ST Format


The Spy Who Loved Me

Categories: Review: Software
Author: Andrew Hutchinson
Publisher: Domark
Machine: Atari ST

 
Published in ST Format #17

The Spy Who Loved Me

Bond is back - new, improved and sporting his usual Walther PPK pistol. Andrew Hutchinson straps on his shoulder-holster, renews his licence to kill and joins 007 on the job... Unfortunately, Bond gets all the birds and Andy's stuck with foiling the evil Stromberg's plans for world domination and downright nastiness...

Nobody, they say, does "it" better. Here's your chance to prove James Bond's adoring fans right and do Her Majesty's Government proud in the process. A mere thirteen years after the release of The Spy Who Loved Me, Domark unveil the ST licence of the film.

The massively overweight bad guy causing all the mayhem in the film is megalomaniac Karl Stromberg. Mr. Stromberg ("Sir" to his friend) decides that nuclear war is the only way forward for the world, so he blags a couple of submarines - one from Britain (yes, we do still own a couple) and one from Russia (they've got absolutely zillions - oops, politics! Risky...). Both submarines have on board some large, very phallic, nuclear missiles Mr Stromberg plans to launch at Moscow and New York simultaneously.

The Spy Who Loved Me

The game follows the plot of the film closely, with each section of gameplay divided into "Scenes". Scene One takes place after Bond and the Russian spy Anya (anya know what she looks like!) pick up his Lotus Esprit and are driving to their hotel. They're accosted along the way by enemy vehicles and have to fight their way out of trouble. The Lotus comes fitted with a machine gun to deal with stray enemy cars, but if all else fails you can ram them off the road. Obstacles which appear in Bond's path include cones, oil slicks, barriers, buxom women with hair down to their bottoms and pedestrians.

After a long stretch of road, James transfers to a boat and gets attacked by similar numbers of the enemy in power boats and inflatables. Besides seeing off Stromberg's minions, he must perform a number of jumps. This section also has swimmers who must be avoided - but running them over is a great laugh. This scene is completed when James reaches the other side of the harbour.

Scene Two is very similar to the first except you can drive into Q's truck and add weaponry for the car such as rear and sideways firing and homing missiles, as well as extra armour. You'll need it, too: when the action transfers to the water in this scene the Lotus has to survive the onslaught of much better equipped foes driving QE2 size submarines.

The Spy Who Loved Me

When James and Anya reach Stromberg's ship they break out all the sailors captured when the submarines were hijacked. Stromberg has locked himself behind some very thick steel shutters - and he's not coming out, so there. James rides astride an aerial camera p to the shutters with a nuclear detonator in his lap to blow 'em up with. Your task in all this is the stop Stromberg's men from attacking James. To do this vital job you guide a cross-hair sight around the screen and shoot the men appearing out of the submarine and various doorways and stairwells.

The fourth scene involves outwitting the tracking computers for the missiles. This is simply a case of following the number sequence the computer sets. Scene five is a chase scene like the first two, but set on the wet bike. Here Bond has to battle his way to Atlantis for a confrontation with Karl.

The final scene is set in the corridors of Stromberg's submergible home, imaginatively named Atlantis. In this section of the game James encounters Jaws for the first time. A few bullets in the chests of Stromberg's minions, a quick exit and the game is completed.

Effects

The Spy Who Loved Me

The graphics are first rate, in that a lot of attention has been paid to small details such as the bubbles emerging from the Lotus when it is underwater. The opening sequences of the game are similarly well designed and even include a phony screen censor's certificate. The sound is good, as far as it goes, but some sampled spot effects wouldn't be unwelcome.

Verdict

Domark have made a good job of converting the Bond film into a playable ST game. The action sequences are tied together effectively to make a surprisingly cohesive plot. If there's one major criticism, though, it's that none of the sub-games is terribly new or exciting. Each level is far too easy to complete and this seriously damages the game's long term viability.

Still, The Spy Who Loved Me is far and away the best of the Bond conversions, and while the game might not appeal to someone over the age of 15, youngsters will soon be dropping those double entendres like big Bond himself.

Andrew Hutchinson

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