Uninvited

Thy Flesh Consumed

I enjoy adventures, but MacVentures are something I have yet to experience. I believe there are four and this caught my eye because of its horror theme. Seeing as I had a bucket load of fun with Ooze and Curse Of Rabenstein, I booted this up to see what it was all about. Initially, it appeared very good albeit with many agonising deaths! But, fun nonetheless.

Hold your horses, what's a MacVenture? That's the name given to the engine powering the point-and-click Mac adventure by Icom Simulations. This is just one game from a series of adventures, all of which have been ported to the Atari ST Shadowgate, Déjà Vu, and Déjà Vu II - Lost in Las Vegas. We call them AtariVentures, which is much better!

The story starts with my brother and me experiencing firsthand what a nasty car crash looks like. I wake to find he's missing and the car is about to explode! This is the first puzzle - figuring out a way to open the car's door and scarper before it's too late. Afterwards, you find yourself outside a creepy old house and there is a sinister storm approaching. Thunder is booming and we have our brother to find. Dare we risk entering the scary-looking house to search for him?

Okey-dokey, let's take a peek at the road traffic accident where nobody rushed to our assistance...

Update: I've posted a new article for Uninvited. It's (not) a walkthrough! :)

Of course, we were gonna crash because somebody put the steering wheel on the wrong side...

Oh oh, looks like the crash happened right outside an intimidating haunted house. Let's go inside!

User Interface

The Uninvited uses GEM albeit with a few minor changes to its look and feel. Windows are resizable and used to display command options, what we're carrying, descriptions, and also the current room as we view it. All commands are limited to eight options but these are direct and precise - examine, open, close, speak, operate, go, hit, and consume.

For example, to inspect an object you would click it and then choose the examine button. Dead easy. The game employs this simple method of instruction throughout, but more "complex" actions like walking through a closed door require multiple commands: ie first opening it before attempting to walk through a closed door. Duh, obvious right?

Items you find can easily be carried in your inventory by drag & drop plus their contents can be sorted in order. The other window is for Exits - all of the possible ways to leave the current location. Being GEM'ish means we easily begin playing thanks to a functional and intuitive design but that efficiency comes at a price, ie I'm glad my ST has a Blitter!

Additionally, you can double-click on most things for a default option. Like the closed doors: double-click once to open it and again to walk through. The same goes for the Exits window, double-clicking in that is nifty.

The more observant may have noticed the "Self" button? Well, that's rarely used if I'm honest, but it may involve something that you need to do - such as drink a potion. Additionally, this is also another way in which the game shows its good sense of humour, try using the axe on yourself (save first). I love this freedom and the potential to be daft!!

Wanting to escape the oncoming storm, we head into the mansion for shelter. Oh, and two more screenshots...

The first room is a little weird, especially with that giant pentagram on the floor!

This is the room just off to the right (see previous image). Not much to see... Ahem, right?

Let's play!

As with any adventure, the Uninvited is all about exploration, study, investigation, and lots of trial and error. Well, with Uninvited, the trial and error parts are paramount with the earlier stages presenting a steep learning curve. This game takes no prisoners. Yes, I'm talking about you Scarlet O'Hara, and that vicious temper of yours!

She is the lady lurking on the ground floor hallway and, no matter what you do, she will turn around and eat your face! Over and over I died. Too many times to count! The only way to safely pass her is via the stairwell to the first floor - but you need to come back downstairs at some point. Perhaps there is something up there we can use against her?

More or less everything that you see can be picked up and examined (it's now that I'm starting to realise there are a gazillion possible objects to inspect). Take a look upstairs; have a poke about and inspect each room for anything that might kill this Scarlet monster. It really is an obvious puzzle that you have probably overlooked several times.

Killing Scarlet is a big deal and opens up the game completely. I feel quite victorious and it's now the adventure really does begin as there is much work to do with many, many more rooms to plunder for anything that might help me find my brother. Oh, there are walkthroughs on the net which I won't be linking to as they'll only spoil the fun (although the maze section contradicts me entirely). Just play the game and enjoy everything that's on offer for the avid explorer.

Here are two more screenshots of the hallways that (embarrassingly) took me eons to suss out...

Scarlet seems to be guarding each of the four doors. So why don't we sneak upstairs?

It's much safer upstairs and you can freely explore each room... for an item to combat Scarlet!

I love big tips!

• Go slow and don't rush as you will only miss what is obvious.
• Learn the user interface properly, it's dead easy but can be finicky.
• Just escaped the impending death of a car wreck? Snoop before entering the house...
• Inspect absolutely everything, even the smallest thing can get you out of trouble.
• Read the object descriptions carefully, subtle hints are usually given.
• Don't be a vandal, not until the time is right later...
• 90% of the items are useless so remember their locations rather than carrying everything.
• Make a map. I know, I know, but this is the time for pen and paper!!
• Install to hard drive - the experience is miles better with audio on cue.
• This next one is obvious but never more so for a game like this - save regularly!

Every so often, a little critter whisks across the screen! He's a little cookie he is!

A spider freely walks by, and then a winged eyeball appears. What is going on?!!

