Subject: REVIEW: WolfChild (Minor Spoilers!)
From: Michael Richards <[email-masked]>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

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WOLFCHILD : CORE DESIGN : 25:99 Pounds UK
2 Disks, copy protected. Not HD installable
All Amigas with 512K + AmigaDOS 2.0 compatible.
Contents, 2 Disks manual

[Warning: Minor spoilers to the game's plot lie below. - JLT3]

Remember STRIDER? No, not the abortion from US Gold, the arcade game. Superb
wasn't it? Well if I was damning WOLFCHILD with faint praise I'd say it was
a STRIDER clone, if I was being truthful I'd say it was the best platform game
cum shoot 'em up ever.

The plot? What you want an arcade game with a plot. Well, you are Saul Morrow
( a kind of Albert Einstein, Jason Donovan and Dolph Lundgren clone (work out
for yourselves who donated what)), whose father has been dabbling in genetics
to produce human/animal hybrids. He has been kidnapped by the evil minions of
CHIMERA and is being forced to aid them in their plans for World Domination.

Racked by grief (oh yeah, I forgot - your mother and brother have been shot -
life's a bitch), you are sitting at home when you spy the Transmutation Pod,
`No, not the transmutation pod!' you cry,'What's a transmutation pod?' you then
ask. Well the pod allows you to become THE WOLFCHILD!!!!! (Cue Music)

Why do I explain this? I'm not sure really since its all displayed in one of
Core's increasingly impressive intro animations. This is SLICK, it looks like
a Japanese comic come to life, and sets the scene beautifully. Psygnosis
should be worried, intros used to be THEIR forte.

What about the game? Well do you get interested when I say, 8 directional
parallax scrolling with 64 colours onscreen? If not, what about superbly 
animated and coloured sprites? devious traps? BIG levels? OKAY THEN - ITS
A MEGABLAST!!!!! CARNAGE CITY!!!!!! (Getting my drift yet?)

Saul, despite being excitingly chunky has only a punch to make his way through
the slaughter, but as be goes along breaking open crates he finds energy pods.
And when his energy gets to a certain level - AAARRROOOOOO!!!!! he becomes THE
WOLFCHILD. Now as you all know Wolfchildren all come with psychic powers - in
other words he can shoot!!!! Starting off with a puny single shot it soon can
be upgraded to three way shots, homing shots and boomerang shots - serious
destruction. Not forgetting your limited supply of smartbombs ......

Level One is a great taster of what's to come, it is set on a flying ship of
some kind. The detail on this level is magnificent, showing that bas relief
ain't dead yet, the clouds whip past at a fair old rate, as Saul battles
bird men of all descriptions. (A nice touch is the way they are swept away by
the wind after being killed). This level is tiny compared to the next lot of
levels, and gives you a chance to get used to the controls. It also isn't too
tough, so you feel that you are making progress with the game.

Level Two on the other hand is BIG, it is set in a forest, where you must battle
reptile men amoungst the branches. There are many more obstacles to deal with
including the problem of becoming lost. There are some nasty touches including
collapsing branches and flying platforms that give up the ghost at the worst
moment....

Level Three, well to be honest I've seen about 10 seconds of level three and
it is an insect level .... and it is VERY TOUGH!!!!

There are 5 levels in total, getting bigger and harder with each level. That
may be WOLFCHILDs only real flaw, 5 levels aren't going to last forever. It'll
take a LONG time to get there though.

To sum up, WOLFCHILD is the best platform game shoot em' up EVER. Perhaps a
sweeping statement, but it stands head and hairy shoulders above SWITCHBLADE II,
which is generally thought of as the benchmark. It takes the player by the hand
into Level 1, builds up a nice sense of security, and then puts them into Level
2..... The werewolf idea adds a new twist to the genre and offers the chance
for Core to sample `An American Werewolf in London' for fx (yes I did notice!)
As I said, it will eventually be solved, but perhaps by that time Core will
have made a sequel? If so I'll be there!!!!! AAAAARRROOOO!!!!!!

	The scores - GRAPHICS    : 10 / 10 : I can't fault them, it looks
					   : every inch an arcade game. Eat
					   : this Sega!!!!!! 
		     SOUND       : 9 / 10  : Brooding theme music and a 
					   : terrific sampled howl. 
		     EASE OF USE : 8 / 10  : A bit fiddly to start with,
					   : but when you get used to it...
		     CHALLENGE   : 9 / 10  : A game for the STRIDER fan, its
					   : big, mean and great fun.
		     OVERALL     : 10 / 10 : Already my candidate for the 
					   : arcade game of 1992. Definitely
					   : one to show console owners that
					   : there is still life in the Amiga,
					   : and American software developers
					   : that there are still some things
					   : the PC can't do!!!!! 

 				Mike.
 
 E [email-masked] (UK)    \S  Mike Richards               \V
 M [email-masked] (inet)\N  Dept of Computer Science    \O  +44
 A ...!mcsun!ukc!aber-mhr   \A  University College of Wales,\I  970 622449
 I           (uucp)          \I  Aberystwyth, Dyfed.         \C
 L                            \L  SY23 3BZ. UK                \E