29 As Klepto, a psychotic young droid with a penchant for taking things apart, you have been volunteered to get the mutant droids out of Quazatron, a multilevelled underground citadel of ramps and lifts. Klepto starts with a measly pulse laser but can collect extra weaponry by ramming other droids and entering a grapple sequence - really a subgame. A test of strategy and reflexes decides who wins the grappling duel. If you successfully grapple another droid you can take any available weapons; if you lose, the consequences are usually fatal. As you upgrade your weapons you can take on ever more powerful opponents, till you become the top dog -and then it's time to move on to the next citadel. 'Quazatron is a true masterpiece,' said Crash at the time, and the comment is still valid. Apart from the rather jerky scrolling everything is faultless: the graphics, the music, the FX and the gameplay. Quazatron is a successful fusion of strategy and arcade and deserves all the recognition it's had. ROGUE TROOPER Piranha 79% Issue 36 This licence is based on the early Rogue trooper stories from the comic 2000AD. Rogue is, as usual, trudging around Nu Earth, this time looking for the eight vid-tapes which show how the Traitor organised the destruction of the rest of the GIs (you have to know the strip to follow the scenario, really). Nu Earth, which seems to have shrunk a little in conversion from comic to computer, is patrolled by Norts and littered with ammo, med-packs - and, of course, the tapes. And Rogue's biochipped buddies Gunnar, Helm and Bagman give onscreen advice which isn't always particularly useful (Gunnar rarely says anything more inspiring than 'Let's grease some more Nort scum'). When all the evidence has been collected Rogue can return to the shuttle and wait for Cam Kennedy to draw him some more identical stories (oops! that just slipped out). Despite the extremely tacky presentation, this is an enjoyable game. It's not hard to win, which may put some off, but it provides relaxing therapy when you need your confidence boosted a little. The graphics are detailed, varied and recognisable, and though the colour washes are used simply they add interest. Perhaps Rogue Trooper's strongest point is the atmosphere generated by the graphics and the comments; it is, surprisingly, the most faithful 2000A0 conversion yet.

Sinclair User

An arcade game which heralded a revolutionary technique called 3D SoftSolid, and apt name as the background scenario, a city called Antescher, and the ants, hero and heroine, are all displayed in solid 3D. Characters can pass between objects and move in three dimensions. The technique makes movement of objects and characters extremely fast. The walled city can be viewed from four angles which can be switched around on the screen instantaneously. The game is novel too because it allows you to select the sex of the protagonist who combats the evil ants to rescue their prisoner from the city. Position 9/50

Crash

Lloyd Mangram

Matthew Uffindell

As summer poises, ready for the onslaught of fab new games around Christmas, CRASH takes a look back at some of the major games we have reviewed in the past to see if they (and the reviews) stand the test of time. MATTHEW UFFINDELL and LLOYD MANGRAM take keyboard and reputation in hand... 3D ANT ATTACK Quicksilva Ant Attack has remained high in the HOTLINE charts since we Started them, proof of the games popularity with players. There have been many failing attempts over the last several months to get fab 3D effect graphics like Ant Attack - its still one of the leading 3D games. Playing it now shows that much more colour could have been added. Content and addictive qualities have dropped dramatically. Also a major point on the graphics is that if 100% (which it received in the originai review) is given then nothing can beat it. I would now rate them at 74%, the reason being that they are unimaginative and uncolourful. Not such a good game itself but still worth buying just to see the 3D effect. MU Oddly, Ant Attack came out with a much lower overall rating than Bugaboo (85%) but of course scored on the graphics, still to be beaten in their particular 3D effect. I think we were all a bit overcome by them at first and failed to note that the game itself isn't so great. With the graphics, it isn't only the city which works so well, but the animation of you, your rescuee and the ants is excellent. Incidentally, although it appears to be of no use, there is an ammo dump out in the desert, but it seems to be nothing more than a visual gag put in for those playes who inevitably were going to go off exploring. LM (Matthew) I think I would want to knock about 5% off the playability rating and some 10% off the addictive qualities given originally as the only real objective is to continually rescue your girl/boyfriend and they are always in the same locations each game. (Lloyd) I agree. ORIGINAL REVIEW Use of Computer: 60% Graphics: 100% Playability: 95% Getting Started: 80% Addictive Qualities: 80% Value for Money: 95% Overall: 85%

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Crash

Overall 85%

Producer: Quicksilva, 48K £6.95 (1) Author: Sandy White Some of the best ever 3D graphics for the Spectrum which work excellently not only on the numerous buildings but also on the softer forms of the hero, heroine, and dreaded ants which swarm through the walled city of Antescher. The object of the game is to jump over the one spot low enough in the outer wall, find your girlfriend (or boyfriend - you can select which), and escape before the ants get you. You can run and jump in four directions, throw grenades to kill the ants over varying distances, or stun them by jumping up and down on them. The scene can be viewed from any one of four angles. It isn't easy! There are 12 control keys required and it takes a lot of time to get used to them, but the graphics make it all worthwhile. One criticism aimed at the game is that there's more technical virtuosity in the program than game play and it can become repetitive after a while. Nevertheless, an amazing game. No joystick option really possible. Very highly recommended, overall CRASH rating 85% M/C.

