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Gargoyle Games, £9.95 cass, keys only
Authors: Greg Follis, Roy Carter

Gargoyle Games have (temporarily?) abandoned the distant past jumping to the distant future as a setting for their latest game. Marsport, the first in the 'Siege of Earth' trilogy, begins at a time when the human race is having problems with a race of evil aliens.

The Earth and Moon are defended from the xenophobic alien race known as the Sept by a massive spherical force shield in space. Ine problem is, the Sept have discovered a way of breaching the field. Deep within the central computers of Mar-sport, now a Sept stronghold, are the original plans for the construction of the barrier which detail how it can be reinforced. They were hidden there by the barrier's creator, Muller, who is now dead.

You play Commander John Marsh, of the Terran underground liberation movement. Your mission is to locate the central computer in the Mars-port complex, recover Muller's plans and then escape with them intact. Apart from the dangers presented by the aliens in occupation, you have to cope with the computer generated defence systems. Standing at the entrance to the spacefteld, your first task is to locate and then charge a weapon, without which your mission is certainly hopeless.

The Sept warriors that patrol the corridors of Marsport are aliens about half your size who are deadly to the touch. In some passages you may find a Sept of the Warlord caste. They are large insect-like creatures who move only occasionally. If you should approach one, without having the right weapon to hand, a sting lashes out and — curtains.
Although you are warned of approaching Sept, you can never be sure from which direction they will arrive. Your energy gun comes in very handy. . . . Warden and Herald robots, part of the computer-run defence system, patrol the corridors. Herald robots become significant later in the game and are harmless, white Wardens tend to mistake you for a Sept and try to blow you away.

Movement in Marsport is similar to that in Dun Darach in that the character is moved to the left or right, via control keys, and the view may be altered through ninety degrees. At first, if this is disorientating, a compass at the bottom of the screen can be used to help you keep your bearings.
Sliding panels can be found set into some corridor walls. They're labelled according to their function and open auto-matically when approached. Supply units do just that and are constantly replenished. Lockers are a safe storage device for items obtained (you may only carry up to four at a time). Sometimes these lockers are locked and you have to put a certain object in the Key unit nearby in order to open the covering plate. Refuse units allow you to get rid of objects you no longer want — useful given that you can't drop anything, and remember, you can always throw away unpleas-ant things. Power units provide power for objects that need it, such as your weapon, and finally Factor units manufacture a new object from other objects placed inside them. Factor units are essential — some of the things you need to complete your mission do not even exist until you create them!
Rooms in the complex are identified by a nameplate above the door. 'Danger' above a room, not surprisingly, means that there is something to be wary of inside, while 'Restricted' rooms cannot be entered until
you have located the central computer. Consequently, once the first part of the game has been completed, a lot more of the playing area opens up. Many rooms need a specific key to open them ... so a little careful thought is needed.
The main action takes place in the top half of the screen, whilst the bottom half gives compass directions, details of objects carried, weapon status and messages. Messages are received when you pass a Vidtex unit or when you are in the process of constructing another object. The bottom half of the screen also gives details of the area you are in.
The playing area in Marsport is estimated at being twice the size Dun Darach. Not a little £ame! Unlike Gargoyle's prev-ious two games, Marsport is not played on a flat plain. Instead, it is constructed like a 3D tower block. Each floor has a different function — for instance the Recreational area has a couple of little games that can be play-ed. The levels are connected via a series of lifts that may or may not be one or two directional.
Marsport features realistic 30 effects: John Marsh can stroll in front of and behind struts, and a lot of attention has been paid to the animation of his move-ments.
Unless you have a few weeks to spare, the game will need to be played in several sessions. Thoughtfully, Gargoyle have provided a save game routine — which can also be used just before you do something especially tricky in case things don't work out.
And once you do get the plans, the game isn't over — you still have to escape from Marsport. Not a trivial task, but this time. Gargoyle have added quite an interesting feature to the end of the game...

Control keys:
Walk left/right (ALTERNATE KEYS ON BOTTOM ROW);
Enter a door (RETURN);
Camera left/right (ALTERNATE KEYS ON SECOND ROW);
Pick up/drop (ALTERNATE KEYS ON THIRD ROW);
Select object (ANY TOP ROW);
Fire (SPACE BAR);
Auto-run on/off (4) on the numeric pad;
Freeze/unfreeze (5) on the numeric pad;
Options (6) on the numeric pad.

CRITICISM

With Marsport Gargoyle frM Games have brought new
meaning to the word arcade adventure. Dun Darach was hailed as being the serious arcade adventure on the Amstrad. Gargoyle's latest game has taken that already successful formula and improved it by far. The graphics are very good though they tend to be a bit slow and at times slightly jerky but the red background walls add a lot of atmosphere. The problems are devious and it could take many months before you finish the game. Definitely a very good game that is worth all of the £9.95 asking price especially if you consider that there are a lot of abysmal games being sold at the same price.

PREVIEW

First off this month is the new ame from Gargoyle Games
larsport is the first of a planned trilogy called The Siege of Earth and is somewhat of a departure from Gargoyle's previous rel-ease Dun Darach as this is set in a science fiction future, and the game offers the player rather more physical action. As Commander John Marsh (ess-entially Cuchulainn the Hero in a space suit) it is your task to find the plans that will save earth from the hive creatures, the Sept. These plans, unfortunate-ly, are held inside the memory banks of Marsport's computers and Marsport is now an outpost for the evil Sept.
Graphically similar to Dun Darach, Marsport is played within a city but this city isn't a straight forward flat plan, it is best described as a sort of 3 dimensional tower block with levels linked by lifts. The shops of Dun Darach have been re-
placed with wall units that supply various items essential to your mission. Other types of unit include Factor units, for making things out of other obj-ects; tfey stations, for unlocking either locked doors or locked wall units; Lockers, for storing objects; Charge units, for powering objects and there are the wall units that house the two types of Robot, the servobots and the wardens. The servobots are harmless and just fly around doing nothing but the wardens often mistake you for one of the Sept and will kill you.
A game wouldn't be complete without its host of problems and nasty aliens and Marsport is no exception. The problems come in the form of finding objects, learning how to utilise them and cracking codes etc. While the aliens come in the form of the evil Sept, little warriors patrol the corridors and will kill on con-tact unless you zap em and there is a big daddy in the complex somewhere but you will have to find out how to deal with him yourselves.
Marsport promises to be a very exciting game that should appeal to the arcade adventurer with various tricky problems that should keep you going for a while. It is due tor release some-time around October/-November.