Your Sinclair


Guerrilla War

Author: Sean Kelly
Publisher: Imagine
Machine: Spectrum 48K/128K

 
Published in Your Sinclair #37

Guerrilla War

In the jungles of a tropical island, the people groan beneath the iron rule of a cruel opressor, (groon, groan). The A team have had to shy off because of a flat tyre, but help's at hand 'cos there's two crack marines waiting on the beach to liberate the natives. You are of course, one of these marines, so, go get 'em boy!

Unfortunately, you're going to have to battle your way through five different sections before you can liberate the island, and progress is tough, hindered as you are, by loads 'n loads of obstacles. Firstly you've got to fight your way past the regular soldiers, who charge at you in groups of twos and threes, making killing them extremely difficult. You'll find soldiers dug in behind sand bags too. Watch out for them 'cos they'll pass the time by shooting at you, or chucking hand-grenades in your direction, rapidly turning you into diced marine. Lovely.

It's a bit more than just a shoot-'em-up though, 'cos sometimes the soldiers will be leading a hostage. Taking out all the soldiers, but leaving the hostage, will result in a large bonus. Have too itchy a trigger finger though, and you'll lose five hundred points. So watch out for those hostages.

Guerrilla War

The soldiers you kill will sometimes leave a weapon behind. Collect it and it'll dramatically increase your fire power, until you get killed, that is. And should more ammo be needed, just pick up an energy bottle or more magazines from the hidden ammo supply.

Getting past that lot'll be tough, and you'll still need to tackle the standard end-of-section meanie. This'll need a massive 32 hits before it'll die, and on each level, you'll need differing tactics to score those hits, so getting through any level is not going to be easy.

Guerilla War is as good a conversion as could be expected on the Spectrum. The graphics are smaller than the arcade version obviously, but are still a fair size, and are well animated. It's also extremely addictive, and will keep most players coming back for more.

But there's one gripe, Guerilla War misses the megamark because of the awkward control method. You need both hands to play, one for the joystick, and another for the keyboard to launch grenades. It's awkward and annoying. Niggles aside, however, this is an addictive little game, and with five levels to work through, will fill many a cold winter evening.

A good 'ol romping blasterama through tropical forests, let down slightly by awkward control.

Sean Kelly

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