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A.P.I Review:	ASSAULT
Developer:	Candlelight Studios Limited	OPTIONS:	SCREENSHOTS: No.1   No.2   No.3
Distributor:	Midway	1-2 Player
Game Type:	Arcade Shoot-em-up	Memory Card
Review Date:	November 1998	Dual Shock

Setting the Scene

We appear to be right in the middle of the shooting season.  No sooner 
have our trigger fingers recovered from exhaustive rapid-firing on recent 
games such as Viper, Einhander, R-Types and N²O, when up pops another in 
the form of Assault.

Now Telstar haven't really claimed too much success on the Playstation 
format, having fairly moderate success with past titles Wreckin Crew, 
Formula Karts and Bubsy 3D.  However there still remains a fondness in 
my heart for their best PSX game to date - Excalibur 2555AD.  

Sweeping the board clean and loading up both barrels, Telstar aim to 
finally gain a firm base in the mainstream games market during 1999 
with what looks like a fairly strong line up.  The first bullet fired 
in anger has the name 'Assault' written on it.  Prepare to take cover.    

The game's adventure begins in the once-utopian city of Arcadia, a city 
now lying in devastation from the impact of a giant object from the 
depths of space. With many of the population dead, injured or fleeing 
from impact site, reports indicate that a swarm of hideously mutated 
alien creatures is pouring from the crashed object, believed to be an 
alien craft. 

Players select to control either male or female characters Sgt Reno J 
Washington, Major Kelly Doyle.  Both are heavily armed troopers, 
encased in robotic armor, who are part of a rapid deployment team 
specializing in heavy weapons.

Genre

Assault is a pure, unadulterated, scrolling shoot-em-up where the action 
has been captured in a classic arcade coin-op style.  It delivers frenetic 
blasting gameplay for one or two players simultaneously over 40 massive 
deadly stages which are split into six distinct environments.  Each is 
crammed with alien mutants. 

To deliver it's non-stop arcade game quality, Assault is constantly 
streaming graphical and game data from the CD making the whole experience 
an assault on the players' senses and reflexes.

Graphics

Assault is one tasty looking game.  In fact I would go on to say that 
it's probably the brightest and most colorful shooter I have witnessed 
on PSX to date.

Both male and female characters have been constructed using polygons and, 
although quite small, they are easily identifiable from the hoards of 
3D polygon alien creatures that charge forward incessantly.  The lead 
characters appear in a quality opening intro where the muscular Sgt 
Reno J Washington and the buxom Major Kelly Doyle are stripped and then 
rigged for battle.  It's all very titillating, while careful camera 
positioning will keep the purists at bay.

One the action begins it is plainly obvious that every graphical trick 
in the book has been used to create maximum impact on the retina.  
There's translucency, transparencies, real-time lighting, 512x520 
resolution, texture mapping, gouraud shading, animating textures and 
meshes, cross fading objects while objects have been stretched and 
morphed.  In fact I will go as far as saying that half hourly breaks 
are well recommended, if not essential.  The last time that I recall 
being hypnotised by a game in such a way was with N²O, only this time 
I found I couldn't put the control pad down.  Do you think that 
programmers have finally found a way to link a game up directly with 
our minds?  Frightening thought!      

I played through over a dozen levels and I found the vast range of 
environments and enemies to be very pleasing.  Rigid platforms become 
broken bridges and unstable columns.  Miniature aliens become formidable 
gorgoils.  Solid ground turns into crumbling debris.  Bog-standard Crab 
Bosses become terrifying invisible monsters.  What I found most 
impressive were the levels that involved crossing a lake.  The water 
effects are superb.  Every creature that you blast breaks up into 
fragments and each segment causes an individual ripple on the surface.  
Reflections are almost as clear as if glancing in a mirror.

Sounds and Effects

The sound effects.  Hmmm.  Imagine.. BANG! BANG! BANG!  CRASH! CRASH! 
CRASH!  THUD! THUD! THUD!  UGGH! UGGH! UGGH!  KABOOOOM! KABOOOOM! 
KABOOOOM!  CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!...  all at the same time.  
Get the idea!  Assault on your ear drums... that's for sure.

The music is probably quite suitable considering that electronic disco 
tunes are making a comeback.  Ahh, remember the days of the moog?  
It's wild.  It's noisy.  It's fitting!

Playability

Dropped into the shattered remains of the already-ravaged city, the 
players' objective is seek out and destroy the alien craft. Obviously, 
it's no quick stroll: Arcadia is rapidly being over-run with aliens 
intent on causing as much damage as possible to the players, the city 
and Arcadia's remaining residents. 

So many of these side scrolling shooters lack any imagination but from 
the very second your character leaps from the loading bay of the space 
shuttle you just know that a treat is in store.  Miniature aliens are 
hatching from their eggs and heading straight for their first meal... 
a nibble at your characters ankles.  Now this should cause little 
concern because your weapon may be directed down towards the ground.  
Unfortunately you also need to aim it a little higher because the baby 
aliens mummy and her relatives are charging towards you like there's 
no tomorrow.  This up and downward shooting adds a further dimension 
to the gameplay.

Hold on... we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here.  Assault 
may be played by one or two players simultaneously.  The two player 
mode involves both characters moving through the levels side by side 
blasting hordes of aliens enemies.  There is no split-screen therefore 
expect the gameplay to follow a similar pattern to Re-Loaded where 
both players must cooperate and play keep up to achieve their goal.  
In the simultaneous two-player game, whole new areas of the game map 
are revealed offering action.

In single player mode there are four difficulty settings and the option 
to switch on the weapon auto switch.  Assault is Dual Shock compatible 
and the left stick works fine to direct your player around the open 
areas.  However, I quickly switched back to the D-pad when negotiating 
a series of tricky jumps.  Vibrations are adequate, but don't expect 
to pull a muscle.  

Both characters move on foot (360-degree rotational movement in 3D 
environment) fire current weapon, jump, fire smart bomb, look up and 
down, strafe (enables players to fire in one direction while walking 
in another) and Stand Ground (locks players position enabling player 
to rotate and fire weapon).  Later in the game you get a chance to 
tackle a few levels on board a hover-bike.  These levels serve to break 
the monotony of the game a little. 

Initially your chosen character begins on foot by plodding along a 
series of platforms at a reasonable pace.  Suddenly the platforms 
become broken bridges and chaos erupts as space vehicles block your 
path, cargo containers fall from the sky and masses of aliens go on 
the rampage.  From here on in the action is fast and furious.

At the end of each section a Boss must be defeated therefore collection 
of power ups and weapons on your journey is essential.  The player 
begins with a standard issue	P-420 Multi-phase Pulse Rifle (Washington)	
or a D-16 Magnetic Bolt Accelerator (Doyle), however as obstacles are 
destroyed a bonus is revealed in the form of a health patch, weapon 
upgrade, an energy cell or an shield that lasts for a short period of 
time.

Value for Money

If you go a bundle on arcade shoot-em-ups then, boy, are you in for a 
treat with Assault.  It's frantic from start to finish and with over 40 
large stages to blast through, two player cooperative mode and four 
difficulty settings, this game should keep you occupied for quite a 
few weeks.