Ooze

Get ready to be scared stiff!!

I'm often a little sceptical of so-called horror games because they're never really gonna be that scary. In fact, the only game that has ever made me jump was the Jaguar's Alien vs Predator - it was late at night and I jumped out of my skin when an alien shrieked. Terrifying at 3am!! Anyhow, enough of my scooby-doo adventures.

I actually bought this game years ago, so figured it was about time I dusted it off and booted it up. This is an adventure developed by H. J. Braendle and Guido Henkel of Dragonware Games back in 1988. My box is quite battered with floppy disks that no longer work! But at least I have the manual, which is, for a number of reasons, most helpful.

Helpful because I'm not a massive fan of text adventures if I'm brutally honest. Though I have enjoyed a few over the years on both my ZX Spectrum and Atari ST. And, more recently, I bought a couple of crackers - Hibernated 1 and The Curse of Rabenstein, so I felt confident with Ooze to see what kind of horrific journey might be on offer.

Okay, let's begin with a screenshot from the beginning of our adventure, at Carfax Abbey...

We begin standing outside and looking at our inheritance. Oh, how I wish this were real life!!

I love cheeseburgers!

We play a character called Ham Burger and have inherited Carfax Abbey from our late uncle, Cheez Burger (these names are killing me). Yep, this sounds like a horrifying comedy? Anyhow, it appears he died under mysterious circumstances. So, rather than enjoying our wealthy new lifestyle, we instead investigate what's happened. Typical...!

From the start, the game dictates the expected creepy atmosphere. Upon arriving, we cautiously check out our new home. Thunder is rumbling, and an old signpost details the address, 666 Rue Morgue. Nervously walking up, we see the porch and an old rocking chair, but this ain't an ordinary chair because it's haunted. That's right! In fact, almost every room is haunted by something, so it's a good idea to take it slow and ponder the environment carefully. Very carefully.

Ooze has a good sense of humour. Wait too long, and a panicky message appears asking if you're still there. Don't leave me here alone, it whimpers lol. Just try sitting on the porch chair for an eye-opening experience that I did not expect. The characters are excellent, and I laughed when rescuing Marie: "Marie EnToilet"!! However, Murx is an oddity which made me chuckle and scratch my head. Oh, and when you die, the game pranks you - by banning you from the RAM!!

Oh yes, there are lots of silly pranks and fun places to explore, so let's see some more screenshots...

I cannot spoil what happened, but you can still get a glimpse of the humour!

You might not see it, but the text can be very vivid to portray the scene nicely.

More humour after a wrong decision. But look at those weird trophies. Nice graphics!

I'm rich and also haunted!

The world of Carfax Abbey is small but feels bigger because of the time spent at each location. It's tempting to rush off and explore, but that means you will miss everything important (as expected) and probably die. So be warned! Getting around is done using the expected compass directions (N/S/E/W) plus U/D for up/down. It's possible to 'sit down' or 'run south' to hastily exit. A handy command called 'exits' will inform you of all possible routes from your location.

Each area has a vivid description that is extremely long-winded, so it's possible to overlook something blatant, like the lance, which was totally infuriating. I know, I know, all adventures require that you read the room's description, but it's apparent that Ooze takes this to the extreme thanks to the amount of detail mixed with subtle hints. Thankfully, that feature can be changed by using the 'brief' command, which I did from the moment I entered the Abbey!

The parser is good, but I fear something was lost in translation (German roots). Simple commands are often confused by a pedantic requirement for correct input. Try unlocking a door, searching a trunk or switching on the lights. Well, light... Irritating!! Level 9 quality, this is not. Whatever you read in the description, examine that said object fully because nothing is obvious. Find the chalk if you can (agony that). Or suss out what you're supposed to do with the Parlour rope.

Surely you're interested in seeing more? I thought so, so let's view some more screenshots...

We're starting to get somewhere now, but then this happened... but then a "plopp". Hmm...

Some areas really do offer nothing valuable other than a lovely walk to the next room.

Oh my, things are hotting up in the bedroom!

An adventure with an atmosphere?

Visually, I loved how Ooze combined the two resolutions for great effect. Low is obviously used to display a range of gorgeous images, whilst the clarity of Medium is put to great use to read the text. This is superb and works well. Weirdly, not every room you visit appears to have its own separate image, which I found a little confusing at first.

Those with a crisp monochrome monitor will be happy to know Ooze works in high resolution. The text looks wonderful but the images... hmm... not so much. It's as if the low-res images have simply been converted on the fly, rather than drawn specifically for this particular display mode. Which is a shame.

