Cabal

In the 80’s one-man armies were big and action meant one thing whether you were talking film or games: hold the trigger down until everyone’s dead. 

In true 80’s fashion, ammo isn’t a problem as it’s unlimited, but more powerful weapons can be picked up for a limited time.
Andy Pryer

But with such a glut of one-man army concepts around, what could be done to up the anty?  Answer: a two man army, thus increasing the death toll by 100%!

Whether you choose to employ the services of another bloodthirsty maniac to assist in your mission to raze absolutely everything in sight to ruins is up to you, but either way, I guarantee you an intense and action packed battle.  Viewed from the third person behind the players, you control one of the two unnamed commandos, dandily dressed in Raspberry Red or Capri Blue sleeveless onesies with braces, assaulting several military bases.  The colours are accurate by the way, I checked on the Dulux website.

Limited to sideways movement, players can only move forward once all the opposition has been wiped out.  Your aiming curser is moved at the same time as the player’s character, but moves more quickly allowing you to target the individual targets precisely.  The system works very well with a little practice and was copied by several other games like NAM-1975 and Wild Guns.

In true 80’s fashion, ammo isn’t a problem as it’s unlimited, but more powerful weapons can be picked up for a limited time.  You also have a limited supply of grenades, which pack a pretty decent punch and are particularly useful for taking down barrack buildings and vehicles, the former satisfyingly topple and crumble into a cloud of dust, denying the enemy of their cover and the latter supplying lavish splash damage to the surrounding enemies.  You too have cover at the start of most levels, but the sandbags a concrete blocks are eroded by the incoming fire, so draw attention to them wisely.  A bar at the top of the screen slowly fills with each enemy casualty.  Once it’s full any remaining troops in view simply kill themselves honourably, or die of fright presumably.

The game’s general tone, as you might expect, is full of chaos and destruction and with the dramatically simple soundtrack makes for a fairly serious and intense affair. This maks each end of level’s whimsical celebration a real treat of comic relief. 

Review by Andy Pryer - @ClammyLizard