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wilmonamor FrY,TYY,
UA NAUT
UPDATE
BY ADDICTIVE
O oh excitement! The
Earths being invaded
(again), but this time the bugeyed
space creatures have
moved into the lost city of Atlantis
from where they're planning
to launch their final devastating
attack on humankind,
Luckily for us, there's
one man who knows NO
FEAR(I) and that man is ace
aquanaut, Ric Flair.
In the first section Ric plunges
into the murky, sidewaysscrolling
ocean depths.
Swimming right, Ric has to
dodge or rocket numerous hazards,
including homing
swordfish, tentacled jellyfish,
barrels of nuclear waste and
depth charges. A kindly quartermaster
has dropped off
some equipment pods, containing
the tools you need to
complete the game.
Graphically, this section is
great. loads of big, well-animated
sprites - and it's a
pretty good blast too. My one
complaint is that once a
swordfish or a shark gets on
your flippers you can have
real problems getting rid of it
because by the time Ric's
turned around to shoot, he's
been skewered.
The next section is a hunt
through submarine caverns
for the entrance to Atlantis.
Useful items are scattered
hither and thither, and it's up
to you to work out what to
use where.
The final load is set in the
corridors of Atlantis, which
are positively swarming with
Ramanishi aliens. As well as
torching the Ramanishi
spaceship, Ric has to find
and release the four remain-
A Don't touch the nuclear waste!
ing Atlanteans. Again, its a
case of finding objects and
using them in the right
places, but this time he has
Ramanishi guards to deal
with. Unless he finds a better
weapon, this means chucking
knives at them before they
can touch him. Again, this
section is made tougher by
the fact that Ric can't turn
and fire instantaneously, so
aliens simultaneously approaching
from btith sides
can be extremely tricky to
deal with. The puzzles are
fairly logical, but some of the
objects are so alien that it's
V Beware of ths, er, dog?
Si
Versions for the Amiga
and PC are in the pipeline
and they should
emerge early on in 1990.
anyone's guess what purpose
they could possibly
serve. Still, I suppose it all
adds to the mystery.
Although it•s not without its
faults, Aquanaut is an entertaining
sort of game. Each
section has enough to keep
you immersed ("immersed" -
geddit?) for a good few
months, and there's even a
handy game save to save
you from swimming over old
ground. If you're after something
out of the ordinary,
check it out_
PAUL GLANCEY
v A transporter clam
E24.99
GRAPHICS 80%
SOUND 6 0 %
VALUE 8 0 %
PLAYABILITY 75%
An enjoyable combination
of exploring and
blasting games, made a
bit over-difficult by one
or two flaws.
OVERALL 76%