C&VG
1st March 1984Falcon Patrol
Watch out skipper! Bandits at 10 o'clock! The enemy jet zapped past me firing its machine guns. I got on its tail and fired an air-to-air missile - the enemy jet was doomed.
Another successful mission for the sole survivor of Falcon Patrol - lone defender of oil installations and airbases! Falcon Patrol is a new game from the vast Virgin Games range for the Commodore 64.
You pilot a vertical take-off and landing jet - and the enemy are attacking in waves, bombing and machine-gunning as they go. Your job is to defend the oil installations and airbases. The bases are vital to your survival - as you must land on them to refuel and re-arm your jet during the conflict.
The graphics are extremely good - your jet takes off and flies in a most convincing manner. And the way you can bank and turn your jet is simple delightful!
On the ground you see complicated oil installations, roads, buildings and vehicles in 3D style graphics.
Game action is quite fast - helped by a radar readout at the bottom of the screen. There's a high score and present score readout too, plus a fuel gauge and ammunition status display. You simply have to blast the enemy planes out of the sky - avoiding their bombs and bullets.
The enemy jets also bomb your airbases - so make sure you know where you can find an undamaged base when your fuel alarm begins to sound. You must land and refuel before the mission can continue.
But even on the ground you are not safe - the enemy jets attack you here too. You get an extra life when you reach 3,000 points which will take a little practice.
There is a nice arcade-style Hall of Fame to enter top scores and the name of the person who scored them included at the end of each game.
You'll need a joystick to play this all-action arcade-style game on your C64. A nice addition to the growing range of software for this computer, Falcon Patrol is available from Virgin Games stockists at around the £6 mark.