Aesthetics

The artwork is really good with each room well detailed to represent each scene nicely. Okay, it's not exactly The Pawn but I admire what they were trying to do and I thought it worked very well much of the time. The horror aspect is feeble, to say the least, but Scarlet is a babe and Romero would love to cast her I'm sure of it. The guy with the severed head is brilliantly drawn but what's even better is the glimpse we're given. That timing works really well for maximum effect.

As you progress, you'll realise just how many different monsters there are. Not to mention the different ways to die! Some of these monsters are really cool, I especially liked the zombies in the maze. However, some are rather lame - like the one that looks like a giant tomato. Yeah, the results are mixed but generally favourable with a comical twist.

I know some will disagree, but GEM works well for our version of AtariVenture. I think it's made great use of the windows, especially with the ease of issuing commands and the use of Exits and Inventory. But this also means it's slower than other similar games but a Blitter helps, as did my 16Mhz Mega STe.

As for audio, there is no music which is fine as that would have ruined the atmosphere, plus the sound effects are perfectly apt. Thankfully, these are made using crunchy samples and include everything from creaking doors to horrific screams. Amazing sound effects and, if I was playing this back in 1987, it would have blown my socks off!!

Death comes thick and fast throughout your entire adventure. I hate Scarlet so much!

Stuff that, I'm heading back downstairs! (probably the scariest moment in this 'horror' game)

The CryptO'pinion?

I found the Uninvited to be a challenging and intense adventure and one that I thoroughly enjoyed, especially considering this is my first frolic into the world of MacVentures, erm I mean, AtariVentures. Like any of its ilk, you have to take your time and study all aspects of each and every location. That's the only way you're going to get anywhere.

However, it's not perfect with certain puzzles not making any sense whatsoever and therefore impossible to figure out without sneaking a glance at a walkthrough. Not only that, but I've never known any adventure with so many red herrings - either the many pointless items or dead ends (that often lead to your brutal demise!). That might sound fair in some respects but it's not when you're secretly restricted to a finite number of actions within the game at large.

Having said that, please believe me that I have thoroughly enjoyed playing Uninvited. Whilst certain parts of it made little sense, the Uninvited offers a richly rewarding experience and, if you fancy a different kind of adventure, then this is definitely it. Demanding, interesting, infuriating, and blummin' good fun for anyone looking for a challenge.

You can download the floppies but Uninvited is a dream when running off a hard drive / UltraSatan!

I love Uninvited. So I looked on eBay and there it was, going cheap as chips too. Excellent!!

Frankenstein

Wait, Master, it might be dangerous. . . you go, first!

That is one of my favourite lines from the cult classic movie and also fitting for Zeppelin's Frankenstein, a "horror-themed" platformer that had us searching for gruesome body parts for an ungrateful (and mad) scientist. Of course, there's nothing much original about this but its structure, challenge, scary graphics, and perfect joystick controls help make this one of my favourite Atari ST games. It's the bee's knees; you can read about it by clicking here. (go on, click it!!)

So, why am I telling you again about this old platformer? You've guessed it - it's now fully mapped for your viewing pleasure! Now, before the negative nelly's love to tell me, I do know there are maps already out there (based on another computer's version of the game). Regardless, I wanted to make an official Atari ST map - without a watermark :-)

Hey, do you want more Atari ST game maps? Of course, you do so click here for my new section! (WIP)

The map is horizontally-enormous so it's pointless including a thumbnail of the entire thing as you wouldn't be able to see anything. So here are a few snippets from different parts and you can download the hi-res map by clicking here. I hope you enjoy the map so much that you are persuaded to play the game? Let me know in the comments below...

Yes, the following images are snippets and NOT the full map. That's linked juuuuust above...

The morgue area really pushes that time limit so it might be worthwhile shifting a few items a little closer?

The crematorium area was one of my favourites because it's simple but superbly designed with hidden touches.

This is the first area that most found challenging because of the stupid hidden platforms... not a good idea!!

Ghosts, creepy hands, bats, dead people... what more could you ever want from a horror game!

Rotor

One for the collection?

In the not-too-distant future, everything will be impossibly expensive. Jobs becoming scarce with no opportunities for the majority of us (now that's a surreal and scary prediction). Hmm, perhaps we should quickly move on? Anyhow, there is the prospect of joining the Roto-Raiders who pilot huge tanks through dangerous caverns for a lucrative reward. Only the brave need apply because the missions are deadly.

Dare you sign up? What, really? Yeah... Of course, we do so count me in!

Gravitar-Esque games are popular for the Atari ST. We have killer titles that are extraordinarily awesome - Oids and Thrust instantly come to mind. That means Arcana had to bring something new to the table in order to stand out from the crowd. Plus I naturally had high expectations considering the strong competition!

Before we crack on, I bought Rotor off eBay so let's look at all the goodies...

Yeah, it's hardly in perfect condition but it's pretty good and I like the design too.

  
Hmm, mind-blowing content? It's minimalistic but it's nice owning a piece of hiSTory.

Get to it, I wanna blow stuff up!

