[{"TitleName":"Cop-Out","Publisher":"Mikro-Gen Ltd","Author":"Raffaele Cecco, Steinar Lund","YearOfRelease":"1986","ZxDbId":"0001063","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 37, Feb 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-01-22","Editor":"Graeme Kidd","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Publishers: Roger Kean, Oliver Frey, Franco Frey\r\nPublishing Executive/Editor: Graeme Kidd\r\nSub Editor: Ciaran Brennan\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Lee Paddon, Hannah Smith\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Editor: Philippa Irving\r\nTech Tipster: Simon Goodwin\r\nContributing Writers: Jon Bates, Brendon Kavanagh, John Minson\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nArt Director: Dick Shiner\r\nAssistant Art Director: Gordon Druce\r\nIllustrators: Ian Craig, Oliver Frey\r\nProduction: Seb Clare, Tim Croton, Mark Kendrick, Tony Lorton, Nick Orchard, Michael Parkinson, Cameron Pound, Jonathan Rignall, Matthew Uffindell\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Nick Wild\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nEditorial and Production: [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order and Subscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nBookings [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistributed by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced whole or in part without written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return any written material sent to CRASH Magazine unless accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material which may be used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\n©1987 Newsfield Limited\r\n\r\nCover by Ian Craig\r\n\r\n101,483 Total\r\n92,992 UK and EIRE"},"MainText":"Producer: Mikro-Gen\r\nRetail Price: £8.95\r\nAuthor: Raffaele Cecco\r\n\r\nThis game could claim some unique fame as it made the TV headlines. Thames Television covered the National Computer Games Championship towards the end of 1986, and this happened to be the game selected to test the cream of games' players who'd been put forward by various computer magazines and newspapers.\r\n\r\nCop-Out is all about keeping the streets clear of lawless elements during prohibition in the roaring twenties. It is a thankless task. With a mere nine lives, our brave boy in blue has ten levels of life's social outcasts and rougher elements to deal with.\r\n\r\nGangsters, molls, drunks... there is seemingly no end to the seamier side of life. And they all want one thing, to rub out da cop. The mobsters come armed with the old violin case jobs spitting out bullets. There is also a sprinkling of yobs, obviously not amused at the difficulty in getting a quick drink in the prohibition days, and they enjoy nothing better than chucking empty bottles at poor old flatfoot.\r\n\r\nTo combat this fusilade, our hero has his trusty six shooter. He runs backwards and forwards along the bottom of the screen, dodging the bullets and bottles. As he moves, his gunsight (it's a pretty advanced six shooter) moves as well, but at twice the speed. The gunsight can also move up and down. The brave bobby can let off a volley of six shots before he has to pause to re-load. His targets are birds, cars and planes which drift around the sky as well as the gangsters themselves. Shooting the gangsters is a tricky task, as they only break cover for a short time to lob something at the cop.\r\n\r\nIf all this makes it sound like the odds are stacked against the lawman, he has one thing on his side. If he can shoot a bottle as it hurtles through the air, he becomes temporarily unscratchable. While this Dutch courage lasts, he can happily blast away at anything in sight, especially the biplane, which looks like it may have belonged to the Red Baron, and a jeep full of German officers (aren't they in the wrong movie?) Hitting these out-of- place items clocks up 1,000 points a go. Another good wheeze is to shoot a bird and get a gangster clobbered by the poor Leathered chump as he plummets to earth. Not a game that RSPB members are likely to relish.\r\n\r\nAfter a while play moves on to another level and life gets more difficult for our hero. Like they say on TV, it's tough on the streets!\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: Q Up, A Down, O left, P right, 3 Pause, M fire, 1-4 Reset\r\nJoystick: Kempston, Cursor, Interface 2\r\nUse of colour: decorative\r\nGraphics: good detail and some animation\r\nSound: good spot effects throughout\r\nSkill levels: one\r\nScreens: 10","ReviewerComments":["This isn't exactly what I'd call a state-of-the-art program but it certainly isn't dire. I couldn't play Cop-Out for long as it really isn't demanding enough to appeal to me - running left and right and shooting things through sights isn't an original idea, and nowadays it isn't much fun either. Graphically Cop-Out is fairly impressive: the characters move around well and the backgrounds are nicely drawn. The sound is also fairly good and there is a lovely tune on the title screen. If this was a budget title I would strongly recommend it. Alas it isn't and nine quid is far too high a price.\r\nBen Stone","Cor this is a bit of a change from the usual MIKRO-GEN stuff - but I can handle it. Graphically the game is spot on and contains loads of colour. Cop-Out is immediately addictive but after a while I sussed net that the game contains little more than a sub stage of the budget game. Kane - although to be fair to Cop-Out, it does contain a bit more thought about what you blast next. The backgrounds are well drawn, but don't give much of a 3D impression. Worth a look at, if you like a good shoot 'em up, but much too expensive for us average mortals.\r\r\nPaul Sumner","When I first saw this at the Microfair, I thought \"rough!\". Having played it however, it doesn't look that bad. All the graphics, though initially appearing poor, are interestingly animated, and the game is surprisingly playable. An element of the 'one more go' feeling has survived, although I don't think that for one minute its price is deserved. It sounds quite jolly, with a nice time on the title screen, and good spot effects during the game. Ultimately, I can't recommend Cop-Out, because it's a bit too average in most respects.\r\nMike Dunn"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: A polished renedition of an unoriginal game.","Page":"107","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Ben Stone","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Paul Sumner","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Mike Dunn","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Flatfoot shoots wildly at the biplane hoping to collect another 1,000 points."},{"Text":"In the warehouse, the cop tries got to drop the birdie on a baddy's head for a bonus."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"81%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"72%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"69%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"67%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"58%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"65%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]