Amaurote

Copyright : Mastertronic | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

The city of Amaurote has been invaded by huge, aggressive insects who have built colonies in each of the city?s 25 sectors. As the only uninjured army Officer left after the invasion (that?ll teach you for hiding!), the job falls to you to destroy all the insect colonies.

You have been given some equipment to help you do so: an Arachnus 4 armoured walker, a radar scanner, a two-way radio, 30 bouncing bombs and $5,000,000 to buy new equipment. You also have a map to guide you.

Graphics

Very well detailed objects and enemies, Amaurote has a striking visual style that, although similar to other 3D isometric games, is far more polished than most.

The animation of your craft is excellent as you scuttle around the clearly defined monochrome landscape. Different colours are used to differentiate between the city areas.

The obvious drawback to this level of detail is the severe slowdowns that occur when there is a lot going on in the game window and this can be frustrating especially if youâ??re on a roll.

Another major graphical problem is that some screens are very difficult to see exactly what is going on due to the choice of colours (the dark blue areas in particular are difficult to navigate)

Sound

With an excellent title tune, Amaurote has one of the best soundtracks to any CPC game I have ever played. The in-game music is highly atmospheric and suits the game perfectly.

Gameplay

Although initially difficult to get into, perseverance pays off as Amaurote slowly begins to unravel in front of you as a solid 3D shoot-em-up.

The shooting control (rather than a gun, you fire bouncing bombs that are difficult to control and require a little luck as well as dead-eye accuracy) in particular takes a little mastering but once youâ??ve cracked that then the game can begin in earnest.

Difficult but not impossible, Amaurote is hampered by the aforementioned slowdowns but it does detract greatly from the experience. The only real problem with the game is the lack of variety in task. Each layout may be different but the central task is the same in each.

Having said that, itâ??ll still be quite a while before you are able to master the game and liberate the city.