Technocop


Title		Technocop
Game Type	General Action
Players		1
HD Installable	No
Compatibility	All (But too fast on accelerated machines)
Submission	paul.a.kitching@ntlworld.com

Review
This is an old game from 1988 by Imagexcel and is a mixture of two game
styles - a car and a shooting part.  You start the game in a fast car and
have to make your way to a crime scene.  You have a 'behind the car' view
like the Lotus games but this time you have a gun!  The screen shows you
your damage (it is game over if your car gets too damaged), your distance
left to go, the time you have left to get there and information on the
crime (e.g. A hostage to rescue) and criminal (picture, description etc.).
Other drivers will try to ram you off the road on you way there so be
carefull.

When you get to the building you are told your orders (dead or alive,
capture etc.) and you get out of the car.  Now you have a 2D side view and
the information bar at the bottom of the screen changes to show your
lives (you have 5), energy (getting hit reduces this for the current
life), the weapon you are using (you have a gun or a net gun), a radar
(showing you the relative position of the criminal to you), the time you
have to finish the job and your 'jump-ometer' which goes down when you
jump and you have to have a certain amount left to be able to jump again
(it goes up when you stop jumping), which stops you jumping all the time!

The building is a forced isometric view with lifts, different floors, gaps
in the floor and walls blocking the way.  You have to make your way
through the building to get to the criminal before the time runs out
(collecting any pick-up's on the way).  While you are doing this you will
be attacked by the local punk's, nut-cases, and general nasty people with
throwing stars, whips etc. which you can avoid by jumping or shooting them.

When you get to the baddy you will have to shoot him or capture him in a
net.  He might try to push a barrel at you or disapear and re-appear so
you have to use different methods for each one.  When this is done get
back to your car and proceed to the next crime scene.  If you have been
sucessfull you might get a bonus item for your car (like a turbo charger)
and your car damage will be reduced slightly.

There are 10-15 levels that get progressivly harder and bigger and I found
myself mapping the buildings as some of them are quite large.  When you
die or finish the game you will be given a score and rating (up to
'Technocop' obviously) and it saves your scores on the disk.

I played this quite a lot when I got it, but it didn't get noticed at the
time and I have never seen a review that liked it.  I think it is good
though.  It is dated of course but it should pass a few days if you like
ths sort of thing.  And it is nice to see two different game types used in
the same game.






Category list.

Alphabetical list.