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| Welcome
to Game of the Week! Each week there will be a
new featured game on this page. The game may be good,
average or diabolically bad, it really doesn't matter!
Just look at the pics, read the text and enjoy the nostalgia!
:-) Game of the Week! is open to contributions so if you
would like to contribute
a game article for this page you're more than welcome
to! Every article we receive will be considered! |
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Warhawk
1986 Firebird
Programmed
by ?
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text of the present article comes from the review published
in the seventeenth issue of the British C64 magazine ZZAP!64
(street date: July 21st, 1986). |
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WARHAWK
Firebird,
£1.99 cass, joystick only
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Attention all joystick wagglers of the nth degree --
your latest all zapping, all blasting, all anarchic
mission is about to unfold before your very eyes, courtesy
of Proteus Developments and Firebird. Warhawk
is a vertically scrolling shoot em up which has you
battling your way through squads of aliens over various
terrains set on the none-too-stable remains of decaying
asteroids.
The
aliens take various forms, all with their own characteristics.
There are galactic mines which plummet towards Warhawk
vertically, Scorpions which stand in line waiting for
your arrival then suddenly flying into a sadistic attack,
and mutant Pac Men who look as if they are quite easy
to deal with, but just when you think you've overcome
them they turn tail and return with a vengeance. Accompanying
these are other nasties which have no power to blast
you, but do provide a challenge.
Your
hardships are not merely restricted to advancing alien
forces, oh no, amongst them are the flotsam and jetsam
of outer space in the form or boulders which hurtle
towards you. If you can't blast them, then avoid them
-- and if you can't avoid them, then say bye-bye to
your energy.
Each
level is built up in a similar fashion, comprising of
zapping your way through hoards of aliens (just as well
your ship incorporates the latest in laser blasters,
isn't it?), and knocking down towers that cover the
surface of each planetoid. When you have done that for
a sufficient time, then you meet the big nasty itself!
Tackling it is straightforward enough, but difficult
(!) -- the main tactic being shooting it to death as
it whizzes across the screen. Completing that successfully,
you are then launched into further stages of frantic
battling.
The
scoring system is simplicity itself -- the more aliens
you obliterate the bigger score you get -- and it is
displayed at the bottom of the screen along with your
power packs, represented by nine yellow triangles which
slowly diminish according to the amount of injuries
you sustain. Luckily, your power packs are replenished
at the beginning of each level. The levels continue
with wave after wave of aliens, each level becoming
more treacherous than the last.
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.
Yawn,
thought I, another cheapy shoot em up. But wait,
this familiar and somewhat tired concept has been
given an interesting new lease of life. In traditional
ZZAP! style I played it without instructions,
and let's face it, with this game who needs 'em?
It just proves how playable this game is. Thrilled
by the graphics and amazed by the superb sound
(the music is well up to Rob Hubbard's usual excellent
standards and the effects are also very good),
I've been returning to it again and again. The
game itself does look a little like Uridium,
but then both are based on the arcade game Star
Force. At only £1.99 no self-respecting 64
shoot em up freak should be without it. Excuse
me, but I'm off to have another go . . .
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Presentation
64%
Nothing spectacular, but adequate.
Graphics
63%
Poor use of the bas-relief effect
all round.
Sound
90%
Meaty Rob Hubbard soundtrack pounds
away throughout the game -- the spot FX and jingles
are good, too.
Hookability
86%
A delight to get into.
Lastability
79%
Not a great deal of variety, but
addictive all the same.
Value
For Money 86%
Lots of good solid blasting for
only two quid.
Overall
80%
One of the better shoot em ups
on the 64 -- one of the cheapest, too.
.
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Htmlized
by Dimitris
Kiminas (29 Sep 2007)
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"Games of the Week!"
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