Disposable Hero

Title            Disposable Hero
Genre            Shoot-em-up
Company          Gremlin
Players          1
HD Installable   No
Compatibillity   All
Submission       Joachim Froholt Profiled Reviewer

Review
The horisontally scrolling shoot'em'up is one of the Amiga's favourite
genres, probably because it suits the Amiga's graphical capabillities so
well. We have had countless great SEU's, like Project X, R-Type and
this title: Disposable Hero.

The plot doesn't matter, this game is all about meeting hundreds of new,
exiting beings, greeting them with a shower of bullets and sending them
back to the damned dimension from which they emerged. You know, standard
shoot'em'up stuff.

The first thing you notice when you start playing is the excellent
presentation. The graphics look very AGA, although they are not. The amount
of animations and details is amazing, especially considering that the
game runs silky smooth, even on an A600. I don't think I've seen any Shoot'
em'up with this much attention to graphical details. You can play through
the game several times, and you will still notice new, cool stuff.
The music is also great. Each level has a different tune, some even have
two. I don't understand how this game can run on 1MB machines!

The style of the graphics varies drastically with each level, and every
level also has it's own suitable monsters. Most levels have several
"bosses", plus a big one at the end. These are often great to just watch
as they animate beautifully. But they are quite tough, so luckily the
player's ship can be upgraded in some special shops so that it can match
those mean monsters.

The gameplay is good, although some reviewers suggested that it is a bit
on the tough side. There are four difficulty settings, but on the easiest
you cannot proceed beyond level four, which isn't so good. I admit that
I gave up trying to play through this game, but then again I'm not too good
at these games. What helped me see the rest of the game was cheating
(If you need help, I'll tell you how to cheat, just e-mail me at the above
address). But because of the previously mentioned amount of details, I've
played through this game at least ten times by now.

Unlike some shoot'em'ups you've got to be careful not to collide with the
walls. You've also got to look out, because the landscape also provides
a few surprise obstacles, like spikes that spring out from the wall.
One thing that isn't so good is that you sometimes run into obstacles which
must be shot away before you collide with them. If you haven't got a very
powerful weapon, you'll lose a life.

Disposable Hero is a good game. The presentation is fantastic, and the
attention to detail is enormous. Some of the details are a bit gory
and disgusting, though, so I guess you should perhaps be careful and not
let young kids play this game. As mentioned, the gameplay is good.
If you're very good at this type of games, I guess you won't find it too
difficult. I still think you should try it out even if this isn't your
type of game, especially if you can get it for less than ten pounds.
When you need to waste an hour, you can turn on the cheat mode and play
through the game. It might sound tedious, but once you've actually turned
it on, you won't turn it off before you're done.

Finally, I must mention the brilliant ending sequence. Without giving away
too much, I can tell you that it will definitely leave you with mixed
feelings.

Alphabetical list.