[{"TitleName":"Battlecars","Publisher":"Games Workshop","Author":"Julian Gollop, SLUG, Jim Burns, Farnell Hinsley Design Ltd","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0000467","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 13, Feb 1985","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1985-01-24","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Editor: Angus Ryall\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey, Robin Candy\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\n\r\n©1985 Newsfield Limited.\r\nCrash Magazine is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\nPhotosetting by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow; Colour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]; Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted].\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £10.50 (UK Mainland post free), Europe: 12 issues £17.50 post free. Outside Europe by arrangement in writing.\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. The opinions and views of correspondents are their own and not necessarily in accord with those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Games Workshop\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £7.95\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\nAuthor: SLUG\r\n\r\nSLUG is a programmers cooperative and Battlecars is from an idea by Games Workshops' Ian Livingstone, ideas man, incidentally, behind the Fighting Fantasy Books and Domark's Eureka!. It is sub-titled The Game of Deadly Driving and hovers between being a strategy game and an arcade game for one or two players.\r\n\r\nAfter loading you are faced with a menu offering 1 Circuit, 2 Autodrome, 3 Slug City, 4 Car Design and 5 Load Car Code. There are three different arenas for battle, selections 1 to 3. As a solo player you can build up your skills by racing against the computer controlled car on the circuit and then test yourself in combat against the computer in the Autodrome. The third option is the real battle, a fight to the death against another real player in any of the battlegrounds.\r\n\r\nIn this game you can design your own cars and fill them with the weapons of your choice. Each weapon pod can take only one type of weapon but carry a certain number of rounds. Machine guns can take up to 16 rounds, Shells can take up to 8 rounds, Missiles up to 4, Flame throwers up to 4 and Lasers up to 4 rounds. Accuracy depends on range, since the target is always at the centre of a 15 degree field of fire and the shot can go anywhere within that angle, so the nearer you are, the more likely it is you will score a hit. If you have a gunnery computer on board, the angle of fire is reduced to about 10 degrees, increasing accuracy.\r\n\r\nEach car has six steering functions, four fire functions and throttle and brake, so the box comes complete with a keyboard overlay for each player. Steering is in 45 or 90 degree increments left and right as well as drift to the left and right. Firing, depending on the weapon selected, is controlled by firing either the left, right or rear weapons pod. The amount of pods you have and the weapons carried depends on the type of car you choose. This is done through the Car Selection menu. A choice of eight cars is available incorporating three engine sizes, chassis sizes and weights, wheel sizes and other varied factors. At this time, the type of car for the computer can be selected, and it's wise to cheat at first!\r\n\r\nBoth cars may be selected as computer controlled, in which case you will be given a demonstration.\r\n\r\nThe Circuit is loaded with the start of the program, but the other two scenarios each have their own program to be loaded when you are ready. Another program, the Designer, will allow you to redesign your car, with an allocation of money that has to take into account the cost of weapons as well. It's the ultimate Mad Max game!\r\n\r\nThe screen display is split into two halves, left and right. At the top of each half is the playing area square for each car. This scrolls in all directions with the individual car, showing details of landscape or cityscape through which you are driving. When the two combatants are alongside each other, the two screens show the same view. Below the playing area is a diagramatic view of each car showing weapons and damage, which 'toggle' between the two every time you fire or are hit. It can be manually toggled whenever you wish however. There is also a fuel gauge, and refuelling can be done at any of the garages you may find, although while this is taking place you may be very vulnerable to attack. Between the two players' displays is a radar map showing the relative positions of both combatants.\r\n\r\nBattlecars contains many strategical elements which must be taken into account, and add greatly to the possible complexities of the game.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: Q and U/R and P 90 left/right, 1 and 7/4 and 0 45 left/right, 2 and 8/3 and 9 drift left/right A, S, Z, W/J, K, M, I for weapons pods\r\nJoystick: you must be kidding!\r\nKeyboard play: complicated but very responsive\r\nUse of colour: not much\r\nGraphics: generally small, though detailed\r\nSound: not much, firing spot effects\r\nSkill levels: depends on play selection\r\nLives: percentage of damage\r\nScreens: three scenarios","ReviewerComments":["This is a game of skill and strategy which I feel has great potential, although I wonder whether Games Workshop have done enough with it. The graphics are good, although the sound is poor. It might have been logical to assume that after designing a car, the one you played with would look like it, but this isn't the case. The game itself is pretty good, but it didn't quite live up to my expectations because there are too many control keys, especially for steering. And by having so many facilities on the car meant that the game was a jack of all and master of none.\r\r\nUnknown","This must be one of the wierdest games I have played for an exceptionally long while. I cannot really say that I understand it even after playing it for an hour. Okay, yeah, we all know what to do with the computer's car - give as much damage to it as possible. This does pose some tricky problems, seeing as the computer controlled car is a computer car it usually thinks ten times as fast as you do, but being a computer he lacks cunning and skill. You can choose your car or design a car, but whatever, you still need to have your wits about you. I must state that there is an odd steering arrangement. Why on earth didn't they have two keys which could continuously control the car? An excellent example of this is Ultimate's Tranz-Am. Although, saying this, the keys which are provided do have a very good response but doesn't quite make up for the odd arrangement. There doesn't seem to be much going on in this game, which is not to say that there's a lack of content though. One thing I missed is that there doesn't seem to be any clear cut winner as defined by the computer with the exception of a quit button, which stops play at that point in time and tells you how much damage is done to each car, the one with the least amount being the winner. I am sure I've missed something in this game, and I am sure there is more to it, but I just can't get into the game at all. Perhaps after four or five hours play, objectives, skill factors will become crystal clear.