Terra Cognita

Copyright : Codemasters | Reviewed by : AndyH

"Arcade action, ultra-fast smooth scrolling, brilliant graphics, professional sound effects, 1000 screens - all make this sequel to NonTerraqueous, one of the best yet from Stephen Curtis"

Graphics

The style of the game is a top down scroller, and as such everything is drawn as viewed from above. The graphics of the aliens and the player ship are not very exciting, but are suitably detailed. Not a great deal of animation which is a little disappointing. The background graphics are perfect however. They are made up of distinct rectangular tiles. There are three types of tile - scenery, powerups and obstacles. In a game like this it is important that all types are clear which they are to an extent. Most obstacles have some flashing colour which is a great help, but the graphics can tend to merge together into one confusing drug-like induced hallucination ... but that?s not a bad thing. Overall the graphics are satisfying and do the job very well for this type of game. The Amstrad version definately had better graphics that the Spectrum and C64 versions.

Sound

Sound is minimal, despite the claims on the box. However they suffice. There is a constant white noise from the engines, which changes as you go over powerups to speed or slow you down. There is sound for when you shoot and destroy the attacking aliens and also when you collect powerups.

Gameplay

Many may not like this game as it is very tough from the beginning. I remember playing this a lot however, despite wanting to throw the joystick out the window at times. Just to see a bit further...

Its very much a game where you have to memorise the best route to take, where the best powerups and the traps in the maze are. You can only get so far with blind luck, hence its frustrating quality.

You fly upwards through the maze of tiles. There are obstacle tiles which have a raised 3D quality to them and generally flash. This makes it easy at first to find your way. The background is made up of grass, water and a kind of fire...as well as some technological looking ?chip? like tiles. You soon find however that the level designer has an evil streak as with so much colour on screen it can soon get a bit confusing and you feel like you are going into a hallucigenic fit as your eyes try to make sense of mass of stimulation. This adds to the difficulty.

The strategic part to the game is not only choosing an easier route through each part, but also the most appropriate one. There are powerup tiles that change the gameplay slightly when you pass over them. Some tiles change your speed - essential for getting around tight bends. Some give you invincibility which allows you to ignore the aliens for a while although you can still crash into the scenary. Others give you score bonuses. Two of the most important power ups though are fuel and lives. You must constantly top up your fuel, as if you run out you will crash. Lives are very important in the Amstrad version as you have to sacrifice yourself in one part of the maze...a very evil touch!

The booby tile is the time warp. This is yet another example of evil game design, these tiles take you right back to the start. They are not so common, but they can be found in some of the most irritating places at times and as they are not so common you can sometimes forget what they are and hit one. Maybe a great way to get a good score, but irritating all the same. They do have one outstanding feature however, you can use them at the start of the game to boost your lives. Not far in is a lives tile boxed in a dead end. Collect this and continue up the dead end and you?ll find a handy time warp tile taking you out of harms way back to the start. If you can stick it out long enough to repeat this section over and over, you can build yourself a healthy stack of lives before you attempt the rest of the maze.

The last element to the game are the aliens, they wander down the screen towards you in various repeating patterns. They serve mostly to get in your way and they do a good job of it.

This all in combination makes for a very hard game. The appeal for me is to just get a bit further into the maze. You are left at times feeling fed up and aching hands (the game gives your joystick good work out) and you have to take Terra Cognita in small bites. I?ve never completed the Amstrad version, maybe one day...

This game left an impression on me. For a game to be remembered so well, Codemasters must have done something right in there. Many years later we attempted a remake of Terra Cognita in 3D, of which the results can be found on our website www.ovine.net.