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This is the first game from the much typed FTL, a spin-off of the cult software house Gargoyle Games, creators of such classics as Dun Darach and Tir Na Nog. Their new label is going to be publishing fast action games, and their first release, Light Force, is certainly one of them.

This game is also the first to use much heralded (by FTL!) lasermatin system to get decent colour on a ZX Spectrum. This system, when it boils down to it, is just a case of taking a bit of thought about the graphics. All movement takes into account, the colour breaks on the attribute screen, and objects are based on a square format - your ship is roughly square, and so are most of the ground targets. It's amazing that it's taken this long for software houses to realise that 'pushing the computer beyond its limits' with the Spectrum just doesn't work, and results in games with extremely poor presentation with flashing squares of colour all over the screen! Yet simply programming the machine to take into account of all its (many) limitations results in a game that looks this good.

The basic theme of this game is flying your spaceship through various levels of nasties, and trying to destroy as many of the ground targets as possible in a very Xevious sort of way. The aliens come at you in waves and formations, and there are a number of different types. Apart from this, there is little else to the game. However, apparent simplicity is usually the mark of a good action game and this is the case with Light Force. The patterns and interweaving of enemies is well thought out and all the various parameters are well tuned to provide a fast and exciting game.

The graphics are excellent, both the backdrops and the moving objects, and the coour clashing is minimal - even the explosions look good! Sound is very limited, but then the whole game is designed to run on a Spectrum and take account of its limitations and, on a Spectrum, very little sound is better than trying to play music through a vibrating tin plate!

If FTL keep producing games of this quality with this presentation then Spectrum owners will be in for a real treat.