87 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
87 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
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BAD BLOOD
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Billed as the "radioactive" game, BAD BLOOD is certainly hot hot
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hot stuff! Set in a post-nuclear-holocaust world of mutants and
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assorted creatures -- some human, some not so human -- BAD BLOOD
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takes both adventure and CRP gaming to new heights. Are _you_ mutant
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enough to prevent extermination of your fellow mutants by the
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"pure-blooded humans"? Can you survive the real-time arcade-style
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combat? Can you find your way around this vast wasteland of
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bombed-out cities, tunnels, and villages? Are you willing to improve
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your communications skills? If you answered yes, then pin on your
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radiation monitor (provided with the game) and venture forth to seek
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"The Oracle." (This review is based on the IBM-PC version.)
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As a gamer experienced in adventure and CRPG environments, I am at
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a loss to characterize BAD BLOOD as either type; I do know,
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however, that I like this game. BAD BLOOD includes elements of both
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the graphic adventure and the CRPG, as did NEUROMANCER and KEEF THE
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THIEF. Because of the type of interface (menu selection), puzzles
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are necessarily simplistic and suffer from the lack of a
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sophisticated parser. Like THE MAGIC CANDLE, game progress is
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related to the protagonist's ability to find and question various
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inhabitants of the gameworld. Like KEEF THE THIEF, combat strategy
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and operator dexterity are important. Dexterity is not important
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enough to categorize the game as having true "arcade" action, but if
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a joystick is used, the game is close enough to arcade-type action
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to add this variable to the categorization formula.
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Unlike true CRPGs, in which a full party participates in the
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enterprise, the BAD BLOOD expedition is limited to a single
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"champion" who becomes more efficient and powerful as experience
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increases. Just how efficient and powerful is uncertain, since there
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are no character statistics for measuring progress. The graphics are
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spectacular, tailor-made for a VGA display. Gone are the blocky
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representations of locale and character. In BAD BLOOD you have a
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bird's-eye view as clear as an eagle's: You can count the hairs on
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the heads of the punks...really! Attention to detail is so good that
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even the mattresses are soiled and torn. Of course, it looks like
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the same mattress is moved to every house -- but hey, when you're
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tired, who cares?
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Since I played without a soundboard or joystick, I can only begin
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to imagine what fun this game _could_ be, if only I had the
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hardware! Even on my relatively basic 386 system under keyboard
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control, the game is practically seamless. I found that every byte
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of the 640K is required to run BAD BLOOD. All TSRs must be
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bypassed, as should any RAM cache or RAM disk configurations.
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The copy protection scheme is the least obnoxious I've seen in a
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long time. The game asks two multiple-choice questions, the answers
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to which can be found on a full-color poster that is packed with
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information about the creatures who inhabit the gameworld. The print
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is easy to read, and the answers are easy to find. Since some of the
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answers are truly color-dependent, the scheme is practically
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pirate-proof and, best of all, does not intrude upon gameplay.
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Game-saves are simple; you may save three versions, which you can
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either name yourself, or allow to retain the default names.
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BAD BLOOD, written by Chris Roberts, runs on all IBM-PC, Tandy, and
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100%-compatible systems. 640K of RAM is _required_. A joystick is
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optional, and a hard drive is recommended. The 5-1/4" disk package
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contains a 3-1/2" disk upgrade coupon. The full 256-color VGA
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graphics are superb. Other available graphics modes are MCGA, EGA,
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CGA, Tandy 16-color, and Hercules. The text display is practically
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illegible in EGA mode, though, so I don't recommend anything less
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than VGA. The game supports Roland, AdLib, Game Blaster (CMS),
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Innovation, Corvox, and Tandy soundboards.
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Because of my general aversion to Origin games (acquired while
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attempting to play the Apple versions of KNIGHTS OF LEGEND and TIMES
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OF LORE), I was prepared to face another disappointment with BAD
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BLOOD. Fortunately, I was surprised and pleased to find a game that
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is fun, an interface that is logical and easy to use, graphics that
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rival laser-disc arcade games, and an intriguing storyline. Game
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setup on the hard drive (the _only_ way to play) is straightforward
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and takes less than fifteen minutes. Compared to a few hundred hours
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of fun, that's no time at all!
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BAD BLOOD is published and distributed by Origin Systems.
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*****DOWNLODED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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