Space Master
Fireforce is probably best described as Dungeon Master meets Alien, only this time you're patrolling a sci-fi spaceship with shotguns. Step into the boots of a government space marine and prepare to stalk gangs of alien nasties lurking in the claustrophobic corridors. Released in 1995 by Roland Tomczak of Trigon Software, it even supports multiple players (sharing the monitor) via keyboard, joystick, or joypad.
Fireforce is a first-person, 90° grid-based crawler, but the swords and magic have been swapped for pistols, shotguns, and machine guns. There's not much by way of complex objectives, just survive and kill anything that moves. Fine by me! Sadly, I only found the unregistered shareware version, thus some features are locked. Even so, you can still go monster hunting and play against friends - ala deathmatch-style!
Generously, there are two game types in the unregistered version: solo missions, where you need to clear out the enemies in three different environments, or multiplayer skirmishes where you and a mate (or mates) blast at each other on the same screen. That's right, split-screen multiplayer, which is extraordinary. We're automatically equipped with guns, though I found the machine gun particularly handy for mowing down my opposition. The premise is simple: shoot fast, shoot straight, and try not to end up as space dust.
It might look similar, but don't expect the controls to be like Dungeon Master; it plays more like an arcade shooter than an RPG. Moving forward and back is simple enough, but strafing requires awkward joystick combos that made my creaky old stick groan. Shooting is odd: push forward and fire at the same time, then pull down and fire to reload. Weapon switching is at least straightforward: hit fire and left/right.
Visually, a lot of work went into this game. The enemies might look a little silly, but the environments are dark and well drawn and also convey a strong sense of scale through large maps. Performance is excellent, no doubt helped along by Blitter acceleration. It's smooth, fast, and responsive, making exploration a joy. I only wish the 1-player "window" were larger, rather than the same small layout as in multiplayer. The audio might not feature the Falcon's tracker music, but the DMA sound effects make up nicely. Turn up the volume!
Fireforce is a cracking shooter. Once you get past the awkward controls, you're left with a fun, atmospheric shoot 'em up that drops a shotgun in your hands with only one demand: kill 'em all. Hunting monsters is satisfying, and the head-to-head mode is a real treat - grab an extra joystick or Jagpad if you can. So if you fancy Dungeon Master with guns and aliens, this game is more than worth downloading.
My only regret is not discovering it sooner. Argh, I'm thirty years late, but better late than never!!
- Atarimania has the unregistered download (we need the registered game)
- Hey, don't stop! Check out more enhanced games for the Atari STe.
- The Atari ST/e has more FPS games: commercial, freeware and even Doom!!
Monster hunting in 1-player mode. Argh, such screen wastage!
Let's go monster-hunting in 2-player mode!
Hey, I see a shadowy figure in the distance...
Oh no, it's head-to-head, and that fuzzy bit briefly appears when getting shot.
Only when three are playing will the screen be used fully.
