Alias 007

Previous Next

Orbital is the third game on Impact Software's product list. Once again a weird story accompanies the game, centring around the main character 'Ozzie'. Ozzie is a marble, the James Bond of the Orbital world, and has been sent to destroy the evil Octopodes. These are small octopuss-type creatures who are polluting the Orbital planet with Plutonium marbles. Making sense so far?

The first twelve screens greatly resemble the general layout of U.S. Gold's Crystal Castles. Ozzie must collect all the marbles, walking down and using 'Star Trek' - like transporters to go back up again. After the first twelve levels have been completed, they are done again - in the dark.

The game employs about the right level of difficulty, which means that by the time you get to these levels they shouldn't be too difficult to complete.

The game is strange to say the least, and the default keys difficult to use. Fortunately, they are redefinable, but the three-dimensional view of the landscape makes selection quite a chore.

There are many things I don't like about Orbital - the fact that you can often die without appearing to touch a parolling Octopode, and the way that you must complete the first level just to get onto the second. There is a password system connecting blocks of four levels, but I would have liked to have a code for individual screens.

Overall, Orbital is not a particularly colourful game, but I liked it much better than Clogger and Zenon. I was occupied by it for more time than both of these put together.

Sam Greenhill