Previous Next

The Psi Warrior is a special breed of soldier, trained to do battle with the supernatural and paranormal. The story of his first mission as already been logged in the annals of history and recorded under the name Psi Warrior. Now his second mission, codenamed Warrior II, is about to commence...

Scientists from the RadCom Corps have reported massive psychic activity deep beneath one of the ancient storehouses in the nuclear wastelands. After reading and analysing the reports, you have decided to take action and fly out to the bunker. Research has led you to believe that freak conditions have brought the ancient biological guardian computer back to life; consequently, if the computer can be approached you will be able to find out exactly what's going on, and perhaps even learn some of the secrets of the ancients.

Innocuous as it may seem, the mission is really quite dangerous. This is due to the fact that the Biocomp has been programmed to guard its secrets, so many hazards and traps have to be negotiated if you are to reach the bottom level of the storehouse - where the computer resides - without being killed in the process.

There is no real evidence regarding the nature of the traps, so much of your mission will involve gleaning information through trial and error. Only one thing is known: each of the numerous levels of the storehouse is protected by a colour-coded defence system, which spots any physical object of the wrong colour moving from one level to another. There is also an ethereal presence, strange ghostlike creatures generated by the computer's defence system, which patrol the warehouse with the object of revealing and destroying any intruder. There are two types of these guardians, black and white, both having similar properties but serving different purposes during the game.

You begin your mission armed with a Psi net gun and riding a hoverplane, which has similar properties as a skateboard, but it glides along on a cushion of hot air blown out from its base. It can be moved left and right at high speed (scrolling the screen as it does), and force extra air out in bursts to jump the rider over obstacles. A bar speed indicator is situated at the top of the screen and extends and retracts as you accelerate and decelerate.

The hoverplane will be damaged if it hits an object at high speed. This damage appears on the speed indicator and stops it from reaching its maximum. The more hits sustained, the more restricted the speed bar becomes, consequently if the plane is badly damaged, you can only move along at low speed.

The levels of the storehouse are interconnected by a series of ramps, and each level contains many types of physical hazard designed to impede your progress. These include two types of neutron map (dissolve you on contact), ricochet mats (bounce you about), jump mats (basically small trampolines), life restore mats (restore your six lives) and one way mats. Sometimes you will have to jump over neutron mats, or even a whole series of them, to reach a ramp which will take you down to the next level.

Going from one level to another is one of the trickiest parts of your mission. For example, level one is cyan and the next level is purple. You can only go from levels one to two if your suit is purple; otherwise the Biocomp will spot your presence and neutralise what it thinks to be an intruder, taking one of your six lives as it does so. To turn your suit purple, you have to shoot one of the guardians which patrol the storehouse with your Psi net gun. Once a guardian is trapped, running into it absorbs its energy and affects the colour code bar at the top of the screen - absorb a white guardian and the bar will shift to the right, a black one causes a left shift. As the bar moves back and forth it goes through a series of coloured areas, and your suit changes to match the area that the bar is presently in. So, if you want to move into a purple area, shoot enough white guardians to move the bar to purple, and when it's there you can make the transition from cyan to purple. This tug of war effect plays a crucial part in the game, and you must be careful not to go around absorbing guardians willy-nilly; otherwise, you might much up your protective colouring and become exposed to the biocomp.

When you move from one level to another, you become vulnerable and your suit flashes - hit a guardian now and you will die. To remedy the situation you have to absorb guardians so that your colour is different to that of the floor colour (if possible, change your colour to match the one on the next level).

If you manage to get all the way down to the bottom level you will meet the Biocomp, but before it's secrets can be learned you have to complete one most task. Unfortunately, nothing is known about this...

This is an unusual game which, like the original when it appeared two years ago, won't appeal to everyone who plays it. However, I must admit that Warrior II isn't what I was expecting.

I was hoping that the programmers, Voysey and Olowu, would expand upon the highly original and innovative ideas which made Psi Warror such a classic, like invisibility, remote viewing and levitation.

But they haven't, and the result is a disappointing step backwards. The simplistic but atmospheric graphics are now colourful and detailed, but rather lifeless and detriment the superb sound effects. Most annoying.

Fortunately, Warrior II *is* playable - quite frustrating at times, but highly absorbing to play, mainly because of the unique control method which makes the 'puzzles' (which are slightly harder but very similar to those in Psi Warrior) all the more difficult to solve. Overall, a good game but a poor sequel.

At long last the Psi Warrior returns in another weird arcade adventure. The game is very similar to its predecessor, but there are more puzzles to solve and lots more to discover and learn.

The instructions are deliberately sparse and give hardly any indication of what is required, but this doesn't detract from the game - in fact, it makes it more enjoyable to play. The graphics and sonics are very similar to the original, creating a brilliant atmosphere as you glide aroound the abandoned storehouse.

The game is a bit strange and may not appeal to the majority of Commodore owners, but if you enjoyed the original then you should definitely check this one out.

I've never played Psi Warrior so I can't compare it with this. One thing's for sure though: if it was as good as this then it must have been a brilliant game for its time.

What I like about this is the puzzle element - you really have to think about what you're going to do next. After you've gone down a few levels, things start getting very tough indeed, and some very precise movements are required to dodge the anti-matter squares. The atmosphere generated by this game is great, the sound complementing the graphics perfectly. I've got no hesitation in recommending this - it's ace.

Presentation 79%
No title screen and deliberately sparse instruction, but the in-game presentation makes up for these deficiencies.

Graphics 81%
Strange backdrops and sprites create a suitably mysterious atmosphere.

Sound 81%
The superb spot effects create a suitable atmosphere.

Hookability 86%
Tricky to get into due to the lack of information.

Lastability 89%
But once you get going, it's difficult to put your joystick down.

Value For Money 85%
A rather offbeat game. Look at it beore you hand over your tenner.

Overall 88%
A must for Psi Warrior fans.