Big K


Ant Attack
By Quicksilva
Commodore 64

 
Published in Big K #10

Ant Attack

Who writes these blurbs? I can't wait for the arrival of a new Quicksilva program these days, since each cassette sleeve features a masterpiece of crazed prose. Lovecraftian cliche tumbles after cliche, like Kim Aldis' cat in search of a new owner. Surely the mind that can produce writing like this cannot be fully human...?

What? Oh yes, the software. Loved the graphics, folks. The design team of Sandy White and Angela are definitely a big Quicksilva asset, and their 'Softsolid' graphics are among the few convincing attempts at three-dimensionality I've seen. So far, both in this game and Zombie Zombie (for the Spectrum), they depict a ruined city. In Ant Attack, it's inhabited by giant ants of aggressive temperament. Sensibly enough, the point is to escape from the ruins.

You have a choice between being a hero or heroine; a good touch this, since the first thing you have to do is to rescue your companion of the opposite sex. Once you've met up with them, easy enough since they're to be found lazing indolently on a wall somewhere, then the important thing to do is run like blazes. You do have a gun and twenty rounds for self defence, but there are a lot of ants. I didn't get out alive. Not once.

The choice of four viewing angles adds a convincing depth to the scene, but I found that, graphics or no graphics, the game didn't quite work. I lost interest in playing very fast, and ended up just admiring the view. When Quicksilva find some other way of using Softsolid, then we're in for a great game. But not just yet!