Rotor is like Thrust with numerous tasks split into separate missions. We begin with a training simulator to learn the controls, how to collect items, and kill the many different types of enemies. This is a great way to understand the basics and to learn (or rather grasp) the technical user interface. Oh, and the training needs to be fully completed before moving on to the real missions. That sounds like a con but it is a good thing.

You can attempt each mission in many different environments - earlier levels are tame compared to the torturous ones later. Every cavern has antagonists (as the manual loves to say) who are enemies like Cannons, Laser Guns and Gravity Generators. Some can be destroyed whereas others can be temporally disabled.

Our spaceship is a large circular craft with adequate but sluggish manoeuvrability. Physics plays a part, so there is gravity to consider and you can only accelerate in the current facing direction. The caverns are vast and claustrophobic due to the ship's size and lacklustre abilities (feels leaden compared to Thrust or Oids).

All missions follow the path of needing to complete requirements like shooting Container Pods for their contents. Destroying them and killing as many enemies as possible rewards extra points. All this is within the time constraints of limited fuel and armour. Once you're finished, exit coordinates detail where to go to escape.

Simple stuff, so let's take a peep at a couple of early screenshots...

The training missions are a fantastic way to learn the ropes.

In this simulator, we only need to shoot (and then collect) what's in that box. Easy!

Power-ups & other stuff

Rotor could have been a simple game of shooting/collecting stuff. But it's not. Arcana obviously thought this would be far too boring, so jazzed it up with pointless clutter. Let's begin with its user interface...

On the left-hand side, is a map detailing your position, the dots above that are your remaining lives. The coordinates of zeros will change once the mission is complete to show the exit location to rendezvous (the other coordinates are your current location). The three icons between these are 1) the time left until a bomb explodes. 2) The time left until a disabled laser resumes. 3) The required number of crystals to gain exit coordinates.

At the bottom of the screen is the radar and this shows helpful information like the state of your armour, cargo, and remaining fuel. However, it also displays potential enhancements that can be gained by collecting pearls. For example, the second icon is for the ship's rotational speed. The third icon improves upon its lethargic thrust.

Hang on, what was that about Container Pods and Pearls? Container pods offer a variety of goodies like fuel, upgrades, explosives (potential traps) and sun crystals (to exit the level). Pearls affect performance significantly: collect two and the ship rotates faster. Pick up a third and you can upgrade the thrusters.

I cannot help but wonder why they needed to be earned rather than come as standard? It feels unnecessary to upgrade the ship during a mission instead of concentrating on the task. Too convoluted.

Let's take another look at some more screenshots from my victorious venture...

Blast those gun turrets before attempting to sneak by.

Things are getting hectic in Lego land which is very difficult to manoeuvre through.

Tips and level codes!

• Don't even think about skipping the training missions. Trust me!
• Bombs automatically activate after first shooting the pod. You have two options, leave the screen safely and survive or collect the extra cargo and take it home.
• Beware of how much cargo you're carrying. Extra weight means a slower ship using more fuel.
• Watch the walls, take your time and let the scrolling catch up with you.
• If something is able to shoot at you then it's best to shoot that first and clear the way.
• I hate to say this, but don't worry about ship upgrades as this wastes time (and fuel).
• I said don't skip the training but, if you really can't wait, here are the level codes:

Level 1 = GAG,

Level 2 = LIP,

Level 3 = SLY,

Level 4 = MEW,

Level 5 = AWE,

Level 6 = TNT.

 

As tough as it is groovy-looking. Must admit, I do love the weird palette!

Argh, this level looks so passive but is insane! I died straight after taking this screenshot.

Input & Output

Controls are as familiar: fire button to (erm) fire, upwards to thrust and left/right rotates your craft. I doubt there would be any reason to change this asteroid-ripping formula because it's tried, tested and works great. However, my problem is the craft's manoeuvrability which is far too sluggish by default, and that's a bit rubbish.

Graphically, Rotor is lovely, with a futuristic/Tron-like feel for the training simulator. Later levels look funky with colour and a design that feels 8-bit in some respects. The screen scrolls in all four directions smoothly but it will struggle to keep up with your ship if go too fast. Hmm, at least that forces you to be more careful I guess?

The sounds are acceptable albeit not the best you've heard. There are effects for the engine, shooting, enemies, etc. They hold back the deafening silence of space and make Rotor pretty much what you expect.

I think it's time for the final run of sexy screenshots...

Later levels are far too hard (for me) because there's too much going on for your sluggish ship.

Another later level which has far too much going on for my reactions to cope with!

The CryptO'pinion?

I've enjoyed Rotor but not nearly as much as I should have. Don't get me wrong, Rotor has some good points like the training missions and groovy graphics. However, it complicates what should be a fun shooter for no decent reason. The worst is the necessity of ship upgrades during the game rather than after each stage.

There's a lot to moan about, I guess? I have enjoyed Rotor, it's good to play and something new. But let's not kid ourselves, it's bordering on mediocre compared to Thrust and Oids. Close but no cigar!

PP has adapted Rotor to be run from a hard drive and Old Games Finder has the floppy disks.