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31 августа 1995 |
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Part 5 - Rebel Star.
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* PART 5 - REBELSTAR *
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REBELSTAR TRILOGY By Julian Gollop
REBELSTAR RAIDERS - Red Shift
(retro reviewed in Crash no.28 May 1986 by
Sean Masterton)
Now we're going back in time a bit. Red
Shift were known for their science fiction
strategy series. One of the best of these
was RebelStar Raiders. As is typical of
games at the time, the program takes ages
to load. The player is presented with a
choice of 4 scenarios on loading:
Moonbase, Starlingale, The Final Assault
and Expansion. These need to be loaded
from tape individually and the scenarios
themselves take as long to get into the
computer as most modern games do. Ah, but
these were the days when such things
mattered not.
The player is presented with a screen
depicting a deck plan of an area of ship
or installation which has to be protected
from attack by raiders. A few human
operatives and a section of droids is
available to assist. Each deck is
different, depending on the scenario, and
some were designed to present a greater
level of difficulty to the players than
others.
During play the defender deploys the crew
one by one. Each crew member has a name
and weapon, and weapons can include
anything from pistols and sub-machine guns
to lasers and grenades. Not unreasonably,
each weapon has a different effect on the
enemy - but these of course are no more
than variations on a theme. They are
deadly if used properly! Once Raiders are
deployed, the game begins.
Movement and combat are handled by a
points system which dictates how far a
character may move and what sources of
action are available to him. Damage is
dealt with in a similar manner. The
Raider's forces outnumber the defender's
but the defender's robots are armoured and
consequently difficult to eliminate. The
concept of the game is strikingly similar
to that of a conventional board game
called Azhanti High Lightning by Game
Designers Workshop, which had deck plans
for an 84 deck space cruiser and scenarios
for shipboard combat. Both games are
highly addictive, being well-devised
tactical simulations with great variety in
play. They provide a lasting challenge to
the most preserving of tacticians.
Red Shift no longer exists, which means
it's unlikely that you'll catch one of
their titles on your regular stockists's
shelves. RebelStar Raiders was another
title which suffered from a lack of
adequate exposure when it was released.
Anybody with a copy of the game should
treasure it - the game has its faults, but
it was (and still is) way ahead of its
time.
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REBELSTAR - Firebird
(reviewed in Crash no. 31 August 1986 by
Sean Masterton)
After recently looking at the old Red
Shift game Rebelstar Raiders and getting a
lot of response, I was pleased to receive
this release from Firebird. Called
Rebelstar, it is actually written by the
author of that early classic but has been
much improved. For the price, this has to
be the best strategy game I've reviewed in
ten months of Frontline.
One and two player versions of the game
are provided, each loaded as a separate
game from a different side of the
cassette. There is only one scenario, but
this is larger than any of those in its
predecessor. It involves a group of
raiders trying to break into an enemy
complex and disable the main computer.
Player(s) controls individual characters
or robots which are each allocated a
certain number of action points. The
members of the player's team are ordered
individually with different actions
costing varying numbers of points. Each
team member may carry out as many actions
as required in a single move, as long as
the point allowance for that character is
not exceeded for that move. Each character
carries a weapon of some description and a
quota of ammunition and may also carry
several other items found on the route to
the central computer. only one item can be
used at any time and it cost action points
to change from one item to another.
The Screen scrolls in four directions
following the trail of the cursor used to
order team members. To the right of the
main action area, an information display
lists the options available and any
information about the figure currently
highlighted by the cursor.
Play consists of turns during which a
player moves and orders all forces under
his or her control. Movement for
characters is eight directional and orders
consist of M (drop object), P (pick up
object), L (load object), F (enter fire
mode). Movement is achieved by selecting a
unit and moving it under the cursor. When
fire mode is entered some map detail
disappears, combatants become coloured
spheres and the cursor changes into a
sight. the sight is positioned in the
desired target area and when confirmed, an
energy beam is displayed along with a
message detailing the accuracy of the
pulse.
