Previous Next

"Yes. Exile. For life!" So said Edmund, Prince of Wales (otherwise known as the Black Vegetable... er, sorry, Black Adder). And how right he was! This is a monster of a game, incredibly crammed into less memory than my PC uses to store this document. A game so ahead of its platform, that it was a big hit on the 16 bit Amiga with only cosmetic touches to disguise its origins. A game that created such an impression on some Acorn enthusiasts, that a project was started to write a 32-bit version (how's it going, chaps?)

Included in the package is a double-sided 5.25" disk (40T on one side, 80T on the other), an instruction manual, a chart giving the keyboard controls (again double sided, Electron on one side, BBC/Master on the other) and a novella telling the story of the Pericles' crew.

The story tells of the ill-fated mission of the Pericles to investigate the planet Phoebus for colonisation. The crew start to disappear and they eventually discover the mad scientist Triax is using robots and genetically altered creatures to pick them off. From the garbled reports received it is unclear who, if anyone, remains alive. As Mike Finn (luckily the closest Columbus Force operative to Phoebus) your mission is to rescue any Force personnel while defeating Triax and learning two South American languages (OK, not the language bit then).

The game begins with the theft of your ship's Destinator (a vital piece of equipment; basically your ship is useless without it) being stolen. Then it's up to you and your jetpack as you explore your surroundings. You spend this game exploring, collecting and using objects, managing your power, defeating guardians, opening doors and more. There are no 'lives' as such; instead you can store up to six save points - if you start taking too much damage you are teleported to the last location stored, although there is a score penalty and things tend to fall out of your pockets as well. You can also choose to teleport to the last stored location; quite handy when you are being chased by angry wasps. The game is very unforgiving e.g. if you waste your first grenade then tough it's gone, you don't get it back.

Finn is a fairly agile bloke - he can thrust up or down, lie down, pick up, drop or throw objects, store/retrieve objects from pockets and aim his current weapon at any angle.

The graphics are excellent, colourful and well animated. Being in Mode 2, all the colours of the Beeb are available and they are used to the full. The viewing area is a bit narrower than the full screen, but by using the cursor keys it is possible to scroll around a bit (Finn is always kept on screen). The screen scrolls smoothly as you move around.

The sound too is good - no background tune (that would be too reassuring) - but sound effects, birds, explosions, gunshots. For those with sideways RAM there are sampled sounds (mainly shouts of pain which you hear when colliding with a solid object too quickly).

Exile is available from Superior Software for £14. If you like your games challenging and long-lasting, buy it.