The Chaos Engine ( Soldiers of Fortune ) Sega Mega Drive
Sega Mega Drive Gameplay Review The Chaos Engine ( Soldiers of Fortune )
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Everything you need to know about The Chaos Engine (Soldiers of Fortune)
Soldiers Of Fortune, (The Chaos Engine in Europe where it was developed), is a Shooter developed by The Bitmap Brothers. It was thanks to these small game development teams that I still enjoy retro games! Did these small companies (some of which are now mega companies making shitty games), work hard on their games and focus primarily on what matters most? THE GAME! Soldiers of Fortune, while certainly not this company's best title, is one of the best in the Top-Down Scrolling Shooter subgenre.
Who would you send on this mission? Who could take the Baron and his Chaos Engine alive? Well, fortunately, the player has a pretty generous choice of protagonists. Appropriately designed (we're in the Victorian era, by the way) and well-rendered sprites of a band of mercenaries are the heroes of the game. A selection of two of the following is available: The Mercenary, The Bandit, The Knight, The Navvie, The Thug and The Scientist.
So for a 16-bit third-party shooter, this was an impressive choice of characters.
The players are then thrown into the deep end. The first level, a muddy swamp filled with strange ogres and giant toads, is quite a challenge. You will notice that the firepower you are equipped with, although quite weak, shows quite good potential (in fact, if you save your money well, the shop, which can be visited every two levels, will allow you to boost-up your weapon very widely).
This is one of the main draw cards of the game: collecting money for killing enemies is great for purchasing various upgrades for your character. It's always a difficult decision on what to spend your money on. What's more important, more lives or health/weapon upgrades? And, yes, the core gameplay of progressing through the levels, popping the "Nodes" (electrically charged piston-like things that power the output), is exciting enough.
Brief History The Chaos Engine (Soldiers of Fortune)
The background
To fully understand your mission, a little information can help.
world history
England, 1887. Just south of Berkshire, a prehistoric dinosaur is found trapped in a rock quarry. Scholars from around the world were sent to investigate the beast, only to determine that it is not a life form known to man. The mystery had begun.
At the same time, strange events began to occur around the world. In Paris, a theater was suddenly swallowed by the earth. Half of Bavaria's residents became ravenous wolves that roamed the countryside in packs, stalking their next innocent prey. Across the Atlantic, the newly assembled Statue of Liberty rose from its granite moorings and made its way into the heart of New York, crushing buildings and everything in its path.
Britain, the source of the unrest, descends into anarchy. The landscapes began to change violently and mutated beasts roamed everywhere. City people moved to the countryside to escape the devastation, while the army became wandering bandits who preyed on defenseless citizens. Things were looking bleak. Baron Fortesque and the Chaos Engine
Unknown to the world, the source of these chaotic emanations was a remote area of moorland just south of Cornwall, the home of Baron Fortesque. The Baron's thirst for knowledge and power led him to hire the best scientists and architects money could get. When one of his researchers came up with plans for a dream of transmuting matter, the baron imprisoned the researcher. Fortesque then began building the engine himself for his own nefarious schemes.
The Baron was able to transform the engine into a chaos generator, radically altering time and space. Without warning, Fortesque was imprisoned by the machine, transforming him into a hideous beast in the process. Charging itself, the Chaos Engine continued to cause devastating effects on the world.
enter the soldiers
The engine's creator escaped from the Baron's dank cellars and revealed the location of the Chaos Engine to the world. With the world's arsenal in disarray, an elite strike force was needed to infiltrate the area and destroy the foul machine.
A group of mercenaries was called, each with special skills and extraordinary qualities. All of these soldiers swore to put an end to the engine threat and free the world from its chaotic chaos. Two soldiers could penetrate the grounds of the property undetected and, with skill and a little luck, reach the cellars and destroy the machine.
On their last night together, each Soldier readied his weapon and prepared for the battle that could be his last. Two of them were going to enter the mad baron's property with the fate of the world in their hands. They would either destroy the Chaos Engine or die trying.
You are that last hope. Good luck, soldier.
«Start of the Game The Chaos Engine (Soldiers of Fortune)«
Gameplay of The Chaos Engine
At first glance, Soldiers of Fortune looks like a commando shooter, but after playing a few times you'll see that it's not, and you'll need a small amount of strategy and a lot of decision making to complete it. Soldiers of Fortune is full of hidden bonus areas, some are easy to find while others are well hidden and extremely difficult to find.
Just like in Data East's Heavy Barrel game, scattered throughout the levels are keys that you'll need to open paths, bonus areas, exits, etc. 2-player game in which a CPU-controlled player (which you select after choosing your character) will fight at your side. This is quite annoying because the CPU player will start collecting everything in sight, such as health, power-ups, etc. that 9/10 times you will need more than him.
On the plus side, you have the ability to use any of the CPU's special abilities. Absent in Soldiers of Fortune is the Strafe ability (shoot in a blocked direction while moving) found in most games in this genre. Enemies get smarter as you progress and finding your way out becomes more complex than the previous round. SoF also has a password feature.
In addition to getting familiar with each of the six characters and their special abilities, control and collision detection are precise.
Bitmap Brothers' attention to detail on this game is incredible. Everything, from the cracks in the brick and stone walls to the shading and the characters themselves, is intensely high-resolution. The cold/murky colors in SoF create a dark/mysterious mood for the game. Characters and enemies animate smoothly, and small details like bubbling mud, pulsating nodes, and steam (from bio tanks) enhance SoF's presentation. The levels are strategically well designed and each of the 4 levels has its own individual enemies.
Graphics
One of the best aspects of SOF is the graphic quality. The game features 4 worlds that, while not all that original or distinctive (just a swamp, an industrial zone, and 2 interior areas), look pretty good due to the high-quality design and level of detail. With dark and gritty tones, the overall look of the game leaves a bit of a steam-punk flavor. The only problem, as I said, is that nothing is really innovative and especially the enemies are extremely generic with golems, insects, giant frogs, lizards and other boring mutations. SOF in terms of audio has nothing special to offer you. The sound effects range from average to standard quality video game fanfare and the music, while relatively good, is quite forgettable and at times overly repetitive. At least nothing is really bothersome to your ears?
Music and Sound
The music is great, and leans towards a Techno theme, 'Mission Impossible'. The narrator's 'old-static-crackling' voice sounds incredible. Weapons in SoF must have silencers as they don't make any noise or sound, otherwise the sound effects are pretty good. The birdsong in the first world adds a sense of depth to SoF.
Final reflection
Simply put, this is the best game in this category for the Genesis. SoF is a rare game even on eBay. SoF is a well put together package with only one small flaw, it is a little short. If you are a fan of this genre and find a COMPLETE, MINT (at least decent) copy somewhere, buy it, you won't be disappointed...
Game technical sheet
Developer
The Bitmap Brothers
Distributor
Spectrum Holobyte
Console
Release Date(s)
1993
Genders)
Shots
game modes
2 Players
Cooperative
Yes
Format(s)
Cartridge
