***************************** * PART 5 - REBELSTAR * ***************************** 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. ========================================== 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. ========================================== 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. ========================================== Thanks to assistant Ed, for reproducing The complete Rebelstar reviews. ========================================== ==========================================