[{"TitleName":"Arcticfox","Publisher":"Electronic Arts","Author":"ComTec, Mark Fisher, John Mattos, John Burton","YearOfRelease":"1988","ZxDbId":"0000245","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 55, Aug 1988","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1988-07-28","Editor":"Dominic Handy","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Dominic Handy\r\nAssistant Editor: Katharina Hamza\r\nProduction Editor: Barnaby Page\r\nStaff Writers: Mark Caswell, Philip King, Lloyd Mangram, Nick Roberts\r\nEditorial Assistants: Frances Mable, Glenys Powell\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\nContributors: Jon Bates, Raffaele Cecco, Paul Evans, Simon N Goodwin, Ian Philipson, Philippa Irving, Brendon Kavanagh, Paul Sumner, Stuart Wynne\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nArt Director: Mark Kendrick\r\nAssistant Art Director: Wayne Allen\r\nProduction Team: Ian Chubb, Melvin Fisher, Robert Millichamp, Yvonne Priest, Matthew Uffindell\r\n\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nSales Executives: Andrew Smales, Sarah Chapman\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypeset by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group. Distribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters relating to adjudication and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens (like a game that has been offered as a prize being scrapped) we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. We'll do our very best to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the published closing date. Winners names will appear in a later issue of CRASH. No correspondence can be entered into regarding the competitions (unless we've written to you stating that you have won a prize and it doesn't turn up, in which case drop Frances Mable a line at the [redacted] address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for either Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions. No material may be reproduced whole or in part without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into CRASH including written and photographic material, software and hardware - unless it is accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\nTotal: 96,590\r\nUK/EIRE: 90,822\r\n\r\n©CRASH Ltd, 1988\r\n\r\nCover Design & Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Electronic Arts\r\nRetail Price: £12.99 cassette, £14.99 disk\r\nAuthor: Dynamix\r\n\r\nArctic Fox is a tank simulation set in the tough terrain of Antarctica. The player controls the Arcticfox; an advanced tank armed with various weapons and equipped with many instruments.\r\n\r\nThe action is shown in 3-D vanishing point perspective with wire frame graphics. A radar screen gives the position of the Arcticfox and its enemies.\r\n\r\nCharged with the objective of destroying the enemy's main fort, the tank moves across a terrain of snow and ice encountering ridges which can be climbed to obtain a strategic viewpoint, and slippery mud flats.\r\n\r\nOn the ground, hazards consist of slow-moving heavy tanks, light tanks, non-shooting reconnaissance sleds, stationary missiles and floating mines. There are also enemies in the air: fast-moving fighters and reconnaissance flyers.\r\n\r\nThe Arcticfox has the ability to burrow into the snow and hide from enemy forces. Its guided missiles can be controlled after firing and the inclination of the tanks cannon can be altered to allow it to shoot either ground or aerial enemies.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nJoysticks: Kempston, Sinclair\r\nGraphics: archaic, wire-framed 3-D\r\nSound: scratchy spot effects\r\nOptions: training level. Enemy preview and beginner level on 128K","ReviewerComments":["'Arcticfox reminded me greatly of that ancient blast from the arcade past - Battlezone. One thing I did notice, though: the vehicle is called Arcticfox, yet, according to the instruction manual the south pole is a mere 717 miles away. I think perhaps someone's geography isn't quite up to scratch. Graphically the game is mediocre. The interior display of the tank is impressive, but what goes on through the viewport isn't. Jerkily scrolling, wire-framed vehicles of destruction wobble around bland and totally uninteresting backdrops like motorists out for a Sunday drive. Trundle around a while, fire a couple of missiles, trundle about a bit more - that's the only excitement of the game. Either that or as soon as the game starts you have half a dozen missiles at your flank and one fried tank driver. I'm usually all for this type of game, but Arcticfox didn't impress me very much.\r\nMark Caswell\r\n42%","Arcticfox is just another 3-D line graphics game in the vein of Catch 23. Just like Catch 23, it's no fun to play and quickly gets incredibly boring. The graphics seem to have a different line thickness to other 3-D games and this makes them look blocky and unattractive. There's the odd sound effect here and there but no tune on the extended 128K version. The way it loads is terrible with all the borders in the game loading as SCREEN$ files and then being saved to memory. This takes ages and makes the front end of the game monotonous. Arctictox is a very disappointing release from Electronic Arts.