Gremlin
£9.99 cass/£14.99 disk
Reviewer: Jonathan Davies

1984 may have passed without a hint of the doom, gloom and general unpleasantness that was prophesied for it. But now you have the chance to experience what could have been within the confines of your MFI computer desk. How? just play this latest release from Gremlin, Paranoia Complex, and you'll see what I mean.

The idea is that you're a resident of the paranoia Complex, an area under the control of Friend Computer. Not, as you might initially think, a lovable, dependable Speccy but a power-crazed, Big Brotheresque machine, something the YS proletariat are very familiar with.

In order to prove your allegiance to the computer, and thus avoid being carted off by it minions, your job is to track down and zap the members of a terrorist group who are trying to infiltrate the complex. While you're doing this you're also meant to be collecting the parts to build a robot. How this relates to the rest of the plot I'm not sure, but having got this far such things seem trivial.

What follows is a rather crude arcade adventure. Much of it seems to revolve around needing the lavatory at key moments in the game, something which never happens in George Orwell books. Well not often anyway. A plentiful supply of loo-roll is therefore vital, and this can be purchased at terminals, along with extra equipment, clean underwear and other essentials. Your appetite also features heavily, and this is satisfied by buying and programming food-cards.

There are dozens of other features to get to grips with, but after a few hours playing the one that springs most vividly to mind is the personality test. Every time you cross a Control Station or bump into one of the computer's guards you are asked one or more questions, something along the lines of "Are you happy? (Yes/ No)". This is to make sure you are still a fan of the regime. The trouble is that the correct answers are blatantly obvious, and as the questions start repeating after a short time they start to get very irritating. This reflects poorly on the rest of the game, which was never that great to begin with.

Although the basic structure is sound, Paranoia Complex naffo graphics, grubby presentation and numerous minor irritations make it a thorough let-down to play.

Label: Gremlin
Author: Magic Bytes
Price: £9.95
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Tony Dillon

Why do I get the feeling that this game might of taken some inspiration from 1984. The Paranoia Complex is a largish city set somewhere in the vicinity of Milton Keynes. The controlling force of the city is Friend Computer. He provides all the food, jobs, issues of B O and everything else needed to survive, and peace is controlled via a bunch of burly henchmen known to all as Police.

The city is at unrest. Lots of people are unhappy and are joining together to form resistance groups. You have been chosen by the computer to be an undercover agent. You must travel around the city keeping an eye on things and generally keeping within the law because. Friend of the computer or not. the guards will still shoot you on sight upon word of command from ol' FC.

At the start of the game, you are an ordinary minion moving around the city. The first thinig you have to do is find a computer terminal and log on to the computer shopping system. Buy yourself a communicator and before long, messages will start coming from the computer, giving you instructions. The first one warns you of a traitor who is running around the city killing people.

This means that if you get in his way, he'll kill you. The trick is to stand on a corner and jump him W as he walks past. Once I he's down, you have to search his pockets for a disk. Bring this disk to a confessional booth, and the computer rewards you with a large amount of money and a clearance promotion, which allows you to reach other levels of the city.

Just to make sure you are mentally sound, you are stopped by the guards and at computer checkpoints, where you are asked psychoanalytical questions, all of which are answered by a simple yes or no. Questions such as "Are you happy?".

'Are you a fascist pig?" and "What is your clearance?" Answer wrongly and the computer lets the world know that you are now a traitor and should be terminated immediately.

The game is viewed as a plan view flip screen arcade adventure with some very nicely animated sprites, but the rest of the game looks a bit sparse. All the sprites are the same, just different colours representing different ranks.

The backdrops are bland and very samey all the way through.

I must say. I get bored very quickly looking at this game.

A game with as much content and promise as this should be