The audio is superb with lots of samples for eerie creaks, footsteps, ghoulish screams and so on. However, the atmosphere is spoiled by the ST's keyboard clicks, which I didn't see any way to disable. It's no big deal, but I'd have preferred to disable them because they are a lot louder than the sampled sound effects. (and no, XControl did not work)

Looks great, sounds great. That can only mean one thing: more screenshots...

Sometimes the player can be too daft for his own good...

Think before you act, but whilst you're here, check out this artwork!

Sometimes the descriptions don't match the visuals, which is a tad annoying.

The CryptO'pinion?

Ooze is a great adventure and will undoubtedly appeal to those looking for something of a horror nature rather than a predictable fantasy theme. Sadly, I found the room descriptions overly long-winded and, at times, poorly translated into English. Also, basic exploration can sometimes be finicky - right from the moment you enter the Abbey (walking upstairs is quite the event). If ever there was an adventure that demanded you make a map, this is definitely it.

I found it impossible to explore upstairs otherwise. There ends my one and only hint!

This isn't something you can easily pick up, not without spending a lot of time. But, if you fancy a break from those fancy Magnetic Scrolls, then I am sure you will love this game, which is worth the effort. Ooze offers a sarcastic twist on the horror genre with neat puzzles. Plus, it has a fantastic sense of humour: give Marie a juicy kiss! Go on, do it... Brilliant!!

- Download the floppy disks -

A preview image from another game that was never released. What happened, I wonder?

Recovery

The Atari ST cannot scroll

Recovery is a shooter by New Deal Productions that takes us on a *Fantastic Voyage* through the lower parts of some poor soul in need of medical assistance. I presume we're trying to help him recover from something nasty as we begin at the bottom, working our way up through the liver (I think), and then onto the heart before finally smashing through the old grey matter. Yeah, we get to rock through the human body!

This game is very similar to Menace or R-Type, but at a faster pace. The whizzing body parts make dodging almost impossible. Our ship is agile and armed with a laser, so don't think - shoot first and never ask dumb questions. I love finding something 'new' to play, and this is an exciting shooter.

Let's take a break and see some screenshots...

I got AGT vibes from this screenshot, which pleased and depressed me equally.

It's a shooter, so shoot!

Each body part represents a distinct stage and is incredibly long, almost making you think it will never end. Trust me, these levels are lonnnnnng. Despite this, they all feel similar, presenting a vast array of "aliens" to avoid or eliminate. These employ various attack patterns, but touching them depletes energy levels. Consequently, poorly skilled pilots ultimately lose yet another life. Interestingly, there’s no end-of-level boss. A monstrous tumour would have been a fitting final boss - now that’s a sentence I never thought I’d say!

The joystick controls are excellent - swift and responsive without any lag. Our main weapon is an effective laser beam - pressing and holding fire shoots this laser and kills anything in front of you. It's wicked!! Sadly, there are no other types of upgrades or special weapons, so all we have is one laser and nothing more.

Thankfully, our sleeping patient has popped many pills, which you'll see floating through his body just waiting to be collected. These can boost your weapon's rate of fire, energy and shields, which are all displayed in the status bar. I never figured out what "LIGH" is for - I tried hitting every key, but nothing, nada, zip.

Let's take a break from the boring reading and view another lovely screenshot...

A menacing screenshot with the colour scheme. This game is fast, so shoot and move quick!

Aesthetics?

Visually, this is a mixed-body bag that isn't as healthy as you would hope. Don't get me wrong, a scrolling shooter needs to scroll. And this game scrolls smoothly with parallax layers. Sadly, the backgrounds are sometimes bare-bones. Although there are tons of sprites zooming around at impressive rates!

Hitting F4 flips between 50/60Hz to speed things up even more - if you can handle it?

Sonically, this is outstanding and foot-tappingly awesome - makes you realise just how cool your Atari ST is. However, any insane people might wish to turn it off for the sound effects. No problem, just hit F2/F3, but why would you ever wanna do that? Wait, I think that I know the answer, it's because you're stupid.

Okay, you've guessed it - stop reading and enjoy another gorgeous screenshot...

Come on, you cannot deny the style of this game? It looks the business with a style I love.

The CryptO'pinion?

Recovery is technically impressive and a damn good shooter. It slaps the faces of those lazy programmers who said the ST cannot scroll. Sadly, the gameplay could be better, as each stage feels excessively long, and that static style lacks progression and becomes monotonous after a while. Furthermore, the inability to upgrade our weapons is a significant disappointment, but not as much as the absence of bosses to fight.

I've enjoyed blasting through some fella's intimate body parts all in the name of science fiction. Recovery is definitely worth booting up for a quick game or two - especially to see who can survive the longest!!

Check out my screenshots before deciding whether to download for hard disk or floppy...