There are three different kinds of shot:
an aimed shot costs the most points but is
most likely to succeed; a snap shot is
less accurate but costs fewer points to
preform; finally, a player may select
opportunity fire to cover a particular
area. Opportunity fire only executes a
shot when an enemy crosses the line of
fire during his turn, in which case a
snapshot is fired at him. Shots may
damage, wound or kill, scoring a random
number of points determined by the power
of the weapon. Generally, the more
powerful the weapon a character possesses,
the less ammunition is available. If a
character is wounded in combat, a message
to this effect appears next time that
character is selected. Wounding reduces
the constitution of a character - second
wound kills. Killed players are removed
from play, but droids that have been
knocked out leave wreckage which causes a
blockage.
As the complex is entered and explored,
various objects may become available to
the players/ Keys can be used to
lock/unlock security doors (the key to the
armoury is particularly useful).
Medi-probes can be used to heal wounded
characters, and Droid- probes repair
droids. Using an object is achieved by
bumping into the required object.
In the one player game, you may only take
the part of the raiders but this apparent
limitation is offset by the fact that the
computer opponent is a highly competent
adversary. It deploys the defending droids
cleverly and uses them ruthlessly in its
attempt to thwart your mission. However as
there are eight difficulty settings you
can temper this efficiency somewhat. The
game is superbly error trapped and many of
the warning messages relate to specific
actions to avoid ambiguity. The map is
clean and well drawn but packed with
detail and every item is properly
labelled. Character graphics are quite
good with different weapons altering the
look of the troopers (all of whom are
named). Even the sound effects are
reasonable. Weapon skills, stamina and
morale are taken into account on an
individual level and atmosphere and
variety included in each event. Each
character also has an assigned percentage
chance of hitting a target listed.
I would have expected a game of such high
quality to appear at a much higher price,
and take my hat off to Firebird for
introducing this much improved version of
an old favourite back onto the market at a
reasonable price. I can find no fault with
it.
PRESENTATION 88%
The presentation on screen is spotless. If
Firebird had taken more care with the
instruction inlay, it could have been
better.
RULES 90%
Simple to pick up, but deviously devised.
PLAYABILITY 92%
You can almost play as soon as you load.
The game runs at a fast pace from start to
finish.
GRAPHICS 90%
Colourful, clear, detailed...what more can
you ask?
AUTHENTICITY 91%
The Action Point system works excellently.
It is however, very similar to that used
by GDW in their game Snapshot. Come to
think of it, there are a lot of
similarities...
OPPONENT 91%
You will hate it once on the higher skill
levels.
VALUE FOR MONEY 95%
Unbeatable.
OVERALL 93% CRASH SMASH
No longer need you lament for Red Shift.
This classic game is up for grabs now. I
can only suggest you scamper off and get a
copy.
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REBELSTAR 2 - Firebird
Reviewed Your Sinclair number 42 June 1989
'Arcade strategy' game that would probably
be better off just calling itself a
strategy game, 'cos that's what it is. But
then strategy is not a big seller it might
once have been, so any attempt to liven it
up for the wider audience is perhaps to be
welcomed.
Anyway, this little number supplies you
with a number of forces (the Rebelstar
Raiders, in case you were wondering) who
must fight an armed party of aliens which
has established itself on a nearby planet.
Not only must you kill as many nasties as
you can, but you must also see of their
eggs - for yes, if they hatch, the phrase
'eggy soldiers' will take on a entirely
new meaning. So it all comes down to the
traditional strategy features of troops
deployment, bloodless battles, and terrain
neatly mapped out in a giant grid. You can
play against the computer or a friend (the
two-player game loads separately), and the
whole is quite a laff, if perhaps not as
detailed as most full-priced strat games.
A neat addition to the genre, though.
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Thanks to assistant Ed, for reproducing
The complete Rebelstar reviews.
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