In the late 1980s a massive automatic power plain, Titan,
was built deep under the Atlantic Ocean where the Earth
's crust is the thinnest. The huge complex drew red
hot magma from deep within the Earth's core, converted
it to energy and supplied nearly all of the World's
industrial nations with the power to work their giant
factories.
This
continued quite happily until disaster struck. The RLF
(Robot Liberation Front) invaded the complex aiming
to give equal rights to robots. Although they were only
a small group of crackpots they were in a position to
bargain -- they had planted a device which would interfere
with the Titan complex sufficiently to trigger an earthquake
-- an earthquake of such epic proportions that it would
result in the biggest cataclysm ever endured by mankind!
The resulting earthquake from the destruction of the
Titan complex would cause immense tidal waves that would
totally destroy all cities along the European and Atlantic
seaboards. The loss of life, damage to property and
the ruination of the world's economy would be incalculable.
The
game begins a day before the RLFs device explodes and
it's up to you to take control of the complex . . .
Titan
is in fact controlled by five separate computers: Zeus,
Poseidon, Vulcan, Ares and Hermes.
Luckily, government scientists have managed to re-establish
contact with Hermes and with just under ten hours to
go, it's from Hermes that you start your World-saving
quest. You commence the game under severe pressure and
it's made even worse by the fact that your base, Hermes,
can be recaptured by the other Titans (who have been
turned hostile and have been alerted to your presence).
If this happens then the game terminates rather swiftly
(and so will the lives of millions and millions of ZZAP!
readers), so stay cool and keep a level head!
Fortunately
it's not all bad news -- the scientists have managed
to fiddle with the complex's real-time clock and this
can be used to slow the countdown of the bomb and give
you about an extra hour of game time. Needless to say
that this interrupt has to be used sparingly and only
in dire emergencies to give you just that extra little
bit of time to complete a task or mission.
When
you start the game you are instantly confronted by the
rather complex and highly confusing control panel of
your submarine craft. Many of the control gauges, like
energy, interrupt clock and fuel gauges are easy to
read and speak for themselves, but it takes quite a
while to learn all the symbols and be able to execute
functions swiftly and correctly.
Littered
over the seascape are many installations, both friendly
and renegade, which may actually be used or destroyed.
For a start, there are the five main complex computers
which have mobile vehicles under their control. These
have to be destroyed since they are very hostile and
fire at you whenever you approach them. The roads which
run around Titan each have junctions and control of
these is vital if you are to get anywhere in the game.
When moving about the complex you are made aware of
which roads and junctions are currently under your control
by their colours: yellow means that the road is under
your control, orange means the enemy have them.
[This screenshot was not in the original review]
Along
the roads are computer mobiles, the enemy ones obviously
need to be destroyed, and rocks that have to be blasted
out of the way. Along the sides are many weird constructions,
each with a separate function. Control towers stand
at the end of each junction and have to he captured
it you are to take the road. Factories can be used to
repair your submarine vehicle, stopping by them and
accessing the correct icons fixes your vehicle after
a certain amount of time (the more damage you have sustained
the longer the wait).
Other
vital (and friendly) installations include the fuel
tanks and energisers which can be used in the same way
as the factories. Quake suppressors arc highly important
and under no conditions should be destroyed -- the destruction
of one will advance the Quake Countdown by an hour.
Cooling domes also shouldn't be shot -- the destruction
of one of these results in a small explosion which destroys
everything in the immediate vicinity. Beware of Rigs,
these are quite dangerous if under enemy control since
they have a fair bit of fire power.
Conducting
columns neutralise the effect of ionic blasters (either
yours or the enemy's, depending on who controls it).
Bunkers are other unfriendly constructions if renegade,
as they are heavily armed and extremely difficult to
destroy. The final building is the Magnetron, which
saps weapon power and eventually damages your craft.
As you move around the landscape everything moves in
extremely fast 3D, rather like a swift, continually
flowing Lords of Midnight landscape. The technique
used was developed by Mike Singleton himself and has
been labelled Actionscaping. It is effectively
a sort of follow-on of the Landscaping technique first
utilised in Midnight.
Moving
from one junction to another is fairly slow, but once
the movement is mastered you can zip around the complex
at quite considerable speed. There are plenty of things
to blast as you zoom about and you need to decide which
roads and junctions should be captured first. Obviously
the further you get into the game, the more difficult
it is to defend all your 'fronts'.
[This screenshot was not in the original review]
THE
VEHICLE FUNCTIONS
The
submarine vehicle is terribly confusing to a novice,
but with a bit of practice it is possible to understand
and use the functions.
The
System keys show four icons which represent the four
systems -- engines, pumps, communications and emergency
repair. If any of these has a moving icon in its window
then the system is functioning well. If the icon stops
then there is damage and if the window goes black then
that system has been totally destroyed.
On
the extreme left of the console is a map showing your
current position, the bases which are hostile and those
which are under your control. A weapons indicator shows
the weapons which can be used and the main display shows
mobile functions and weapon selection.
Moving
around the complex involves quite a few icons and it
takes some practice before a player is able to move
around the whole of the Titan complex swiftly. When
you reach a junction icons have to be used -- move the
cursor over one of the eight directions you want to
face. Once you are happy that you are facing in the
correct direction then you can put the cursor over the
'move forward' icon and this will send you speeding
down the road. There is also a 'reverse' icon so you
can zoom along backwards if you so desire. It is also
possible to move by accessing the map screen. When you
do so the main view screen changes to a plan view of
the complex. You can then progress by simply aiming
the joystick in the direction you want to go. In this
mode it is also possible to stop halfway down a road
allowing you to see what installations are at that point.
Using this you can also view enemy movement without
actually engaging in combat and see areas which are
congested with renegade vehicles.
When
you're at a junction there are several modes at your
disposal: Movement (as aforementioned), Thrust mode
(you can thrust forwards or backwards) or Weapons mode.
Weapons
mode allows you to select any offensive or defensive
weapon which is currently at your disposal. These include
mines (which can be dropped on the road), torpedoes
(to clear the road), a laser, missile pods (against
enemy installations), a fireball gun (wide area devastation),
an ionic laser (neutralises an enemy installation's
circuit), shock shields (defence) and plasma shields
(another defence mode). The vehicle can access either
one attack weapon or two defence weapons simultaneously.
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