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n43%","Arcticfox comes with the detailed instruction booklet necessary for a complicated game of this type, but the game doesn't really live up to the promise of complex strategy in the manual. Control is awkward and unresponsive, with the tank movement being very sluggish. The graphics are monochromatic and slow and indistinguishable from a distance. The guided missile option is difficult to use, and it's hard to after the cannon's inclination; a keyboard control would have been quicker than having to select a special function. Gameplay is fairly simple (like a slow Battlezone); the various strategic options don't seem to enter into play much, especially as they're so awkward. If only the programming had been up to the task of converting the promising game design it could have been so much better; as it is, it's unplayable and irritating.\r\nPhil King\r\n40%"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: A botched rejuvenation of an ageing genre.","Page":"20,21","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"42","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"43","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Phil King","Score":"40","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"A spot of target practice."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"55%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"45%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"40%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"41%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"41%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 32, Aug 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-07-12","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Darrell King\r\nDeputy Editor: Marcus Berkmann\r\nTechnical Editor: Phil South\r\nProduction Editors: Jackie Ryan, Sophie Moorcock\r\nDesigner: Catherine Higgs\r\nContributors: Richard Blaine, Owen & Audrey Bishop, Ciaran Brennan, Jonathan Davies, Mike 'Skippy' Dunn, Mike Gerrard, Sean Kelly, Graeme Kidd, David McCandless, Duncan McDonald, John Minson, Nat Pryce, Peter Shaw, Ben Stone\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Stansfield\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nArt Director: Hazel Bennington\r\nPublisher: Kevin Cox\r\nPublishing Director: Roger Munford\r\nFinance Director: Colin Crawford\r\nManaging Director: Stephen England\r\nChairman: Felix Dennis\r\n\r\nPublished by Dennis Publishing Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England.\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1988 Felden Productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Sinclair is a monthly publication."},"MainText":"Electronic Arts\r\n£8.95\r\nReviewer: Duncan MacDonald\r\n\r\nYonks and yonks ago (about a year at least), I saw a game called Artic Fox on a friend's Commodore Amiga. Solid filled graphics, squeaky 'tank trundling'sound effects and lot's of zaap-boom fighting action in the snowy wastelands. Great fun!... 'There'll never be a game as good as this on the humble Speccy', I recall myself thinking. And then what happens. Gor blimey, if Firebird doesn't release a game called The Sentinel - solid but slow. Then Driller blimey solid and not so slow. And then The Dark Side - solid and almost smooth. And what drops into my hand today? Only a Spectrum version of Artic Fox by cracko!!!!! I almost damaged my tape recorder as I jammed the cassette into its jaws in a state of hyper-expectant frenzy! I paced back and forth, palms a-sweat, until eventually Artic Fox had loaded and was waiting in my Spectrum.\r\n\r\nOh dear.\r\n\r\nOh dear, oh dear, oh dear...\r\n\r\nWhere can I start? Well for one thing the graphics are vector. Nothing wrong with that - I don't mind vector graphics (Elite, Starglider). Besides, vector graphics can move really fast! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear...\r\n\r\nThese ones don't.\r\n\r\nScenario? Well, you're somewhere near the south pole, inside a futuristic tank. You're surrounded by squillions of enemy craft, planes, tanks, rocket launchers and things like that. Your weaponry consists of cannon, droppable mines and guided missile, and with these you've got to make your way through the enemy lines and destroy the command HQ.\r\n\r\nThe 'action' takes place in a quarter screen sized window in the centre of the screen, with radar scanner and various iconry scattered in the surrounds. The graphics are small, scribbly and hard to make out. The animation 'up-dates' very slowly and everything jerks across the screen in what seems like character-square lumps at a time. The response from keyboard and joystick inputs is sluggish to say the least, and pretty soon total confusion and bewilderment sets in. Or it did with me, anyway.\r\n\r\nIf this was a budget title, I would probably say \"Gosh - this is quite an undertaking for a cheapie. but that still doesn't make the gameplay any better.\" At full price, all I can say is, erm, 'Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.' And seeing that I'm the kind of cad who likes to kick a man when he's down, I can only add that a game set at the south pole should be called 'Antarctic' Fox. Nuff said.