BARGAINS ARE BOOTYFUL

BOOTY
Memory: 48K
Price: £2.50
Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair, Programmable

VIKING RAIDERS
Memory: 48K
Price: £2.50

THE WILD BUNCH
Memory: 48K
Price: £2.50

EXODUS
Memory: 48K
Price: £2.50
Joystick: Cursor, Kempston

In a bid to capitalise on the computer gaming scene, British Telecom has recently entered the market with their Silver range of games - priced at £2.50.

They are a mixed bag. BT's claim that the games are worthy of a five pound price tag seems to be applicable to only two of the games reviewed here. The remaining two would be expensive at any price over £2.50.

In Booty, you play the pan of Jim the Cabin Boy who finds himself aboard the infamous pirate ship - the Black Galleon. One night while most of the pirates are sitting down to a steady drinking spree Jim creeps round the levels of the ship to steal their loot.

However, life is not always a game and Jim finds himself in the suds when he realises that not all the pirates are drunk - some have been left on guard. To get into their cabins, he has to steal the keys from under their noses.

The graphics are excellent with half the game portrayed in the increasingly popular style reminiscent of Sabre Wulf and Pyjamarama.

Viking Raiders is a different kettle of fish. It is a strategy game set amongst warfaring vikings back in the days of King Canute.

There are four armies, each headed by a Viking chief. The aim is to defeat the other three armies and become victor and ruler of the area. Dirty tricks abound and your catapults can be used to devastating effect.

The graphics are sparse and basic. Each army takes a different colour which is hard on the eyes. Bright blues, pinks and greens may look nice in the programmer's imagination but they look terrible to the player who has to squint to see what is going on. However, there is enough appeal in the game to detract from these basic graphics.

The remaining two games are The Wild Bunch and Exodus. The Wild Bunch is an adventure set in the wild west. Framed for a murder you didn't commit, you are out to nail the Wild Bunch. The game resembles a superior multiple choice with a selection of options given to you at every move.

Adventures written in that style are rarely as exciting as those written in the more conventional mode - they rapidly become tedious. Billed as a graphical adventure, The Wild Bunch has a few scenes dotted around the adventure which are well depicted. For the most part though it appears to be mostly text.

Exodus is your average arcade game packed with characters cloned from other games. Mutant llamas abound, hovver mowers, galleons and TV sets lurk and assorted aliens merely wait to get you. The game lacks excitement, the graphics flicker and the sound is fairly average.

Firebird Software
Wellington House
Upper St. Martin's Lane
London WC2H 9DL
PRICE: £2.50

The next one from BT is EXODUS and before I Start I must mention the excellent introduction before each game is played.

The word EXODUS falls onto the screen, a letter at a time, with a clear clicky laser sound and the border along with each letter containing bright flashing lines in unison with the sound. It is a pity that this screen does not occur more often as I could have watched this for ages, much better than the washing machine.

Keys can be re-defined with a selection of joysticks available, but with your own key definition this game is compatible with any type of joystick.

A nice edition also is the instruction mode, which prevents the usual fumbling for the cassette in order to read the tiny printed directions.

The idea of the game is as follows. There is a pit, obviously in the outer galactic sphere and you need to stop the countless objects from climbing to the outside by shooting them with your laser. The pit is in the shape of a hexagon and your ship can either move clockwise or anticlockwise around the boundary of the pit.

If an object manages to reach the rim of a pit, you must not touch it as a life will be lost. There are also other handicaps. If a mutant llama manages to escape (I didn't quite manage to catch sight of any mutant bits) and reach the outside rim, another life will be lost. You have also got a friend Spud (as in potato) and if you happen to shoot him you will lose a life as well as a friend!!!

There too are various advantages, like a bonus of 1000 every 10,000 points and a time bonus for shooting a clock will add time to your limit of 79 seconds.

As well as the vast scoring scheme for many different and interesting objects, if you fire and hit a Television that is tuned to Channel 4, you score an extra 20 points as this is so rare (A wonderful idea and true!!!)

The game is fun to play, the only real difficulty is to stop the mutant llamas escaping and not to get Spud. As long as you stay clear from any object leaving the pit, you should not have too many problems.

I first of all wondered why the pit was in the shape of a hexagon, but I soon found out that it was to bring over a false sense of speed. Traveling around the pit is fine, but if you want to move quick in order to reach a llama, your instinct has got to be quick as the shape slows you down.

I did not quite understand the time limit as when the time reaches 0, a life was lost instead of perhaps going onto the next level. There might be a target number of objects before they stop jumping from the pit, but if this game has got any faults, this is the only one.

Although the graphics are not very interesting, they are clear and with lively sound this game is a sure winner for the mere price of £2.50. Should keep you amused for ages.