Barbarian (video game, Psygnosis)

Barbarian is a Video game of action in 2D developed and published by Psygnosis in 1987. Initially marketed on Amiga and Atari ST, the play was related to Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX and ZX Spectrum.

In a Medieval-fantastic world , Hector the barbarian must face the dangers of the underground kingdom of Durcan to embank the Necron devil. It is about a play of action to the not very conventional control system based on the use of the mouse. It will have a continuation in 1991, Barbarian II .

Gameplay

The goal of the play is to make progress Hector in caves by eliminating the Troglodyte S (human, fantastic creatures) and by thwarting the traps which are drawn up in way (falls of stone, harrows, ground which is concealed, etc). The progression is done “by the failure”. The character can strike the adversaries with his fists, by using a sword and, later in the adventure, an arc and flèches. The adventure playground is made up of an about sixty fixed screens which is held horizontally or vertically. The play is thus rather short but the number of lives to also finish it, three only.

The player controls the character by selecting icons using the pointer of the mouse (or of the joystick, even if less practical). These symbols are located on a panel at the bottom of the screen of play. There are nine different actions: to go on the left, on the right, to assemble staircase/scale, to go down, stop, jump, attack, avoid and flee. While clicking on the right button, the player opens a second panel which posts the statute of the character, the time of play, the remaining number of arrows, the weapons in the inventory as three associated icons (to collect the weapon, to carry it, throw it). This control device is perfectly playable even if it requires a time of adaptation, in particular to integrate the response time of the orders. It is also possible to use short cuts keyboard (the keys F1, F2, etc) in the place of the mouse.

The time of play revêt an crucial importance. In the last part of the play, after having cut down Necron, a volcanic eruption threat the hero: a Countdown is posted then and the player must escape from the underground before the end of the calculation, synonymous with Game over. The duration of against with wrong way being based over time put to arrive until Necron, better is worth not too much not to be in a hurry to join it.

Development

It is about the fourth play of the editor liverpuldien after Brattacas , Arena and Deep Space , and undoubtedly the first whose development is based on the Amiga computer. Like the precedents, it was developed in-house. The play was conceived by David H. Lawson (programming) and Garvan Corbett (graphics). Ian Hetherington (programming), Rushby Hake and Jeff Bramfitt (graphics) also contributed to the project. The illustration of the box of play (also implemented in the play) was carried out by Roger Dean.

Mastertronic/Melbourne House recovered the rights of adaptation of the play on the other supports. The bearings on 8bit were developed by Icon Design (Paul Murray, ED Knight) and version DOS by Mastertronic (Randall Don Masteller).

Versions

Reception

Barbarian was marketed towards September 1987, generally receiving criticisms positive in the specialized press. It was about the beginning of the era 16 bits (on Micro-ordinateur S) and the realization, although rudimentary, did not fail to make its effect: the size of the hero and the creatures is imposing, detailed animation and of the digitalized voices, undoubtedly among the first met in the video game , make all the attraction of the band (in addition rather stripped). The judgment was sometimes moderated by the altogether repetitive character of the adventure.

Amiga and/or Atari ST
ACE 725/1000 • Commodore To use 6/10 • C+VG 35/40 • Generation 4 95% • Tilt 16/20

To note

  • the play of Psygnosis should not be confused with the Jeu of combat of the same name of Palace Software, left him also in 1987: Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior .
  • the illustration of Roger Dean was re-used on the small pocket of the album Not Necessarily Acoustic (1994) of Steve Howe, a former guitarist of Yes, group for whom the English illustrator often worked.

The series

  • 1987 - Barbarian
  • 1991 - Barbarian II

The second episode has a dimension “ventures” more developed much (exploration, search for objects) and uses a traditional control device to the joystick.

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