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Fairly dire conversion of a 3D tank game that could have had a lot going for it.","Page":"30,31","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Duncan MacDonald","Score":"5","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"5/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 76, Jul 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-06-18","Editor":"Graham Taylor","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Graham 'El Presidente' Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nProduction Editor: Tamara Howard\r\nArt Editor: Gareth Jones\r\nDesigner: Andrea Walker\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nTechnical: Andrew Hewson, Rupert Goodwins\r\nContributors: Tony 'I'm a headbanger' Dillon, Chris 'Leave off my jelly babies' Jenkins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Katherine Lee\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Margaret 'I'll spell that for you' Caddick-Adams\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Alison Morton\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nPublisher's Assistant: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\nMarketing: Clive Pembridge\r\n\r\nPhone: [redacted]\r\nFax: [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions: [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: [redacted]\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis Month's Cover: Bryan Talbot\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1988 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458"},"MainText":"Label: Electronic Arts\r\nAuthor: In-house\r\nPrice: £9.95/£14.95 (disc)\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Jim Douglas\r\n\r\nHow long is it going to be before people realise that it just isn't a very good idea to try and convert a game that was out about a year ago on the Amiga (and wasn't actually a technical marvel then) on to the Spectrum? Well, obviously never, because they're still doing it and there's no sign of them letting up.\r\n\r\nArticfox is the first game to emerge from the Electronic Arts stable since PHM Pegasus - which was rather disappointing - and it's about as exciting as a cheesey Wotsit that's been dropped in a puddle.\r\n\r\nThe plot is one of those absurd ramblings that you could make up in fifteen minutes. Alien invaders have landed in the Arctic circle and are setting up an atmosphere processor which will make the Earth's atmosphere acceptable for their horribly sweaty, flappy alien lungs, thus rendering it unspeakably toxic as far as humans are concerned. And, as per, it's up to you to stop 'em.\r\n\r\nSo there you are, in your tank, driving around and shooting things. The tiny game-screen is filled with black wire-frame graphics on a cyan (that's blue for non-publishing types) background which move really quite slowly and look quite dreadful. Had they been blue on white, green on black or anything else they should have looked OK, but as they are they make the lines look even blockier than they really are.\r\n\r\nAlthough there are degrees of strategy; the laying of mines to trap enemy tanks etc, the game really ends up being nothing more than a glorified Battlezone on ice.\r\n\r\nThere are numerous tweaks and touches that do manage to elevate Articfox above a simple arcade game - you've got to watch out for snow drifts which will screw up your speed, as well as keeping an eye on the radar scanner and the game screen. There are a number of opponents to combat, all looking like they've been made out of coat-hangers and not really moving very quickly.\r\n\r\nAnd that's where the game really falls down. The speed is just not good enough. The only time when there's a half-way decent spell of graphics is when there is a single, basic object on the screen; only then does the game move itself around in a half-way respectable speed.\r\n\r\nOn the plus side though, there is a definite aim to your misson, and a real feeling of menace as the little black dots on the radar screen slowly gather around you. You can chase things around and use guided missiles to pursue the bad guys too. You do end up feeling that you're playing one of those Realtime games from years and years ago though. And one with a slow-motion device attached to the machine to boot.\r\n\r\nDon't get me wrong, I'm sure strategy buffs will find lots to keep them amused, and I've got nothing against wire-frame graphics - I thought Battlezone was one of the most incredible games ever, but Arctic Fox just failed to grab me there isn't enough of anything that you haven't seen done better before. (What does this mean exactly? - GT).","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Quite disappointing conversion. Fails to hold the interest.","Page":"32","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jim Douglas","Score":"45","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"30%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"30%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"50%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"45%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"The Games Machine Issue 9, Aug 1988","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1988-07-21","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nAssistant Editor: Nik Wild\r\nProduction Editor: Barnaby Page\r\nSoftware Co-ordinator: Richard Eddy\r\nStaff Writer: Robin Hogg, Stewart Wynne\r\nEditorial Assistant: Frances