Destruction Imminent

Who needs a PC?

Destruction Imminent was released in 1996 by Cunning & Devious Games for the Atari ST/e and is a first-person shooter, similar to a typical Wolfenstein clone. In fact, it's incredibly reminiscent of that early 90s era, thanks to its familiar look and gameplay style - which probably has your mouth watering about now?

Our adventure takes place in a comparable environment, gloomy corridors filled with evil hordes of enemies waiting to eat you alive! Oh, and we have a range of familiar weaponry. Okay, let's say this game was (ahem) inspired? Before you begin, watch the intro play through. It's very cool and accompanied by gorgeous music as it introduces the monsters we will soon encounter. These are a scary bunch and pretty freaky!!

It's time to stop reading and look at a couple of screenshots of the robots and rock monster...

The robots can be really tough opponents at times.

Rock monster? Hmm, I'll say no more...

Enter the dungeon!

From the start, the atmosphere is predictable with each level plagued by strange creatures - but not to worry because we have weapons ranging from pistols to machine guns, rocket launchers, and plasma rifles. Some of these monsters are oddballs - the Rock Monster is like a crude Daroou from Dungeon Master. He's oddly cute and looks like he's made from gingerbread! Anyhow, kill him and free your monitor from that pixel art.

The controls are superb: cursor keys are used for walking, CTRL fires weapons, and SHIFT allows you to run away like a cowardly chicken. Also, side-stepping is possible - which is always needed. There isn't a key to open doors, just walk up and nudge them with your nose. This is where the engine is at its weakest because it's often a pain aligning yourself properly. But then again, Wolfenstein has the same issue (for me).

Additionally, the Function Keys are used to flip between weapons/health. It's a bit awkward, but you will eventually get used to this. Sadly, the mouse isn't supported, but the wooden movement from a keyboard is responsive and just like Wolf3D. Remember, this isn't Doom, so it isn't that game!

Wanna see some more of the enemies you'll be up against? Of course, you do...

Things are getting creepy with bugs!

There are also bats. Surely, you're not scared? Come back...!!

Aesthetics

Surely the 8MHz Atari ST isn't powerful enough to properly run a first-person shooter? You need at least a 25MHz PC, right? Ignoring its drab user interface, the visuals are remarkable, using a 3D engine that won't fail to impress. This makes use of texture mapping, light-sourced sprites, and a decent framerate. Power without the price. The only niggle I have is that the weapon is perhaps too large as it obscures close enemies!

As for the audio, it's equally impressive, using sound effects and great music. Everything is even better on the Atari STe thanks to the stereo DMA coprocessor. This game is awesome, so colour me impressed!

It looks and sounds excellent, which is always nice, so let's check out the last two monsters...

Mutants? Nah, they're not scary! In fact, they look like me on a Monday morning!

Gotta love the pixel artwork - minimalistic yet stunning!

The CryptO'pinion?

As you can probably tell, I've enjoyed blasting my way through this game! The weapons are great, and exploring demon-infested worlds is engaging. I have very few complaints (already mentioned), so I cannot take anything away from what is an extraordinary first-person shooter. Plus, it's an example of what the Atari ST/e is capable of knocking out in the hands of talented people who care about their product. No lame port!

Preferably play using an Atari STe and enjoy what is nothing short of a brilliant first-person shooter.

Destruction Imminent

[ download from my Dropbox ]

Tiger Road

Tiger Road was released in 1989 by US Gold but I always felt it didn't do justice to the awesome original. From the very beginning, you're thrown into an instant hack & slash action scene battling a constant hoard of stupid bad guys so pick up your axe and thrash your way to victory! However, I felt I was too harsh so played it again.

Well, that's easier said than done because the enemies won't give you a moment's rest and the larger baddies are a pain in the rear end - so difficult to kill these guys! Which is made worse by little visual feedback to help show if you're doing anything correctly or not. Argh, sometimes it feels like I'm hitting away at thin air...

Visually, it looks pretty nice but didn't really come across very well so sometimes felt like a different game to the original. The Atari ST has far better arcade conversions but there is still something rather cool about this conversion. It's not perfect and more could have been done but the action is fast and smooth which feels just right.

Overall, a pretty good conversion in terms of how it looks and sounds, but the gameplay is blummin' brilliant. And that's all that matters. So pick up your joystick and have some fun hacking away at the bad guys. Highly recommended.

Lights, Camera, Action!

Update: I've long since lost these videos. Has anyone got them to share? Thx

ST Video Player is one of those programs that will drop your mouth wide open with amazement. You just won't believe that your humble 512kb 8Mhz Atari STE (with a hard drive) can produce such amazing high-colour movies.

This piece of magic was written by Cyg of BlaBla (the creators of some of the best Atari ST/e demos that I've ever seen). Movies come in the format of .CAV files so just drag & drop one onto the program and prepare to be amazed. I hope to see more videos released for the Atari STe - very soon! Download from Demozoo and Pouet.