White Heat

Crash

Presentation 43%

Graphics 22%

Playability 26%

Addictive Qualities 26%

Overall 17%

Ben Stone 5%

Paul Sumner 32%

Richard Eddy 15%

Producer: Code Masters Retail Price: £1.99 Author: Mark Bulldock There's no escaping aliens - in White Heat. the three horizontally-movable bases under your control come under attack, each in turn, from 72 waves of aliens. The attackers that make up each wave have different, idiosyncratic movements: some rotate in eccentric fashion, others zigzag sharply across the screen, others dive-bomb your installations. As they approach, they release blasts that you must try to avoid, because contact with the aliens or their fire destroys your base and you move on to the next of the trio. A warning is given when only one of your bases remains. Each base is equipped with a blaster that can fire single shots at marauders, destroying them to produce point packages that are displayed at the location where the alien was annihilated. Accurate and speedy shooting is rewarded with higher points. If you are too hesitant in firing, the menacing creatures mutate into more deadly beasts with speedier actions. Near its moment of transformation, an alien takes on the complexion of a fresh boiled lobster: be warned. COMMENTS Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston Graphics: simple but quite colourful Sound: grating tune and nauseating FX Options: definable keys

White Heat: a shoot-'em-up where fire power is so restricted you can hardly even shoot 'em up.