Previous Next

Following the severe fossilised fuel crises in the early 21st century man developed and perfected a new energy source - nuclear fission, obtained by processing Uranium 235. Even this rare mineral was eventually mined out, and man was forced to look to the stars for new sources of fuel. Eventually, large Uranium deposits were discovered on the moons of Saturn, and a deal was drawn up with Saturn's premier, Rayol the First, so that the people of Earth could mine the fuel they so desperately needed.

All went well for four centuries until Rayol the Perverse came to power. This horrible character decided that he wanted to create a zoo containing all of the different Earth races. He told Earth leaders that unless they supplied him with 1,000 people of his choice, he'd force an embargo on any further mining of Uranium. Earth refused to succumb to his diabolical demands and Rayol duly shut down the mines.

Over the following months, Earth's Uranium stockpiles diminished to molehills, and the heads of state became increasingly worried - running out of Uranium would cause billions of people to die of starvation. A crisis committee met and a solution was found: Earth would send one of its rockets out to Saturn's moons and obtain the Uranium by force, even if it meant sparking off an interstellar war.

You, being the top gun of the space fleet, have to fly the mission. On board your warp rocket you have nine robots fitted with the latest mining equipment to help you take the Uranium. The game begins just after the ship has arrived in the vicinity of Saturn's moons, and a 10 x 10 astro chart can be accessed to show where exactly the ship is in relation to them.

A cursor can be moved about the map by using the joystick, once positioned, pressing the fire button 'warps' the ship to whichever square the cursor is currently occupying. Whatever you warp, some of your ship's energy is lost, the amount depending on the distance travelled. Your ship's energy is displayed throughout the game in numerical form, so that you know exactly what sort of position you're in.

Ten of the squares on the astro chart contain circles, representing the ten moons of Saturn, and twenty contain little dots, representing pulsars. Whenever your energy is low, you can warp to a sector containing a pulsar to re-energise your cells. When you arrive in a pulsar sector, the screen changes to show a 3D view of the starfield. Somewhere within this starfield is a flashing pulsar which, if shot by your twin lasers, gives you 100,000 units of energy.

When you warp to a moon sector, you are automatically put into orbit. A view of the moon's surface can then be displayed by pressing F3. By using the joystick, the screen can be made to scroll in any direction, and as your view scrolls by, you will see craters and ground installations. A satellite occasionally comes into view a few miles below you, and if it detects your presence, it relays your position to the ground installations which immediately start firing laser missiles at you. Luckily you too are armed and can fire back - destroying buildings by shooting their glowing outer regions.

In the bottom left-hand corner of the screen there is an X-ray scanner, which has to be used if the moon's Uranium deposit is to be located. As the screen scrolls, the X-ray scanner increases and decreases. When it reaches its maximum you are directly over the Uranium stockpile and a robot can be sent down to mine it.

To beam a robot down to the surface, you have to firstly access the transporter room, done by pressing F5. A robot is brought onto the transporting plinth, and it prepares itself for planetfall. When it's ready, pressing the fire button starts the transporting process. A target with a little dot in the middle is displayed in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. As the robot is transported, the dot begins to move out of the centre-circle, so the player must keep it in the middle of the circle with movements of the joystick. If it moves out of the circle the transporter starts to overheat, and if it overheats before the robot completes the journey it is destroyed.

When the journey is successfully completed, the screen displays an elevation view of the robot and the moon surface, the robot can then move left or right across it losing energy all the time. If the robot's energy is low, it can be transported back to the ship (the reverse process of transporting down).

Once on the moon's surface an arrow at the bottom of the screen shows which way the Uranium dump is. If the robot is standing in front of a dump, pushing forward on the joystick collects the Uranium. There are usually a number of Uranium-filled containers on each of the moons, so it may take more than one journey to collect it all.

The moon isn't unguarded and there are three defences to watch out for - satellites which swoop and destroy the robot if it stands still too long, droids which fire missiles (a missile can be destroyed if the fire button is depressed just before it hits the robot) and radar dishes which flash, destroying the robot if it's in the vicinity at the time.

The defence system can be turned off if the robot enters one of the pyramids which are to be found on some of the moons. On entering, you are given access to a computer and can have a go at cracking a five digit colour code. You are given eleven attempts to crack the code and if you fail you lose a robot.

The game continues in this fashion until all the Uranium is collected, all of your robots are destroyed, or the craft runs out of fuel.

This is a really original program which has plenty in it to keep any player happy for quite some time.

The different aspects of the game are all quite neat, the aerial view of the moon where you have to search for the Uranium is well done, and actually transporting a robot down to the moon's surface and searching the place out is really entertaining.

The graphics aren't brilliant, but they suit the game nicely, and the sound, again not exceptional, fits the game well.

If you're after something a little different, take a look - it's not bad at all.

Nuclear Embargo isn't an exceptional game but it's highly original and offers plenty of challenge. There are a few derivative features within the program, like the Mastermind style code cracking bit inside the pyramids, but I've never actually seen a game quite like it - which might explain why it took several plays to convince me of its qualities!

This is the second quality release to appear from Micropool - hopefully they can keep it up.

Nuclear Embargo is strange. Unlike most modern releases it's more game than graphics and a very nice game it is too. Classing this game is tricky, it's an odd blend between strategy and arcade, something I haven't seen before.

The presentation is great and both graphcs and sound are fairly top rate making the whole thing trot along a bit better. I'm a little dubious about its £9.95 tag, a pound or two cheaper and my reception would have been even warmer.

Still, the game is really nice and offers a welcome break from the run of the mill kill the aliens scenario and as such is fairly refreshing. Have a look first, it may well be your cup of tea.

Presentation 93%
Slick. The various screens all run together fluidly and the instruction are very helpful.

Graphics 81%
Varied in quality, but on the whole very good.

Sound 80%
No music, but plenty of imaginative spot effects.

Hookability 87%
Looks complicated to start with, but it only takes a few plays to get to grips with it.

Lastability 82%
The ten moons will keep intrepid Uranium hunters occupied for quite some time.

Value For Money 81%
Although a little expensive, the game has plenty to offer.

Overall 85%
Not a brilliant program, but very original and enjoyable to play.