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Game of the Month: Og! Phil Ruston
 Og! |
February 2012 Public Domain Game Reviews
Reviews by Christian Clarke
Ork Attack
SinceI ve started programming in AMOS I have developed a soft spot for games which were writen using that language. Ork Attack is a shareware game which was created in AMOS and is a good fun blast for a few minutes.
The aim of the game is to defend your castle from the invading orks. You have to guard the castle from the advancing Orks which are climbing the walls. As the Orks clamber up the walls you can drop rocks on them killing them instantly. If the Orks manage to reach the top then you can grab your trusty sword and chop them to a violent death. If you are successful in repelling the attack then you have a bonus game to play between levels. This sub game involves clearing the Ork bodies away. The more bodies you clear away the more points you earn. The game is charmingly presented. Amusingly it probably has the sort of graphics which overly cautious parents would have worried about their children playing in the 1990s especially when you think that Mortal Combat was viewed as too graphic for including red blood splurting out of the dead characters which all seems rather over the top looking back now. This game would probably make a good fun touch screen game for a mobile phone but until someone makes an update then dust of your amiga and enjoy some simple, mindless violence. There is an Ork Attack Fan page on the web where you can download the ADF disk image of this game - if you want to visit it please click here. The game can also be downloaded from our new download page for game titles starting with O. Amigapd would like to thank s2325 for the youtube video. *** Review by Christian Clarke |
Operation Firestorm
When I was growing up one of the games which my friends at school used to constantly go one about was Green Beret. I never got to play the game, which was probably as well as the computer we had at the time was the BBC Micro which had an awful conversion of the game. Opertion Firestorm is the closest I have come to playing Green Beret and it was worth the wait.
The game has good presentation, the sprites are well drawn as our the background. The scrolling is smooth but strangely there is no parallel scrolling which seemed to be all the rage on the Amiga. Some of the background items can be destroyed to reveal either extra lives or weapon upgrades. The interaction with the background items is pretty limited beyond this. The game is a classic run and gun with the simple of aim of kill everything and get to the end of the level. Once you reach the level end there is the obligatory end of level boss to destroy such as a tank or helicopter. These just require patience to destroy as their attack pattern is repetitive and predictable. The game was originally released as licenceware but the author has recently made all his old games freely available for users to download and play. We had the privalege to interview the author of this game, Phil Ruston and you can read the interview by clicking here. Overall, this is not the most original game, and not the best game Phil Ruston created (Wibbly World Giddy will always take that crown) but it as enjoyable blast and if you enjoyed the Green Beret type of games on the old 8 bit computers then there is a good chance you will enjoy this too. The game can be downloaded from our new download page for game titles starting with O. ** Review by Christian Clarke |
Og! - GAME OF THE MONTH
Remember when games used to start with a simple text screen explaining what the game was about and what you ad to do to play the game. One page of instructions was all that you needed to read before pressing the fire button to jump into the action. Life was so much simplier in the 16 bit age of computers before controllers with hundreds of button combinations to master. Below is the opening text for Og our game of the month for February.
"Separated from his wife and children by a tremendous earthquake, Og the caveman must make his way along the prehistoric landscape in a desperate attempt to rescue them. Initially unarmed, Og can occassionaly find a stone axe withe which to fend off the lethal creatures he will encounter along the way. Darkness will begin to fall if Og takes too long, making his task much harder. Collecting food as he goes might make his jounrey seem quicker, but it is much better if Og can find and harnes a friendly dinosaur and ride speedily to save his family. If he loses a life, Of will start back at the last purple bird he has passed. Hitting these birds with an axe will be rewarded with extra time. "
The game oozes charm. I particularly like cute main character and the way his eyes move as he jumps is delightful. The backgrounds and sprites are very colourful creating a pleasant world to explore. Similar to Operation Firestorm, the scrolling is pretty much limited to simple left to right and therefore do not expect large 8 direction scrolling maps.
The game reminds me of Wonderboy with the caveman theme and using hammers to kill enemies. The riding of dinosaurs seems mario inspired but I haven't found any secret rooms or different power ups other than the extra life or hammer weapon.
OVerall if you enjoy cheerful, simple platform games then you will enjoy Og! The levels are challenging but not impossible. Yes it is nothing more than a memory test but then that was the main design of platform games of that era and it is more forgiving than platform games such as Rick Dangerous.
Dave Parsons who programmed Og! kindly agreed to be interviewed for our website and you can read about his other games by visiting our interview section or by clicking here. In the interview Dave mentions that there was an AGA version of the game, unfortunately Dave no longer has this. It would be great if anyone who still this version could get in contact with us.
The game can be downloaded from our new download page for game titles starting with O.
"Separated from his wife and children by a tremendous earthquake, Og the caveman must make his way along the prehistoric landscape in a desperate attempt to rescue them. Initially unarmed, Og can occassionaly find a stone axe withe which to fend off the lethal creatures he will encounter along the way. Darkness will begin to fall if Og takes too long, making his task much harder. Collecting food as he goes might make his jounrey seem quicker, but it is much better if Og can find and harnes a friendly dinosaur and ride speedily to save his family. If he loses a life, Of will start back at the last purple bird he has passed. Hitting these birds with an axe will be rewarded with extra time. "
The game oozes charm. I particularly like cute main character and the way his eyes move as he jumps is delightful. The backgrounds and sprites are very colourful creating a pleasant world to explore. Similar to Operation Firestorm, the scrolling is pretty much limited to simple left to right and therefore do not expect large 8 direction scrolling maps.
The game reminds me of Wonderboy with the caveman theme and using hammers to kill enemies. The riding of dinosaurs seems mario inspired but I haven't found any secret rooms or different power ups other than the extra life or hammer weapon.
OVerall if you enjoy cheerful, simple platform games then you will enjoy Og! The levels are challenging but not impossible. Yes it is nothing more than a memory test but then that was the main design of platform games of that era and it is more forgiving than platform games such as Rick Dangerous.
Dave Parsons who programmed Og! kindly agreed to be interviewed for our website and you can read about his other games by visiting our interview section or by clicking here. In the interview Dave mentions that there was an AGA version of the game, unfortunately Dave no longer has this. It would be great if anyone who still this version could get in contact with us.
The game can be downloaded from our new download page for game titles starting with O.
AmigaPd Charityware
I hope you enjoyed this months review page - if you did please support our chosen charity Mencap by visiting our Just Giving Page.