Mable\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\nContributors: Jon Bates, Robin Candy, Mark Caswell, Mel Croucher, Robin Evans, Roger Kean, John Woods, MC Wynne\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n[redacted]\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nArt Director: Markie Kendrick\r\nAssistant Art Director: Wayne Allen\r\nProduction Team: Matthew Uffindell, Ian Chubb, Yvonne Priest, Melvin Fisher, Robert Millichamp\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executive: Andrew Smales, Sarah Chapman\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\n\r\nMAIL ORDER\r\nCarol Kinsey\r\n\r\nSUBSCRIPTIONS\r\nDenise Roberts\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypeset by the Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset [redacted] - a member of the BPCC Group. Distribution effected by COMAG, [redacted].\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters relating to adjudication and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens (like a game that has been offered as a prize being scrapped) we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. We'll do our very best to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the published closing date. Winners names will appear in a later issue of THE GAMES MACHINE. No correspondence can be entered into regarding the competitions (unless we've written to you stating that you have won a prize and it doesn't turn up, in which case drop Fran Mable a line at the PO Box 10 address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions.\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in part or in whole without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into THE GAMES MACHINE - including written and photographic material, hardware or software - unless it's accompanied by a suitably stamped, addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photographic material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\n©Newsfield Ltd, 1988\r\n\r\nCover Design & Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Spectrum 48/128 Cassette: £8.95\r\n\r\nDynamix, the people behind Skyfox II (reviewed in this issue on the PC) are the team responsible for ArcticFox in its original Commodore 64 form, then released through the now-defunct Ariolasoft at the beginning of 1987. It's taken a year for the Z80 version to surface with Mark Fisher of Comtec being responsible for the translation.\r\n\r\nThe ArcticFox of the title is a massive tank patrolling the icy wastelands around the Arctic Circle. An alien attack force has landed near the North Pole intent on reclimatising Earth's atmosphere to convert it into a deadly alien environment. ArcticFox is the only military hardware in the vicinity which can stop the process.\r\n\r\nUsing a first-person 3-D view, the commander moves the tank around the region, climbing hills, negotiating crevasses and destroying the alien force's light and heavy tanks in a style similar to Battlezone. Reconnaissance aircraft and sleds patrol, looking for ArcticFox, reporting its position to the communications fort in preparation for attacks by fighters. Rocket launchers are also sited at key points in the vast region, guarding not only the vital air converters but radar stations and the alien base itself - the Main Fort.\r\n\r\nArcticFox has at its disposal guided missiles which can be flown in the now familiar Starglider style, cannon shells and antitank mines. If it all gets too dangerous, the tank can dig in and hide under the snow, although resurfacing at the wrong moment can often lead to fatal results. The game ends if ArcticFox is destroyed or the Earth's oxygen level reaches zero.\r\n\r\nThe original Commodore 64 ArcticFox had a speed which crippled any lasting appeal or gameplay. This should have been rectified with the Spectrum version but in many ways the game has become worse. The multiload is still there on the 48K version proving an inevitable burden, there's an all-in-one load for the 128K version, but the lack of any sound whatsoever in either is a severe drawback to say the least.\r\n\r\nColour is ill-used, with nothing more than light blue and grey to create the effect of travelling through a polar landscape. Graphics are primitive wireframe shapes moving past, and while movement is faster than on the Commodore game, at times the graphics look confused in appearance as the computer desperately tries to maintain perspective, not always succeeding.\r\n\r\nThe lack of varying scenery, together with the long periods of inactivity between conflicts, only highlights the limited gameplay. This said, there's some atmosphere to the game, sneaking over a hill and observing a target in the distance guarded by rocket launchers and tanks brings forth tension and excitement quickly mounts. Unfortunately, it soon falls back into the depths of tedium once the target is eliminated and you are faced with the prospect of another long haul across the frozen wastes. ArcticFox is not a very successful format conversion of a not very exciting game.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"62","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Polarising action is non-existent in Arctic Fox."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"46%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]