Gods is a Video game of platform/action developed by The Bitmap Brothers and published by Renegade on Amiga and Atari ST in 1991. The title was carried in 1992 on Archimedes , DOS, Megadrive and Super Nintendo.
The title is characterized by its neat realization and its Gameplay rich and inventive.
Synopsis
In order to acquire the Immortality, a warrior of the ancient Greece takes up the challenge launched by the gods consisting in right through crossing the city which they built. Four guardiens legendary reign on this city full of traps and with creatures malfaisantes.
Gameplay
The Gameplay of Gods mixes the action, the platform, the Exploration and the resolution of enigma S. the character controlled by the player evolves/moves in a universe in two dimensions made up of galleries and platforms. The decorations are traversed at the same time according to a horizontal and vertical axis. In reference to the twelve work of Heraclès, the play proposes as many level X distributed on four different environments: the city, the palate, the labyrinth and the under-world.
The goal of the player is to reach the exit door of each level after having found the key of it. It must for that explore the places in the search of objects, to solve enigmas to discover treasures and keys which give access new zones, etc It must also eliminate the many enemies and avoid the multiple traps which are drawn up on its way. The progression is dissociated by the variety of the actions and a rate/rhythm of constant play.
The possibilities of the character are basic: to jump, bend down, go up on the scales and to launch its weapons. A reserve enables him to transport to three objects (key, objects, special potions, etc). Varied and personnalisable, its armament consists of a principal weapon (knives, lances, bludgeons, axes, etc) and of secondary weapons (fireballs, etc). Launched vary in quantity (shooting simple, doubled or triplet) and in quality (normal, concentrated or excentré shooting). Special weapons or equipment are also gradually available (time bombs, allied bird etc). As in a Shoot' EM up , the player is brought to benefit from the characteristics of the armament according to the type of threat or of topography from the places.
The enemies are characterized by their great diversity: human, real, mechanical creatures or of mythological inspiration. Thanks to new routines of Artificial intelligence (at the exit of the play), certain opponents adapt to the behavior of the player and develop summary operations of dodging, skirting or escape. There exists also an original class of enemies, the Voleur S, which collect and carry with them the invaluable objects that they meet in way. In order to recover inaccessible items , it is possible to be played of their aptitude by attracting them using a soft food. In addition each level shows a confrontation vis-a-vis a guard with the imposing size.
At the end of certain levels, an itinerant salesman propose his services with the character. The piled up money is then used to buy new items . Health (food, potion), physical capacities (resistance, speed), armament (modification, improvement) or capacities special (temporary invulnerability), many the possibilities offered bring a tactical dimension which can be determining in the sight of the next levels.
The Level design was considered so that the observation and the experimentation are two essential components with the progression. Thus the crossed decorations conceal mysteries: secrete ways, rooms with the treasures, short cuts, innumerable hidden objects (trunks, additional life, potions, etc). To discover them, it is necessary to take the measurement of clever sytèmes containing levers which reveal special objects (spheres of teleportation, potion " jump of géant" , etc) or modify the layout of the premises (opening of trap doors, displacements of walls or platforms). The logic of these mechanisms is sometimes complex (combinative series, assigned time) and require multiple passages to be bored by deduction. This aspect reinforces the interest and the lifespan of the play.
Realization
The realization of the play profits from technical and artistic know-how recognized The Bitmap Brothers.Gods profits from a strong visual identity. The decorations are composed of a mosaic of small assembled elements by repetition (bricks, flagstones) which multiply the dry and clear lines. The visual one of pure flat tint, without depth, fact echo with the Fresques of the Art of ancient Greece which were composed of figures flattened on surfaces. Certain illustrations present in the play besides are directly inspired by the palate of Cnossos in Crete. The sober and harmonious palette allied with the graphic smoothness (realistic textures, Sprite S clearly cut out…) confine with a certain refinement.
The direction of the detail is also found in animation (step assured the characters, animated objects…) and in the sound environment (copper resonance which introduces and concludes the levels). Noticed, music of credits entitled " Into the Wonderful" was composed by Nation XII (cf John Foxx).
One finds finally the distinctive corrosive ambient condition of the productions of the British creators ( Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe , The Chaos Engine ), in particular by a representation esthétisante of brutality and violence (projecting muscles, cruel, dead equipment stylized, cries of anguish, etc).
Development team
- Design: Eric Matthews
- Graphics: Mark Coleman
- Programming: Steve Tall
- additional Programming: Mike Montgomery
- Music: Nation XII (cf John Foxx)
- Conversion music and sound effects: Richard Joseph
Reception
- Press review
ACE 908/1000 • Amiga Format 90% • CU Amiga 93% • CV+G 93% • Generation 4 91% • Joystick 95% • Tilt 18/20
Version PC
Generation 4 92%
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