Actref

Copyright : Weber Gilles | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

Ever since the BBC Microcomputer brought us the mighty Repton games the tradition has never been broken and wave after wave of clones have been created, these include the perhaps more popular Boulderdash series that actually went on to the arcades and lets not forget Diamond Caves on the Amstrad CPC (given away by Amstrad Action!).

Actref follows the exact same style of game but with some very, very bizarre changes indeed.

Graphics

Actref is basically your average Repton/Boulderdash clone with very similar graphic styles and gameplay (more on this later). While Repton and Boulderdash gave the player a large playing area and more challenging level designs it seems that Actref (for the most part at least) doesn?t offer the same style as each level is simply a one screen affair with more and more obstacles to avoid. The main stand out thing about this game is the fact that you?re not a strange creature like Repton or an explorer like Boulderdash but a weird looking head that for some reason can move around without any legs or the need to roll about - very strange stuff indeed.

Sound

The sound is a let down as there is no music (like Boulderdash) and hardly any good sounds to be heard throughout the game, don?t get us wrong there are sounds in Actref but most of them are just beeps and the occasional none floor shaking explosion.

Gameplay

Because of the fact that Actref doesn?t have so many of the features offered by other games of the same genre it shouldn?t keep a lot of fans happy for very long but for those of you that could never complete Boulderdash or Repton on the BBC this might be a game of choice because of the much smaller levels and easier gameplay skills.

The game isn?t as fast paced, your strange character thing doesn?t move when you want him to and the level designs are no were near as challenging as those seen in other Boulderdash clones and indeed the game that started it all. All in all Actref is nothing more than a pretty poor Boulderdash clone and without all the extra trimming, presented in a No Frills packaging with little more to offer than the game itself. It might be worth checking out but then again it might not.