Commodore User


Infodroid

Categories: Review: Software
Author: Chris Cain
Publisher: Beyond
Machine: Commodore 64

 
Published in Commodore User #40

Infodroid

This game is well presented, has nice colour, quite good scrolling and has a choice of four different tunes to listen to whilst playing. The only thing is that it's totally boring!!

In this latest offering from Denton Designs, the guys who brought you Shadowfire, you play the part of a droid controller who delivers packages by guiding a droid to a certain destination, by a certain time. A sort of intergalactic DHL, if you like. You select your droid and equipment from a load of icons - what a surprise Denton! This bit is quite confusing at first, but after two of three goes, it comes naturally. At this point you use the cube feature. This consists of a transparent cube, which will rotate when you hold down the fire button and point the joystick in any direction.

On each side of the cube is a different feature, some blank, one showing the status of your equipment, others showing packages to be delivered. It's all simple really, it just sounds impossible. Now you leave the room by selecting any icon from the exit side of the cube.

Infodroid

Once outside, you find yourself on a different screen which consists of a grey street going up the centre of the screen, and various platforms going at different speeds on the outside. When you step on a platform, it takes you up or down the road, depending on which side of the screen you are, e.g. if you are on the right, you go up.

The game consists of fifteen streets, or causeways as Denton like to call them. You must use junction rooms to cross from causeway to causeway, so that you can get to different destinations. Junction rooms are marked with white arrows, whereas destination rooms are marked with the initials or names of a company. The only other rooms are garages, marked with spanners, these rooms are where you get your droid fixed.

Why would you need to do that? Well, you're not the only one cruising the causeways, there are other droids and pirate ones which will attack you, if you are carrying a valuable package. Even though you have shields, you can be damaged so you must have a service every now and then. When you've delivered several packages and have made plenty of money, you can buy extra features for your droid. These include stronger shields, stronger penetrators (things used for jabbing other droids!) and power boosters. Unfortunately, you don't seem to be able to buy lasers, which means you can't shoot anything. Shame.

Infodroid

The graphics on this game are good, but rather plain, just consisting of grey platforms and grids. Your droid, and all the others for that matter, are very weird, and look like they were knocked up from a Basic sprite editor.

The sound comes in the form of effects, or four tunes. Each tune has a different title, but they all sound the same to me. None of them are up to much as far as the C64 goes, but the game is even more boring without one pounding away.

To round it all off, the gameplay is non existent. There's no excitement - no urge to make you play again. It's a total flop.

If this game gets into the charts, it's either because of the name Denton Designs or it's been rigged.

Probably the most boring game I've seen for ages.

Chris Cain

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