Above par gulf game
(for me anyway!)
Game – Persian Gulf Inferno, Magic Bytes
Released – 1989
System – Amiga 500
There are some games that you just love, it doesn’t matter how bad it may be and what everyone else thinks, you just see the good – Persian Gulf Inferno was one of those games for me.
Late in the 1980s tension was building in the Middle East , so Magic Bytes thought “let’s jump on that
bandwagon and base the plot of our new game on the impending conflict” (think
Desert Strike). So, the plot they came up with is based on a terrorist group
high jacking an oil rig, taking hostages and arming a bomb – the aim is to kill,
rescue and disarm (I’ll let you work out who to kill and rescue and what to
disarm!).
Being an Amiga game, and from the golden age of only one
fire button, the controls are pretty simple. Left and right to run, up and down
to climb steps or use lifts - if you press down while moving you go a nifty
forward roll.
The fire button fires your selected weapon, there are three
you can find (F1, F2 & F3) and space plants an explosive charge, used to
open locked doors.
You need to explore the oil rig within the 35 minute time frame
to locate the bomb; you do this by searching rooms. While searching for the
bomb you can also come across extra ammo and explosive charges, room or
elevator keys as well as hostages who can give you clues to the bombs location
As you progress through the rig you will occasionally come
across a band of terrorists, you know this as they start screaming like a
banshee when they see you. At this point it is time to let rip with
whatever weapon you happen to be holding. The actual gunshot and terrorist
sounds are quite well done; as is the in game music – it sets the scene nicely.
Who leaves live ammunition in a
unlocked room on a highly explosive
oil rig?
Now, all this sounds very promising (as I said I love this
game), but it is not without its problems. Firstly, exploring the rig can get
very boring – there are times when you end up running down a very long corridor
only to find a dead end. The combat is also hampered by the fact that your
highly trained anti-terrorist agent takes ages to turn around, if you are
attacked from behind you usually take two hits before turning to face the
enemies. It is just better to keep moving in one direction away from enemies
behind you in order to minimise damage.
Cut the wrong wire when disarming
the bomb and it's game over.
One thing the game does well is build tension (the sound in
particular is good at this) - as you make you way around the rig you are not
aware of when you are next going to be attacked or what you might find in the
next room you search. You are up against the clock so there is a need to keep
moving and work to structured search pattern.
The difficulty curve in the game is quite balanced and with each play it does feel like you can make some more progress.
Summary
A game that I loved years ago in 1989 and still enjoy now.
It will not be to everyone tastes, and some will object to the blatant
stereotype used for its plot.
The graphics are small, but well drawn with solid animation and sound does a good job of building the tension.
The game is not without issues, but look past those and it a
solid package.
Don't agree with me? Let's be honest my review is a little bit biased! HOL has some other opinions - http://hol.abime.net/1031