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Crash

Overall 85%

Producer: Quicksilva, 48K £6.95 (1) Author: Sandy White Some of the best ever 3D graphics for the Spectrum which work excellently not only on the numerous buildings but also on the softer forms of the hero, heroine, and dreaded ants which swarm through the walled city of Antescher. The object of the game is to jump over the one spot low enough in the outer wall, find your girlfriend (or boyfriend - you can select which), and escape before the ants get you. You can run and jump in four directions, throw grenades to kill the ants over varying distances, or stun them by jumping up and down on them. The scene can be viewed from any one of four angles. It isn't easy! There are 12 control keys required and it takes a lot of time to get used to them, but the graphics make it all worthwhile. One criticism aimed at the game is that there's more technical virtuosity in the program than game play and it can become repetitive after a while. Nevertheless, an amazing game. No joystick option really possible. Very highly recommended, overall CRASH rating 85% M/C.

Crash

Use of Computer 60%

Graphics 100%

Playability 95%

Getting Started 80%

Addictive Qualities 80%

Value For Money 95%

Overall 85%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Quicksilva Memory Required: 48K Recommended Retail Price: £6.95 Language: Machine code Author: Sandy White Sandy White is a quiet Scot and a sculptor by trade. His understanding of three dimensional construction is evident in his game, Ant Attack. Unveiled at the Quicksilva press show, it raised admiring oohs and ahs from the gathering. According to the press release, Quicksilva was so impressed by the stunning quality of the graphics, that they flew Sandy down from Scotland and signed a contract within 24 hours. A patent has been applied for to protect his 3D soft solid routines. Quite simply, Ant Attack contains the most breathtaking 3D graphics yet seen on the Spectrum; as one of our reviewers pointed out, very similar to Zaxxon graphics, and quite as good as you can see in an arcade. THIS IS WHAT YOU DO The idea of the game is to enter the Walled City of Antescher (which has rested for a thousand years in the midst of the Great Desert inhabited only by the deadly ants who have made it their home), and rescue your girlfriend. Actually, it's a non-sexist program which asks you whether you are a boy or a girl - the cute graphics distinguish between the two and make the main figure a hero or heroine according to taste. You can walk or run round the massive city which exists in a space many times greater than the playing area. You can also jump up and down and climb the walls or stairs. All this activity is necessary to avoid the giant ants which will attack within moments of your entering. Two weapons are provided; 20 grenades which may be thrown varying distances by pressing keys S-D-F or G and which will either stun or kill an ant depending on your accuracy, and the other weapon is your feet. Jumping up and down furiously on an ant will leave it paralysed and out of the running. Up to five ants attack at one time, but others will appear to replace the inactive ones. You can stand being bitten quite a bit, but too many bites will eventually result in loss of life! GENERAL The graphics are really stunning. The soft solid bit refers to the 3D effect achieved, not only with the buildings, which are all made up of blocks, hundreds upon hundreds of them, but also with the two humans and the ants. If your characters disappear behind a building you can press any of four keys (O/P/ENTER/SPACE) which will give you a view of the same location from another compass point. The effect is very like a scene in a TV studio where you can look at the action from four differently placed cameras. The cutting from view to view occurs instantaneously and without a flicker. The excellence of the 3D is also seen when your characters are surrounded by ants. The individual elements of the picture all merge in a most realistic manner, so much so that it's hard to tell who is who at times, and this adds to the difficulty of the game. COMMENTS Keyboard positions: highly complicated to master, though reasonably logical in placing. Perhaps a North/South/East/West system might have been easier Joystick option: none possible Keyboard play: very positive Use of colour: varied opinions, but averaged out as good Graphics: excellent Sound: good Skill levels: none Lives: can be bitten 20 times

Hero & Heroine trapped in Ant Attack Shock Horror!

Playing television studios with 3D ANT ATTACK - three views of the same scene.

