John 'Don't push me' Rambo is a figure likely to be
familiar to most ZZAP! readers. You've seen the film,
read the book, ate the burger and now, after three months
intensive advertising, you can play the game. Rambo,
opiate of America's masses, is a modern day mega hero
who's been sent on a reconnaissance mission to take
some photos of a prisoner of war camp deep within the
Viet Nam jungle. His orders are clear, Do Not
engage the enemy and Do Not attempt a rescue.
Obviously
this would make for a very dull film, not to mention
game, so placed within the enemy compound we find Rambo's
old pal and buddy, Banks. Feeling pretty poorly having
been strung up on a bamboo post since the start of the
game (and for all of the time since the war finished),
Rambo takes pity (and umbrage -- LM's Long Word Dictionary)
and decides to break his orders. Uninformed that Rambo's
really on a peaceful sort of mission, the evil enemy
troops try to blast him apart, sapping him of that near-endless
energy.
Rambo
himself is a meaty sprite that remains centrally placed
in the screen while the steamy jungle scrolls beneath
him. The scenery takes up the whole screen and smoothly
scrolls to some Martin Gallway music in the background.
To keep Rambo up to date on his progress, score and
energy levels are superimposed along the bottom of the
screen. Though pretty tough, John Rambo is not immortal
and, as a daring departure from the original script,
he can actually die! If the energy band drops down to
zero level, usually due to too many bullets bouncing
of his chest, then the game is over. Score is awarded
for killing the compound guards or completing one of
the three stages in the game.
Rambo
yomping to the south of the Temple. The
indistinct blur next to the Temple is a machine gun.
To
ward off any attacking guards, Rambo is supposed lo
fend for himself using three weapons with which he's
supplied initially, although there are others to be
found in the jungle. Each has a different characteristic
and effect. Rambo's original inventory contains a bow,
two types of arrow, and a pocket full of knives. One
of the quivers of arrows is of the explosive type and
though pretty powerful, it's best not to use them at
first. The disadvantage of the more powerful weapons
is that they attract the attention of the enemy, so
on approaching the camp silence is a better tactic,
and that means the use of the knives or ordinary arrows.
Once
he's into the compound, that inescapable star-quality
charisma alerts the gooks to Rambo's presence and they
decide that he shouldn't really be there. Silence is
no longer an advantage, and by using the space bar it's
possible to switch to the noisier and slightly more
powerful weapon.
The
compound is mostly made up from huts and security towers,
all displayed in a forced 3D perspective. Banks is held
at the top left hand side of the camp; to collect him
just guide Rambo past the bamboo cross upon which he
is strung.
The
next stage is to get Rambo and Banks to the wailing
'copter to the north of the compound. Once into the
machine, Rambo must return to the compound to rescue
the rest of the captive prisoners. The helicopter's
fuel runs out with great speed and the landing spot
must be found before the energy band gets to zero. To
release the hostages, a hut in the bottom left hand
corner has to be hit with a knife. A burst of music
rings out and ten pale-looking prisoners run for the
helicopter. Once back into the helicopter, you must
fly northwards to friendly Thailand while coping with
some hassle from an enemy gunship.
Throughout
the program, sound is used to try and create atmospheric
effect. Though there is probably more on later stages
of the game, nine different tunes were counted during
play.
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