Crash


Dimension Destructors
By Artic Computing
Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Crash #2

Dimension Destructors

Suddenly from the outer reaches of space, a dot appears on the scanner of your fighter craft. As you tear forward, the dots grow until you can clearly see them in 3D form. Prepare for combat! Your trembling finger reaches for the firing button.

You pull across to avoid an enemy fighter as it whistles past you in its kamikaze attack. The inlay intro for this game is quite prosaic in comparison with many, and becomes justified when you see the graphics. Dimension Destructors is a sort of 'Battle Zone' game in space, and employs three dimensional graphics very reminiscent of Artic's earlier 3D Combat Zone. The object is quite simple, use the directional keys to line up the approaching enemy fighters (hollow pyramid and diamond shapes) in the central cross hairs and then zap them with your laser. This fires twin bolts of energy which converge a distance ahead in the cross hairs.

The title card is very bright, well drawn, and the credit card and points/hiscore table is very effectively done in scrolling letters which run off into the distance in perspective, rather like the titles for Star War movies.

Comments

Dimension Destructors

Control keys: QWERTY up, ASDFGH down, 0=left, P=right, bottom row fires
Joystick: Sinclair, Kempston, Fuller
Keyboard play: very responsive and easy to control
Use of colour simple
Graphics: effective 3D, good title cards
Sound: reasonable and continuous
Skill levels: gets harder
Lives: 4 shields, 5 lives

Comment 1

'The graphics are fairly simple but well animated in 3D and the enemy explode into chunks battle zone style. I found it quite exciting to play and I think it's one of Artic's best releases yet. The titles and hi-score are very impressive, if a little slow.'

Comment 2

'At last, a good 3D shoot em up - shame you move so slowly! The various enemy craft have different flight tactics. If you're good enough you will find out where the enemy fighters come from. The graphics are fair to good. It's difficult to play and in the end I found it a little bit boring, probably due to its difficulty.'

Comment 3

'Perhaps the lack of a landscape makes this game less spectacular than Artic's 30 Combat Zone, but it is much faster to play and so more fun. The graphics are simple and somewhat colourless as you might expect with hollow 3D, but they work very effectively. The control response is very good, one of the easiest cockpit view games to control I've ever seen. Very playable, but perhaps not massively addictive.'

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