74 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
74 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
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QUADRALIEN
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In QUADRALIEN, an arcade-style game from Spinnaker Software, Quadraliens have
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taken control of Astra, the main fission reactor that powers everything our
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world has in deep space. The mother Quadralien has made her home in the center
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of the reactor. Your task, if you choose to accept it, is twofold: Prevent a
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meltdown of the reactor, and destroy the Quadralien mother. You will be given
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six droids to accomplish this mission, because the intense radioactivity
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prevents you from entering the base. Only two of these droids can be active at
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any given time. (This review is based on the IBM-PC version.)
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The game display consists of two parts: In the left window is a partial view of
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the chamber currently occupied by your droids; the right window consists of
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three scales (one each for the core temperature, the entropy level, and the
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energy level of Astra); an icon to help you identify the active droid; and two
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numbers indicating the current energy levels of the active droid and the other
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droid in this chamber. Your score is also displayed here.
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To succeed in QUADRALIEN, you must work your way through the six chambers on
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each of three levels. The chambers progress from easiest to most difficult. Only
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when you've mastered one level and received the target score for that level will
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you be given the code to get to the next level. Of course, you must constantly
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maintain a proper core temperature by dumping water barrels down utility shoots,
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and you must keep up the energy level by reducing the entropy level.
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There are several special objects you'll encounter: repellers and attractors,
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which can affect the entropy level; energy cells; explosive charges, which you
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can use to destroy objects your lasers can't touch; magnetic tracks; earthing
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boxes (watch out for these -- they sap all of your droid's energy!); and
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lighting points.
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The key objects, though, are the information consoles; each chamber contains
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one or more. When you hook up to them, you receive information on your active
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droid, the chamber and level, and the target score for the level. More
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importantly, you gain access to eight functions: escaping from the game at this
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point; recharging your droid's batteries; ridding your droid of radioactivity;
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popping up a legend of all objects in the chamber; and three others.
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The IBM-PC version of QUADRALIEN will run on IBMs and true compatibles. I
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played the game on a Blackship 386 (IBM compatible) with an EGA monitor. You'll
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need 384K of RAM for CGA, and 512K for VGA. The program is not copy-protected.
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Included in the game package are CGA and VGA disks. The four-page instruction
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sheet and plot-line folder measures about 5-1/2" by 8-1/2". The initial screen
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asks if you wish to display instructions in either English, French, or German.
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Even in English, the instructions are terse and somewhat confusing, because
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they're written for three different machines with three different control
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capabilities. The PC version allows you to use either a joystick or the keyboard
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for play. Since I don't have a joystick, I don't know how well it controls game
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functions. I used the keyboard, on which "X" moves the droid to the right, "Y"
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moves it to the left; the apostrophe moves the droid up, and the forward slash
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moves it down. I became accustomed to this scheme fairly quickly, and because
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this game is not a test of one's reflexes, there's no speed penalty for using
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the keyboard.
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Sound and Pause can be toggled on/off using function keys. There is a save-game
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feature, but you must already have a formatted disk in drive A: to use this
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option.
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The graphic images on the CGA disk are of good quality; however, the color
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scheme serves to blur distinctions between many of the special objects. Purple
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and light blue are the main colors displayed; almost all objects are depicted in
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these colors. Writing and outlines usually appear in black. I found it most
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difficult, especially in the beginning, to tell some objects apart, and to even
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locate other objects at all. Apparently, the graphics for the Amiga and the
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Atari ST versions are better -- at least, according to the hints dropped in the
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instruction sheet.
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QUADRALIEN is published and distributed by Spinnaker Software.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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