Personal Computer News


BC Bill

Author: Sandra Grandison
Publisher: Imagine
Machine: BBC Model B

 
Published in Personal Computer News #076

Caveman Rampage

BC BILL

This new game from Imagine is in for a lot of criticism from organisations trying to protect battered women. I've seen some violent games in my time, but seeing women clubbed on the head and dragged off to a cave to produce children had me cringing in my seat. I suppose in prehistoric times a character like BC Bill could get away with it.

Objectives

After leaving his tribe to seek his fortune, Bill has found himself a comfortable cave and has decided to start his own dynasty. The object of the game is for Bill to collect as many wives as possible.

To do this he must find a woman, club her and drag her back to his cave. Once Bill starts accumulating wives, they start producing children. and Bill must keep his family well fed by clubbing food and taking it back to his cave. If that's not enough to keep our caveman busy, he also has to fight off raiders and the odd dinosaur.

In Play

B. C. Bill

The game kicks off with a hunky picture of Bill armed with his club. Then, to the accompaniment of a jazzy tune, up flicks a blue sky, green mountains and a makeshift cave in the top left corner of the screen.

At the bottom of the screen is a constant record of the number of wives and children Bill has. The amount of food, how many years have gone by, the season and your overall score are also shown.

With one wife, ten points for food and three lives to play with, Bill went on his rampage. Controlling Bill and his club via the keyboard proved difficult at first - but I soon got the hang of it. Moving smoothly across the screen, Bill clubs one of the women bobbing along. Gradually he manages to get four wives and two children, but sadly they leave him because he cannot get enough food.

B. C. Bill

It takes ten years for each of Bill's offspring to reach maturity, whereupon they will leave and fend for themselves. For each child he keeps fed for ten years he receives a bonus point.

As the seasons go by, Bill's cave is constantly raided by tribesmen and he's eaten several times by dinosaurs. Sometimes it's difficult to tell the difference between Bill and a tribesman because they are both dressed the same.

Verdict

The graphics in this package are fairly good. The objects move quite smoothly on the screen with reasonable sound effects to accompany certain actions taking place.

If you're low on sensitivity and can stomach the mindless violence, you should get some fun out of it for a few hours.

Sandra Grandison