The Mercenary Site

Update: Paul Woakes sadly passed away on July 15th 2017. RIP †

The Mercenary Site

I love finding websites that are active and buzzing with great content for games that are available for the Atari ST. The Mercenary Site is run by a great guy called 'Symoon' and is dedicated to the entire Mercenary series. He's a bit of an obsessive and it shows when you browse his immense website!

Personally, I'm all about the second game, Damocles which is a cracker thanks to an open-world environment that isn't hampered by linear restrictions. Yep, you're free to do whatever you like and how you choose to do it is up to you. That's something that holds dear because I'm a sucker for messing about!

Before you rush off to his website, we chatted and I asked him a few questions about it...

My site is horribly old but, to me, the content is more important than its look - and spare time is a rare thing these days ;) .... (we then began to talk about Hunter!) ... I also have fond memories of Hunter, except that the energy was dropping way too fast! I cheated to stop that and finished all the missions a long time ago. Really good fun using helicopters or hovercrafts!

There isn't much to say about me - I can't call myself an active Atari ST owner. But my brother bought an Atari ST and we mainly played games with it. I remain attached to it, but not as much as I am to my very first computer (the Oric!). You'll find a few occasional posts from me on some Atari forums under the nickname Symoon, but nothing worth talking about really ;)

I began the website around 1996, learning HTML to make a solution page for Mercenary III while I was doing the compulsory military service in France. I had struggled so much to get my copy of Mercenary III (I guess it hasn't been imported at all in France then) that I played it and found a way to complete it with all the solutions. There was almost no information about Mercenary III on the Internet at the time, and I had discovered the great Mark Sachs' guide to Damocles which inspired me. So it all began as "the Mercenary III solution page", designed in the same way...

Then the site grew little by little, as I added content very quickly thanks to many, many contributors. I recently read old emails and was puzzled at how many people wrote to me about it, and how interesting many of the messages were. I got in touch with many people from Novagen (first was Mo Warden), all very kind, and even met some of them. I'm so sad that Bruce Jordan, who lead the Novagen company with Paul Woakes, passed away 9 years go.

Firstly, because he really was a friendly man! Of course, on more Mercenary-driven motivations, because he was a great source of information. The MDDClone, that appeared around 2002, also was a source of real motivation. Its author hadn't been here, I might not have kept updating the site so long - and certainly not with so much detailed content.

What I loved about the games? I can't tell you really, I'd say the freedom feeling, and the first-person 3D which put YOU in the world (it wasn't that common at this time). The fact that a whole world was created for the player to simply walk around and the mix between adventure and some kind of flight simulation too. Also, it's humour. As a French young man though, I didn't always notice or understand the fun there was in Benson's words!

I was visiting each and every location hoping to find something significant at any corner. I found (and still find) it amazing that a whole universe was there on a disk. Thanks again, I hope you spend many pleasant hours in the Gamma system soon!

Black Lamp

Fancy a medieval adventure?

Let's cut to the chase: you’re a clown. Well, you are plucky Jack The Jester who happens to be in love with the Princess, Griselda. Sadly, she will never look at you with the same love-struck passion (probably because of your silly costume!). Fortunately, for you, the kingdom of Allegorid was attacked by dragons!!

Since when was that fortunate? Well, they stole all the magical lamps which helped to protect everyone in the kingdom from evil. This also includes the most acclaimed lamp - a cherished and powerful Black Lamp. So, let's get going and rescue our dolly bird princess Griselda. Fail and death awaits you... great storyline, uh?

Okay, let's take a little break because it's time to see the first screenshot...

The thing I adore about Black Lamp's visuals is the detail - from backgrounds to sprites!

How about a medieval nightmare!

Black Lamp is a flip-screen platformer with ledges to hop on, ladders to climb, items to collect, and monsters to kill. Not to mention what feels like thousands of rooms to visit as we undertake the honourable lamp quest. Interestingly, once our plucky jester ventures outside, that visual mechanic becomes a scrolling platformer. Here we can walk the castle walls, woodlands, and streets looking for areas to visit. Various bonuses are offered for points and also special abilities like increased firepower and invincibility.

The monsters reign supreme and this is perhaps the game’s greatest and possibly most annoying characteristic? Not only are their numbers countless but their assaults are relentless!! Wherever you go, they appear like magic - they don't need open doors because they can walk through the walls. This means there is literally no safe place that can offer a quiet moment of refuge which is brilliantly insane but can also be OTT.

This ain't a boring yawnfest and will entertain throughout. Let's check out another screenshot...

Beautiful locations and lots of monsters to kill. Just look at that ogre!

A beautiful looker?

Throughout, the graphics are awesome. It feels like a cartoon chronicle of England's medieval age. The monsters are incredibly alluring with so much charm. My favourites are the Imps and Trolls which are bewitching to watch with beautiful animation. It's hard to imagine better than this in 1988 on a 16-bit platform.

The audio is perfect. Not only is there an incredible theme tune but, all in-game sound effects are zappy and exciting. This is exactly how a game should sound and makes it enthralling to play. Do I need to mention the in-game music? Like, wow!! Greensleeves, the olde English folk song. Wow, the audio is superb!!

And with that revelation out the way, let's see the final screenshot before the gripping concussion...

Black Lamp was one of the first games I saw after leaving the Spectrum. Can you imagine my joy!

The CryptO'pinion?

Black Lamp is a brilliant game but it's not perfect. My beef is with Jolly Jack's controls that react slowly due to his (superbly) animated movements. Imagine that you are walking right, and need to turn left to kill oncoming monsters. This action does not immediately happen because his walking animation must finish.

Black Lamp is up there with other ST legends. It's a classic and nothing short of a fun-filled, hectic adventure that looks and sounds amazing. Sure, the aesthetics don't matter, but it's good to have them.

Everyone should play this platformer and experience what the Kingdom of Allegorid offers. It's challenging, addictive and rewarding. You won't regret booting up Black Lamp whatsoever, I guarantee it.

One of my favourite Atari ST games.

Available on both floppy and hard drive.