Subject: REVIEW: Night Shift
From: [email-masked] (Jason L. Tibbitts III)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

Night Shift is a game in the arcade vein that requires both quich
reflexes and quick thinking.  It is fun to play and holds one's
attention well, with good graphics and sound.

[Moderator's Note: Mr. Lowrey submitted this review without the
proscribed summary.  My attempts to reach him by email have not been
successful, so I have added the above myself.  Please read the guidelines
thoroughly before making submissions!  Thanks!  JLT3]

A Review of Night Shift, an arcade game by LucasFilm Games.

By David W. Lowrey

You, F. Fixit (F. stands for Fred or Fiona), have a new job.
You have been hired by Industrial Might and Logic (IML, for
short) to work the night shift in their doll factory. Your
job is to operate and maintain the equipment that produces
the dolls. You start the shift with a quota of what type and
color dolls to produce. You get paid for each doll you
produce of the correct type and color. You are docked for
incorrectly made dolls, and you are fired if you don't make
your quota.

Sounds simple, right? Well you might reconsider. To start
off, the doll making machine is called BEAST, short for
"Bingham's Environmentally Active Solution for Toys". Glenn
Bingham is the creator of BEAST. It is made of stuff he
scrounged from garbage dumps and defunct laundromats. It is
literally held together with wire and string. The name BEAST
is very appropriate.

You start your shift with orders to make specific dolls, in
specific colors.  You have to charge up the machine's
battery (by riding a bicycle that turns a generator), make
sure all conveyor belts are running in the proper
directions, make sure all the switches are in the proper
positions, make sure that all of the burners and furnaces
are ignited, etc.

Once you have the machine operating, you have to adjust
colors, head and body molds, and any equipment that goes
haywire. You also have to fend off pesky rodents (called
lemmings), that are attracted by the BEAST's byproducts,
and lawyers (I have no idea why lawyers are attacking you,
but they do).

The BEAST is about 6 stories high, and you have to climb and
jump about on various platforms and pieces of equipment. If
you fall, you loose valuable shift time. Fortunately, at the
beginning of the game you only have to worry about a few of
the controls. Each shift adds complexity as more of the
controls are brought into play.

Each round in the game is called a shift. When the shift
ends, and if you have produced your quota, you are given a
security code that can be used to re-enter the game at that
shift. There is no game save feature.

There are a total of thirty shifts in the game. There is an
occasional animated "intermission" between some of the
shifts.

You control F. Fixit with either a joystick, or the
keyboard. A handy feature allows you to re-define (and save)
the keyboard controls. I have found that I prefer the
keyboard over the joystick. The "High Score" list is saved
to disk.

There are one and two player modes. In two player mode,
players take turns playing the game.

The game has no disk based copy protection. It has a "code
wheel" that is used to enter a security code at the
beginning of each game. The game also runs from a Hard Disk.
The instruction manual encourages you to make and use a
backup copy. The high score list is saved to the disk, so
you need to have the game disk write enabled.

It runs on "all" Amigas, including a 3000 (according to the
label). I have a 2500, and it works fine. Amiga 500 users
with only 512K will have to disconnect any external disk
drives before playing.

The game Multi-Tasks, to a point. Once you start the game,
you can't get back to the workbench (or any other) screens.
However, programs that are running when the game is started
are still operational when you exit. The games Amiga
Reference Guide states "Do not attempt to multi-task
software with Night Shift as this may cause the game to
malfunction". I have UUCP running in the background while
playing Night Shift, and have noticed no problems with
either program.

The game play takes a bit of getting used to. You have to
figure out how, when and where to walk and jump. You need to
get the hang of using the various tools you are provided.
And the @#$%#$@# lemmings can be a real pain. The play can
get very hectic. My kids will sit there and shout about
something I need to do, while I am trying to figure out how
to do something else, and the BEAST's alarm is ringing, and
I am running out of time, and.... well, you get the picture.
This is not a game for people who don't work well under
preassure. :-)

The graphics are nice. When you first start out, most of the
BEAST's components are covered. Once you get into the game,
as more and more features are uncovered, the BEAST comes
alive with many moving parts and effects. The dolls you are
trying to make are all characters from various LucasFilm
movies and games, including Star Wars, Zak McKracken, and
Indiana Jones.

The sound is well done also. As you move around the BEAST,
various sound effects come and go, as you walk by the
components. There is an unobtrusive soundtrack that plays in
the background. Certain sound effects also can indicate what
is going wrong (or right) with the BEAST.

Documentation consists of an "IML Employee's Handbook". This
handbook gives you some idea of how to operate the BEAST.
Unfortunately, some of the pages are missing (on purpose),
so that you have to figure alot of the procedures on your
own. You also get an Amiga Quick Reference Guide, that
contains Amiga specific instructions, and a few hints on
playing the first several shifts. Also included is an
excerpt from "Toy Executive" magazine, containing an article
about IML and the BEAST.

Complaints include that you don't automatically re-start a
game at the last level you were in. You default back to
level one, and you have to re-enter that appropriate
security code for the level you want. I would also like the
game to be fully multi-tasking.

Night Shift, by LucasFilm Games. List price is around
$39.00.

 LucasFilm Games
 P.O Box 10307
 San Rafael, CA 94912

 1-415-721-3333 (technical and orders)
 1-900-740 5334 (Hint line @ $0.75/min)

 Reviewed by Dave Lowrey
 [email-masked]
 (713)-894-7447 (home)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
These words be mine. The company doesn't care, because I am the company! :-)

      Dave Lowrey        |  [email-masked]
Starbound Software Group |
      Houston, TX        | "Dare to be stupid!" -- Weird Al Yankovic