The Mission

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It's a hard life, this space exploration lark. But this mission is over, and the navigation computers have been programmed for the return trip to Earth. Time to lie back and wait...

But things are never that simple. Monitors light up all over the ship, each one filled with the image of the Columbus Force Commander Sprake, telling you of the escape of genetic scientist Triax, imprisoned in a space cell a century ago but now free, his life extended using his own experiments, his mission to create a race of maggots which will infest the universe and destroy all life within it. What else can you do but descend onto the planet Phoebus, hunt down Triax and bring him to justice?

Sounds simple, but as soon as you arrive, Triax beams aboard your craft, steals the Destinator navigation system from the control console and, before you can reach him, disappears into the void.

So there's the aim - find a way into Triax's underground lab, bring him to justice, then find the Destinator and blast off from Phoebus. Use the many items littered around the playing area to assist in your quest, and above all, use your noddle - hard problems require hard thinking before they can be solved

Animal Antics

Not only are there killer robots and, of course, the dreaded Triax to contend with, but in Exile all manner of creatures abound to hamper and harm the budding bounty hunter. Many, such as the green birds, just flutter around and hem you into corners without causing any physical damage. But others, such as doves and wasps, home in on you and don't let up until they've depleted your energy to such an extent that you're transported back to your stricken spacecraft.

There are also some cute frogs playing in one of the ponds - quite what their use is, if any, is yet to be established, but it is fun to pick them up and drop them into fires!

Jet-Powered Japes

Phoebus is an enormous place, and to walk everywhere would not just take a very long time, it would also play hell with your corns! So it's a good job your character owns a smart jetpack to propel him in eight, smoothly scrolling directions. It must be constantly topped up with power though, and although there is the odd loose energy pod lying around the planet, most of them can only be acquired by destroying robots, either by blowing them up or, in the early stages of the game, pushing them from high places.

Paul Rand

OK, so Exile isn't the most graphically impressive game in the world on either Amiga or ST, but, as the adage goes, graphics maketh not a game, and this is most apt in the case of this product.

Exile is a sprawling arcade adventure, quite unlike anything I've ever played, and Audiogenic's inclusion of save features to both disk and RAM is appreciated. Trying to control the jet-propelled main character is a job in itself, but that's nothing compared to the task ahead in this nippy (more so on the ST) exploration title.

To begin with, everything seems far too obscure, so far as solving any problems goes, but perseverance is the key to success; there is usually one place which hasn't been visited and, sure enough, that's where the required item will be lurking.

Arcade adventure fans should lock themselves away with a copy of Exile and not come out till they're completed it.

Paul Glancey

The graphics are so dull they don't look like an Amiga (or even an ST) game and the little bloke appears to be nigh on uncontrollable, so it looks like there's nothing but frustration in store. But... Stick with it for a while and you will be surprised to find that this is a very compelling arcade adventure.

The playing area is vast, but fortunately it's not so bland that everywhere looks the same and you're constantly getting lost. As for the puzzles, they're equally varied, unusual and clever which makes Exile more interesting to play than many other games like it. What's also refreshing is that the game isn't all blasting robots, and most of the problems are caused by the planet's odd natural lifeforms - the doves and imps are particularly annoying.

Arcade adventure fans are getting an awful lot of game for their money here, and you normals needn't be followed by Exile's apparent ugliness - it's a game of unusual depth which will keep anyone occupied for months to come. Well done, Audiogenic!

Update: Exile is also available on Commodore 64 disk. The gameplay is almost exactly the same, and it's just as good. Wa-hey!