#1-3 01 января 1987

Checkout

     'ACE' - A Short review     
            by Brian Cavers     
     ----------------------

I was surprised to see a
completely new computer magazine
on the shelf of our local W.H.
Smith's this morning. I vaguely
recollect hearing a whisper that
it was to be published but I'd
forgotten. Naturally, I felt it
my duty to buy a copy and report
to OUTLET readers!


'ACE' (which stands for advanced
computer entertainment!) is a
predominantly games-oriented
magazine and the 1st issue comes
with a free copy of Ocean's
'GIFT FROM THE GODS' (not just a
demo - the complete game!).
'GODS' is a full-priced game in
which you control a character
through what appear to be an
enormous number of screens that
scroll left, right, up and down
and  you can also enter doors
"into" the screen.

Control is very good - feeling
something like the flying sprite
in 'Kokotoni Wilf' only much
better and generally the
graphics are superior. Overall,
well-presented and with a lot of


promise involving strategy,
map-making, reasonable reaction
times and a lot of interest.
I've found no irritating quirks
so far. If you like this sort of
game then the first issue of ACE
is astonishing gigavalue at
`1.50!

The magazine itself is well-
presented and covers the
Spectrum, Amiga, ST, C64 and
Amstrad. The letters page is
full of dummy letters in this
1st issue - what a cheap trick!
They've obviously got the idea
from us!

There's an article on computer
graphics, the midi interface (to
musical instruments) and an


adventure section including
reviews.

The game reviews dominate the
magazine. Many of the screen
shots are first class, glossy
colour pictures. The game rating
display is interesting and
features a graph curve to show
at a glance ACE's 'predicted
interest curve' over 1 year. The
reviews themselves seem detailed
although myself, I prefer "jury"
reviews where the verdict of
several people is shown.

ACE seems to be an excellent
magazine for those interested in
computer ENTERTAINMENT. I might
add that we won't be including
it in our OUTVIEW only because


that section can't really cover
the vast field of software
reviews other than an occasional
'special'.

We'll be keeping an eye on ACE
to see how it develops and will
report if we find anything of
special interest to OUTLET
readers.