Infiltration - author Robin Bell on PD 519
           (Shareware 3D Construction Kit for ST)

         Reviewed by Paul Johnson on 520STFM (1/2 meg)

The adventure is set in the future when mankind has colonised many
planets. Starships plough along trade routes between these planets
earning vast sums of credits for the mega-corps that own them.

However, along certain routes these starships have disappeared
along with ships sent to find them, the gutter e-mail dubbing
these areas the Bermudan Pyramid.

In desperation the mega-corps have offered a huge reward to anyone
who could find out what was happening and put a stop to it.

Unlike many adventurers you are not a heroic figure out to stop
evil for the good of mankind. Nope, you are a typical mercenary
who would sell his granny for a credit and are in it for the
money. Heading into the area and after much scouting around, you
find a vast alien spaceship which appears to be dormant with the
pilot in suspended animation. As your ship's weapons are incapable
of damaging the paintwork, you have no other option but to board
the ship and place mines at the right places.

This is where the game starts with you boarding the ship.  The
screen is divided into three main areas, the top half shows the
view through your face plate. In the bottom left is your energy
level indicator and in the bottom right your movement controls.
They are Dungeon Master-style, click on the appropriate icon, move
forwards, turn left, you get the idea. Next to them are the look
up, down, ahead icons.

On the central screen are two crosses, one of which is fixed
indicating where you will go to if you go forward, the other which
appears as your cursor moves on the screen is your laser's
gunsight. Also on the central screen as you move around appear
yellow crosses which you have to place your mines on (twenty in
all) which you do by walking on them.

The program is written with the 3D Construction Kit so the
graphics tend to be geometric shapes rather than drawn.  An
example of the gameplay is the first room, enter by a flashing
triangle. The room is bisected by a black gap which, if stepped
on, drops you into space and ends the game. The door is, of
course, over the gap, the only other item in the room is a yellow
and grey shape. Thus you go round the shape, turn around and shoot
it, this has the effect of making a bridge appear which you cross.
However a green forcefield now blocks your path, so turn around
and the shape gets it with the laser again. The bridge disappears
along with the forcefield. Through the door gets you into a
corridor where the yellow squares on the walls are actually
doorways.

The program runs slickly enough and did not crash whilst I was
playing it. However, I cannot say I liked it, graphical adventures
need good graphics and, to me, geometric shapes are not it. Also I
admit to liking games where your character has a name and rises in
abilities in some way, the more personal touch. In this game,
solving a puzzle merely lets you move on to the next yellow
square.  Whilst playing it, I felt it would have been a better
game with drawn graphics or a text adventure where you could feel
like you were aboard an alien starship. This had no feel to it.
That is a personal view and other adventurers may like it.

Overall, it is playable but it is not the type you would go back
to again and again to complete. Play it once or twice, drop a few
mines and then on to the next program. That is how I feel most
players would act.










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