The Chaos Engine

Another cheap ripoff

Not too dissimilar to Gauntlet, The Chaos Engine, by the Bitmap Bros, was released in 1993. It's a top-down arcade shooter where you choose from a selection of characters before running around levels with one purpose: killing baddies! Okay, there is a [minor] puzzle element, but this is about reaping death!!

Set in a twisted steampunk version of Victorian England, The Chaos Engine tells the story of a baron whose experimental machine (designed to harness chaos energy) spirals out of control. Of course, it does. It mutated both the land and its inhabitants into something monstrous. Enter the heroes: a band of hardened mercenaries is assembled to venture into the wilderness, battle through wave after wave of grotesque creatures, and destroy the machine. You will be one of six mercenaries, each with their own skill set.

Take a read and make sure you choose wisely...

 

 

 
So who are you gonna be? Let me know in the comments who you choose.

Who ya gonna be?

Each character has unique skills, so I advise that you play each one to find out what you prefer. Personally, I tend to prefer the Mercenary or Thug, but here's the list of all six badass dudes...

• The Mercenary is a good, dependable fighter with strong weapon power and overall toughness. He is less refined in technical ability than some others. His straightforward offensive capabilities make him an effective and dependable choice. A great option to run & gun!
• The Brigand is a nimble and technically gifted character, often suited to players who prefer careful positioning and tactical movement. I feel he is a character for the gifted game! He might feel underpowered in direct firefights, but he is agile and rewards determination.
• The Gentleman is a well-balanced all-rounder and one of the easiest characters for new players. I think he has good speed, firepower and decent resilience. Although he lacks the specialist traits of some of the other mercenaries. Why not start your first game with this guy?
• The Navvie is the brute-force option! A massive guy, packing tremendous physical strength. He can absorb punishment and dish out serious damage, but at the expense of speed. His sluggish movement makes avoiding enemy fire and navigating hectic situations more difficult.
• The Thug is fast, aggressive and built for direct confrontation, with strong mobility and attack power. His main weakness is lower resilience, meaning careless play can get him overwhelmed quickly if trapped. Kinda like the Navvie in many ways.
• The Preacher is the most unusual and often challenging choice. He is useful for interacting with terminals and is an efficient killer, but his weaker combat performance means he demands a skilled player. Even with God on his side, he's hard to recommend.

Each environment is extremely interesting, with wicked mechanics and beautiful visuals, helping create a wonderful Victorian England theme. Movement and positioning are crucial, as simply charging forward will quickly get you overwhelmed by the relentless waves of enemies. Along the way, fallen enemies drop cash, which can be collected and spent between levels on upgrades: speed, weapon power, health and intelligence. This allows you to strengthen your character for the increasingly brutal stages ahead.

Co-op is enabled whether you play solo or not - and is a treat. I love having a computer-controlled player alongside you, and that extra firepower comes in handy. Especially in the later levels, it is implemented well without ever taking over. However, it's embarrassing when he grabs the coins so quickly!! Argh, this is one of those games that demands practice before you can even think about beating it!

Hey, let's take another break for a couple of screenshots...

The first level is brilliant and works well with the computer-controlled guy.



Level two increases the difficulty, but it's still damn good fun!

Bitmap aesthetics!

The graphics are literally outstanding. From start to end, beautiful artwork, detailed sprites, and gorgeous landscapes. I love each of the environments, which have all been enhanced for the lovely Atari STe by using the hardware scrolling and extra colours. One of the best-looking games on the Atari ST/e. Period!!

All audio is cool - the chip music will stay playing in your head all day, and the sound effects do their job well. However, I must admit to being a little disappointed that this talented bunch failed to use the DMA audio for sampled sound effects. They're already utilising the STe, so why not use the DMA for samples?

So, it looks and sounds great, especially on the Atari STe. Agree or disagree? Let me know...

I struggled with the third level, or rather, my old man reactions did!



...and again for the frantic fourth. So tough!!

The CryptO'pinion?

I’ve always ranked the Bitmap Brothers among the finest developers of the 16-bit era, and this game helps to prove that. It's a surreal steampunk world with slick presentation, and an addictive blend of action and strategy makes it far more than a mere Gauntlet clone. Comparisons are going to happen, but while both look similar, The Chaos Engine has its own identity, atmosphere, characters, and great action.

My only gripe is the difficulty on later levels, which I fear is over the top and pushes even the most skilled players to cheat. Thankfully, the passcode system softens that disappointment somewhat.

This is a remarkable and addictive shooter stuffed full of action. Glad I bought this - I love it!!

8BitChip and D-Bug have created superb hard drive installable games!!

Chaos Engine floppy disks: Adrenalin #37A  #37B disks.

LEVEL CODES

World Two = T6MV6J4LGLCZ (Thug + Mercenary)

World Two = 73VBPXY1PZV1 (Brigand + Navvie)

World Two = QLVKM4YKJQVS (my own code!)

World Three = 4WQZTTRG61MZ (Navvie + Gentleman)

World Three = 2#YNLN7SR94W (Navvie + Brigand)

World Three = JSP99G416LY2 (I've no idea where I found this!)

World Four = PK2R9J6G5W4K (Navvie + Gentleman)

World Four = C8737KFPBCDB (Navvie + Preacher)

ST Format has a guide and a walk-through solution (issues: #51 #52 #53 #54)

Bitmap Bros have a cool website with maps, guides, and more.

Let's Play has a great page with loads of info.

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!