Marsport

Copyright : Gargoyle Games | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

The year is 2494 and for seventy years, Earth has been under siege from the Sept, a hive-culture race from the galactic centre. The Sept have thus far been kept at bay by a sphere of force surrounding the Earth and the Moon but their attacks are getting stronger and its obvious that they will soon be able to breach. The only hope is to strengthen the shield - the plans of which are held deep within the confines of Marsport - which has long since fallen under the control of the Sept.

Only you as Commander John Marsh can fight your way through the hazards of Marsport and return with the plans.

The first and only instalment of the Siege of Earth Trilogy, the planned follow-ups Fornax and Gath never materialised, Marsport received a Mastergame award and was given away with issue #73 of Amstrad Action.

Graphics

Drab in appearance, Marsport doesn?t look much to write home about now and time certainly hasn?t done it much favours with much more complex looking games having been released in the twenty years since it?s debut. All concerns about the quality of the graphics begin to disappear though when you begin to move your character around the screen. The animation is fluid and smooth with Marsh striding around the levels of Marsport in a realistic manner. It can become jerky though when there?s lots going on in the playing area.

The various Sept enemy that he encounters on his travels are well designed too and also move fairly convincingly. A nice touch is the way Marsh can pass behind or in front of support struts in a 3D fashion - this is reversed when you walk down the same corridor from the other point of view.

The mode 1 graphics naturally require a lower number of colours and the choice of having everything red (although logical seeing as the game is based on Mars - the red planet) does make the graphics look a little dull which although a dis-service to the game is undeniable. It?s hard to judge because more colours would equal less details and the beauty of Marsport?s graphics lies in the intricate details of Marsh and his surroundings - there?s some real hidden beauty to be found in there.

Sound

Minimal sound which although atmospheric is a little disappointing. An echoing footstep to accompany Marsh around the abandoned outpost would have been fantastic but instead all you get is the odd computer readout and gunshot.

Gameplay

Very difficult to get to grips with, Marsport is not a pick up and play kind of game and one that will require some mapping (or a photographic memory) if any real progress is to be made.

This difficulty stems from the awkward keyboard controls that flip the view through four camera angles each at 90° of each other which means you will often flip between different views to see what is on different walls and be able to go along different paths. There is a compass at the bottom of the screen to help you keep your bearings however if a panic starts to set in with the Sept bearing down on you a mad dash out of the screen, hitting any and all buttons is likely thus leaving you stranded in an unknown place!

The game remains solid until you manage to find the gun. After this point the arcade side of things begin to kick in and it?s up to you and you?re able to defend yourself but having said that the adventure elements remain and the game is one that will appeal more to adventurers than shoot-em-up enthusiasts.

Similar in structure to Dun Darach and Tir Na Nog, Marsport is highly polished and once you get into is quite good fun to play. The addition of more arcade elements to the already successful adventure format gives Marsport the edge over both of these games and even the decision to have the game take place in what is effectively a giant tower, using lifts some of which only go one way certainly makes the game more of a challenge.

One very good feature included by Gargoyle is the ability to save your game and I would recommend that all players do so on a regular basis if you want to get even close to re-capturing the plans and making good your escape!

If you get your head around the controls, and are willing to put some time into the enterprise then Marsport could be a rewarding experience for you.