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Personal Computer Games

Graphics 9/10

Sound 3/10

Ease Of Use 3/10

Originality 10/10

Lasting Interest 6/10

Overall 7/10

Chris Anderson 7/10

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K JOYSTICK: No CATEGORY: Arcade SUPPLIER: Quicksilva PRICE: £6.95 The most impressive thing about Ant Attack is the scrolling 3D depiction of the city in which all the action takes Place. For example, if you move your man behind a building, he disappears from view, and to see what's going on you have to select a different scanner. You have a total of four scanners, all of which depict the same part of the city, but from different angles. It's not advisable to leave your man out of sight, because the city is inhabited by vicious ants who love nothing better than munching flesh. Your mission is to rescue a number of trapped damsels in distress, although to protect themselves from the accusation of sexual typecasting. Quicksilva offer you the option of rescuing boys instead. You find the trapped persons by using a direction indicator, which turns green when you're moving in the right direction, and red when you're not. To avoid being devoured, you must either stay above ground level where the ants can't reach you, or use grenades to destroy them. Trouble is, to throw a grenade you must choose from four different buttons, one each for four different distances. If you add to these four buttons the four direction control buttons, and the four scan buttons, you need the skills of a touch-typist just to stay alive. Another thing that greatly annoyed me was the tunes that are played whenever you find a damsel, or are bitten to death. They really are tedious. Still, if you're prepared to put in the work necessary to master the controls, Ant Attack offers you an original and challenging entertainment.

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Getting Started 7/10

Graphics 9/10

Playability 7/10

Value 7/10

AWESOME ANTS LEAP TO THE ATTACK! Holding my breath, I climbed over the wall and into the city. Good not an ant in sight. Spotting a lone figure on a pile of rubble and guided by her cries of "My Hero - take me away from all this" I started to lead her to safety. In milliseconds we were surrounded by an army of the nasty biting creatures and were eaten alive! The deserted streets of Antescher are patrolled by hoards of man-eating giant ants who, guided by the scent of humans come charging to the kill, it is your job to get into the city, rescue the lone survivor and lead her out of danger. Leaping and running from building to building is the safest way to search for the heroine as the ants can't reach you when you're perched safely above them. Clustering around you in groups, you can blast them with a supply of grenades you carry - this will kill them but more soon come to take their place. A scanner which flashes red or green tells you in which direction to search - a useful addition to the game as only a section of the city is shown on screen at any one time. The screen scrolls in whichever direction you move eventually revealing the furthest reaches of the city. An additional feature to the game is the power to view your hero from four angles. Occasionally he'll disappear from the screen and to keep track of him, run through all the different view angles which will being him back on screen. Another interesting effect is the 3D graphics. If you run behind a building you'll disappear from sight as will the pursuing ants. Cries of "Bitten" will appear on screen once the ants close in and if you don't want to be eaten alive you'll have to make a run for it. In each new level you have to search further afield for the heroine and of course there is a much greater chance of getting caught as you try to find your way out of the maze of buildings. The ants are horrifyingly lifelike as are the movements of your hero. The keyboard controls on the Spectrum are very well placed to enable the easy movement of your hero. Ant Attack is written in machine code and features high-res graphics which are among the best I've seen on the Spectrum, with hidden line removal. Ant Attack is available from Hampshire-based Quicksilva for the 48k Spectrum at £6.95.

Your Computer

Overall 4/5

48K Spectrum £6.95 Quicksilva There have been 3D games before, of course, but never one so quick or effective as Quicksilva's Ant Attack. Not only is the Softsolid 3D - Patent Pending - remarkably good, but the game itself is exciting and intriguing. The location is the “walled city of Antescher" and, indeed, the city's buildings do resemble the geometrical paradoxes of the artist Max Escher. Walls, blocks and steps combine to make a huge maze in which roam the giant ants. These ants are truly fearsome insects, huge and gobbling with enormous jaws. The object of the game is for your man or woman - this is a non-sexist game - to enter the city and rescue the captured loved one who the ants have somehow tied to a slab somewhere in the maze. You can rotate, move forward and jump to safety as the ants gang up and come after you. As you progress through the city you often lose sight of yourself because of walls and towers. But one flick of a button and you have a choice of four different perspectives. This cart sometimes be rather unpleasant; you change to another view only to see yourself being eaten alive in a corner by a pack of hungry ants. Such gruesome experiences can be avoided by judicious use of the grenades you have, though care must be taken not to blow yourself up. Ant Attack impresses chiefly because of its graphics and 3-D, which are truly admirable. The game itself can prove to be awkward, given the large number of keys which must be controlled. But it is certainly worth investigating for the joy of its 3D effects.