Review by:   Tim Wright

Game:        Blam Machinehead
Publisher:   Eidos
Format:      CD-ROM
Available:   Out now

Requires:
 
O/S:         DOS 6.22+ or Win95
Processor:   486DX2/66+
RAM:         8Mb+
Graphics:    SVGA 1Mb
CD-Rom:      X2
Soundcard:   All major cards supported

Tested on:

O/S:         DOS 7.0 - Windows 95
Processor:   Pentium 133
RAM:         16Mb
Graphics:    2Mb Matrox Mystique
CD-ROM:      Toshiba Quad Speed
Soundcard:   Soundblaster AWE 32
Controls:    Keyboard & Joystick

Blam! Machinehead

It is the year 2020. Nanotechnology has taken off in a big way and has darn near outmoded use humans altogether. One of the chief bods in the nanotechnology industry, Callum 'Slug' Violdreer injects himself with the little robots and becomes the Machinehead Core, a breeding ground and control centre for the nanobots, which promptly destroy most of the planet and the bulk of the population. Meanwhile, two scientists, Kimberly Stride (that's you) and Orville McArdle are putting the finishing touches to a missile designed to wipe out the Machinehead. However, Orville sees fit to crack Kimberly around the back of the head with a spanner and strap her onto the missile, with the intention of sending her hurtling into the Machinehead itself. As Kimberly comes round, the first thing she notices is that she doesn't have much clothing on to speak of. The second thing she sees is the geeky (and not at all stereotyped) Orville leering at her from on of the monitors on the missile, giving her mission instructions. Suddenly it becomes all too horribly clear as to what Kimberly must do.

Shoot everything!

In an attempt to add a little extra depth to the mixture, Core have added 'Unreality Terminals' to the game. These alter the layout of the level and give you access to previously inaccessible sections of the map.....if you can locate the relevant key that is! So on your travels you spend a lot of time in a fast-moving 3-D environment (there's a very impressive 3-D engine on display here and things refuse to slow down regardless of how hectic it gets), shooting things in a spectacular fashion, while hunting for that elusive unreality key. And hunt you will, because the levels are all a bit large, your line of sight is somewhat restricted (you tend not to see baddies until they are only 15 feet in front of you) and your way your 'missile' craft handles is a variable affair.

It's fast, it's easy to control (although it gets a bit out of control at times) but if you put an object that is more than 30cm tall in front of it, it will just bang into it. Unlike the games Blam! reminds me of, (Descent, Terminal Velocity), you can only hover, there is no climbing or diving or what-have-you. This can lead to a lot of instances of you falling off ledges and scrabbling like mad to get back to where you came from, only to do exactly the same thing again.

So in a nutshell, you zoom around in a Star Wars style speeder, shooting things en masse and collecting those all important unreality keys. In addition you have to take time out to perform a certain task (such as shooting a set number of cocoon pods dangling from pylons on level one, for instance).

But what of our heroine, Kimberly Stride? Well, she's a typical computer game female. Pouty, attractive and with more weight up top than two bowling balls in a carrier bag. Still, it's very useful for teenage video game whizz-kids who can play a game like this one-handed. She also has a ridiculously breathy Southern Belle voice. I was half-expecting the Golden Girls to wander on at any time.

Comparisons may well be drawn with Descent and Terminal Velocity, the two games which probably inspired this title more than anything else. It pains me to say this but Blam! isn't as good as either of those classics. It doesn't boast the freedom of movement or addictive hook of Descent and while the action is very spectacular, the game doesn't give the same impression of speed, the same level of debris and lacks the meaty sound effects of T.V. Instead we get a ground-hugging improvement on Hi-Octane with sound effects that sound scratchy even on a 16-bit sound card. Additionally, the music is mediocre nose-bleed techno, which is good for shifting ear wax, but apart from that, doesn't drive the action along in the same way as a good, reactive musical score would do (Like X-Wing and Tie-Fighter).

As if that wasn't enough, the graphics are pretty gaudy and blocky to boot. I'm told there is an SVGA mode but I can't find it anywhere. The stylish but rather empty manual didn't help me on my search for facts, either.

Oh dear, this all sounds rather negative doesn't it? It's a shame as Core's other big release on the PC this Chrimble, 'Tomb Raider' is pretty damn smart because of it's greater depth and what-have-you (and having played the demo I'll probably get the full game). Blams attempts at depth (The endless searching for the unreality keys) just served to annoy me. God knows I love this sort of game (I spooged buckets over Terminal Velocity) but I just couldn't get into this one.

I'd recommend this one to people who want Playstation-style action on the PC but frankly, I'd prefer something with a bit more meat on it's bones. A real try-before-you-buy game, this one.

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Rating: 5/10 (Not Bad - Not Good!)
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