Zeewolf

Title           Zeewolf
Game Type       3D Action
Players         1
Compatibility   All
Submission      chris@tornado.pair.com

Review
As a young lad I was a frequent visitor to my best friend's house, a
friend with a passion for Acorn computers.  One day, he excitedly
phoned me up to say he'd just got a new machine, with a very
impressive demo program.  I went round and got my first taste of the
program that was to become the much talked about Zarch.  That game
has been one of the few I have ever played that has left a lasting
impression on me, and although an Amiga version (called Virus) was
released.  For some reason, I never bought a copy.  Well, now I don't
have to because along has come a new game that takes the Zarch idea,
bolts on some heavy duty fire-power, kicks out any last shred of
cuteness and comes striding out the door breathing fire and spitting
a hail of lead.........ahem, I seem to have strayed from the point a
bit.

Zeewolf is, in short, a combination of the look and feel of Zarch
with the fire-power and gameplay of Desert Strike.  If you liked
either game, you'll love Zeewolf.

For the minority (?) who haven't heard of either game, Zeewolf takes
the "externally viewed craft flying over a rolling patchwork
landscape" aspect of Zarch, and adds a well armed helicopter gunship
with the ability to pick up friendly troops and vehicles.  Thus you
can either think of Zeewolf as Desert Strike in polygons, or Zarch
with superior firepower.

The background story to the game is pretty much irrelevant, like all
good arcade game background stories.  Basically you are given a
helicopter gunship and asked to eradicate the enemy forces over a
series of 32 missions, varying from the ridiculously easy to the
disturbingly tough.  The difficulty varies almost at random, since
the last four missions were surprisingly easy, whereas there were a
couple of missions earlier on that I spent a few days on before
finally beating them.

Each mission consists of a wrap-around map of one or more islands,
with a variable number of enemy land, air and sea forces.  There will
also be some friendly forces dotted around, although in most cases
this simply means your resupply vehicle (which may take the form of
an assault carrier or frigate, or may just be a little tracked
vehicle based on land).  There are one or more mission objectives,
based on four basic types.

	1: Kill the enemy
	2: Rescue friendly troops
	3: Retrieve damaged vehicles
	4: Escort friendly vehicles home

Cases 2 and 3 are as simple as they seem, with just the number of
rescues/retrievals varying.  Case 1, however, takes into account a
wide range of objectives, from the destruction of just one or two
specific enemy vehicles, to the complete destruction of the enemy
presence on the map.

In some missions you have help from friendly forces, namely the
Buffalo tank.  These are usually placed on board your carrier,
requiring you to airlift them one at a time to the islands, or are
located inside armoured domes, usually surrounded by enemy forces.
Once located/released the Buffalo roams around looking for targets
until it either destroys all targets in the vicinity or is itself
destroyed.

Case 4 is also deserving of a mention.  These missions ask you to
provide air support for one or more friendly aircraft (either
transport helicopters or scout aircraft). Since you are the only
friendly armed aircraft, it is usually a good idea to clear the
flight path of any enemy presence before escorting the aircraft to
the carrier.

Note that in a multi-objective mission, the objectives could in
theory be worked on in any order, but certain missions require
targets to be destroyed/friendlies rescued before a certain time
limit runs out. In these cases you must use your judgement as to the
order in which you attempt the overall mission.

The Zeewolf can only carry a limited amount of ammunition and fuel,
so requires regular resupply.  To do this there is always one or more
resupply points on the map. These are usually Camel class resupply
vehicles, either located on the islands or on the forward deck of the
assault carrier.  In some missions the resupply is provided by a
frigate, with a resupply point on the rear landing pad.  The amount
of ammunition/fuel carried by each resupply point is limited, so it
is a good idea not to waste any stores.  Your armour rating cannot be
increased by resupply, only through the rescue of friendly troops.
If the mission has no troops to rescue, then you'd better be careful
with your armour.  If you are killed, then all the stores carried are
destroyed as well, although if you have any lives remaining, then you
continue the mission with slightly reduced stores.  It is a good
idea, if you are low on armour, to off-load ammunition at a resupply
point, as you will be able to pick it up again with your next life.

Control of the Zeewolf is carried out by either digital joystick or
mouse, with some keyboard controls as well.  For the beginner it may
be easier to use the joystick, although I would recommend using the
mouse from day one.  Even though it makes controlling the Zeewolf a
bit harder at first, you'll be glad of the extra accuracy of mouse
control once you are used to it.  Also, when you've completed all 32
missions, you'll really need to be good with the controls..........
I say no more on this; you'll just have to get past level 32 to see
what I mean.

After completing a set of four missions, you are rewarded with a
password that allows you to start the game at the next mission.  No
progress data is stored on disk.  Whilst the inclusion of passwords
is welcomed, I would have preferred passwords for every level, not
just every fourth level.  Of course, there is always an exception to
the rule, the exception being the password for the last four levels,
which doesn't actually exist.......  In other words, you have to
battle through eight levels in order to reach the end of the game,
rather than being able to start with only four to go.  Still, like I
say, the last four levels are really simple.

The map screen deserves mention because whilst you look at the map,
you can still play the game using the (approximately) quarter scale
window provided on screen.  Of course, since the game is now only
drawing into a quarter of the area it draws into with the full screen
dispay, the frame rate suddenly shoots up.  On an accelerated
machine, this increase can result in the game's running just a bit
too fast to be really controllable.  Nevertheless, it is a nice
touch, as you are never left flying blind whilst you consult the map.


Comparisons...

Well, it feels like the offspring of a mating between Zarch and
Desert Strike.  It has the graphical look and control fun of Zarch,
with the shooting and rescues of Desert Strike.  If you like either
or both games, you'll just drool when you play Zeewolf.


Conclusions...

This is the first game from Binary Asylum, and it's absolutely
brilliant!  It throws out the notion that rendered graphics and CD
audio are required to make a good game, and relies on good old
playability to give the game appeal.  I love it.

Alphabetical list.