Zzap


Techno Cop
By Kixx
Commodore 64/128

 
Published in Zzap #73

Technocop

Let me take you to a future where the crime rate has rocketed and the police are powerless to act. The only hope is a band of lawmen known as The Enforcers. As their top operative you must stop one particularly nasty gang of villains called Dead On Arrival (DOA): Armed with a criminal locater radar, a snare net and .88 Magnum, you are more than a match for the scumbags.

The game is split into two sections, the first sets you at the wheel of your very own futuristic sports car. As you hurtle up the highway, DOA thugs do their best to send you to that great police station in the sky: The car is initially armed with a cannon, but add-ons can be earned later on. As you merrily blast the DOA scum into bloody bits an APB is called on a villain, and it's up to you to catch him. This takes you to the second section, a horizontally scrolling shoot-'em-up with you using either gun or net to catch/kill the chief bad guy and his henchmen. This done, you are promoted and moved to the next level where more DOA agents await.

Sounds exciting, eh? Well, let me tell you here and now, Technocop isn't even worth its new budget price tag. Back in Issue 47 the game received 17%, with the painful multi-load coming in for much criticism: complete both levels once (with a long wait for a load in between) and you have to rewind the tape to the start and reload the whole lot again for the next section! This is a bit of a shame because graphically the game isn't bad, the driving section is really pretty good and the street scene isn't too bad, although the hero looks as if he's battling against a force ten gale in the second section. An okay game, by Chris Gray of Infiltrator and Fiendish Freddy, ruined by a slow multi-load.