Sinclair User
1st February 1987
Published in Sinclair User #61
Death Wake
Hindsight is always a useful barometer of how a piece of software, once thought of as beyond the realms of possibility on a home computer, has traversed the test of time.
Does it still stand out as a technical achievement, or does it seem somewhat, well lacklustre.
I remember Deathwake being released around two years ago on the Quicksilva label, and having also reviewed it then I feel that this is a good opportunity to compare notes.
The actual game senario first. This entails you as protector and captain of the destroyer undaunted, to guide her to the enemy stronghold at the end of an inlet, whilst dodging torpedoes and flack from opposing planes and ships. There is also a strategy element in the game, that lets you plot an air strike on to some of the enemy bases, before each round of action to temporarily disable them (This not only increases your chances of survival but also brings a certain reality to the gameplay.)As each round begins you are faced with a varied selection of hostile hardware, such as torpedo planes, bombers, gun boats and minefields, and as soon as your Undaunted takes 100% damage it's all over.
So, how does it compare two years on?
Well I wasn't very enamoured with the game the first time round. The sound was feeble, and the graphics pretty scarce. I suppose it was a so-so game then. Now it reminds me of what budget games used to be like you know, the you - paid- nearly-zilch-what-do-you-expect-type of game.
However Mastertronic has proved that cheap is not nasty and this can't compete. Sadly in this case Deathwake is cheap and nasty.
Overall Summary
Tired old re-release of a now dated game. You'd be better off getting Beach Head. Very dull. Doesn't age well.
Screenshots