\r\r\nUnknown","It isn't all that easy to review Battlecars in a short space because this is a complicated game, not so much to play, but to get into. At first it seems complex, then when you play it seems easier than you thought, then you realise that it is the sort of game to play over a long period, reshuffling strategies and settling on the type of car and weapons you prefer best. Playing against the computer is only half of it, because the computer is a somewhat unthinking opponent, good but unoriginal. Playing in two make the real difference and turns Battlecars into a thrilling experience in which you can eventually become quite lost. The unnecessarily complicated steering is a handicap at first, although you do become used to it, and then fairly sophisticated movements are possible. Perhaps the biggest drawback is that it really requires two well-matched players to get the full potential out of this highly unusual program.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Mixed opinions, definitely unusual, and a good game for strategy enthusiasts who like some arcade skills thrown in.","Page":"47,48","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"The car designer screen from BATTLECARS."},{"Text":"The two-screen layout of BATTLECARS, a mechano-role playing game for one or two players. Here we are in the city (map bottom centre)."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"52%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"67%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"70%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"69%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"70%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"66%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 34, Oct 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-09-13","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nDeputy Editor: Ciaran Brennan\r\nArt Editor: Darrell King\r\nStaff Writer: Duncan MacDonald\r\nProduction Editor: Jackie Ryan\r\nDesigner: Catherine Higgs\r\nContributors: Guy Bennington, Marcus Berkmann, Richard Blaine, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Graeme Kidd, Rachael Smith, Phil South\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Stansfield\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Claire Leggitt\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\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":"BATTLECARS\r\nSummit\r\n£2.99\r\nReviewer: Duncan MacDonald\r\n\r\nI couldn't believe it when this game had loaded in. I pressed break by accident and was in a program listing. That's right folks - Battlecars has been written in Basic. It's a two player racing game viewed from above (two fairly small windows) and the graphics are awful (Udg). Much more than that I cannot tell you, cos the horrid thing kept crashing on me, a not to the Author \"Learn machine code - it's much easier in the long run\".","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"95","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Duncan MacDonald","Score":"1","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"1/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 39, Jan 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1984-12-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":164,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nDeputy Editor: Wendie Pearson\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lesley Walker\r\nStaff Writers/Reader Services: Robert Schifreen, Seamus St. John\r\nArt Editor: Linda Freeman\r\nProduction Editor: Mary Morton\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Matthews\r\nAdvertising Executives: Bernard Dugdale, Sean Brennan, Phil Godsell\r\nProduction Assistant: Melanie Paulo\r\nPublisher: Rita Lewis\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES POSTAL SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. By using the special Postal Subscription Service, copies of COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES can be mailed direct from our offices each month to any address throughout the world. All subscription applications should be sent for processing to COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES (Subscription Department), [redacted]. All orders should include the appropriate remittance made payable to COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES. Annual subscription rates (12 issues): UK and Eire: £15. Additional service information including individual overseas airmail rates available upon request. Circulation Department: EMAP National Publications. Published and distributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nPrinted by Severn Valley Press. Typeset by In-Step Ltd.\r\n\r\nCover: John Richardson"},"MainText":"MACHINE: Spectrum 48k\r\nSUPPLIER: Games Workshop\r\nPRICE: £7.95\r\n\r\nIt seems that all those BBC documentaries have finally paid off. The year is 2084 and road accidents are a thing of the past.\r\n\r\nWhich is a shame for the population, as they have nothing to amuse themselves with any more. The world is such a safe place and they miss all the blood now the roads have been replaced with Autoslot tracks.\r\n\r\nBut, luckily, someone has found some old 20th century cars so they go in search of an old road to race them on. It doesn't lake long for the sport to become a success, especially when a famous driver is actually killed. They're a savage lot a hundreds years from now, you know.\r\n\r\nBattlecars becomes a sport. The computer version is either for one or two players. You can play against a friend or the computer. The cars are fairly complex machines with 12 keys used to control each car. Luckily you get a keyboard overlay to help you remember which buttons to press to fire which piece of your mobile arsenal.\r\n\r\nOn the Other side of the tape to the main game is a program called Designer. With this, you can design your own battlecars and the artillery which they will carry.\r\n\r\nThe screen shows two windows at the top. One is used to show the position of each car. You see the car itself and the immediate surroundings. At the bottom of the screen is a diagram of the cars and their artillery, and also a map of the whole track.\r\n\r\nThis is certainly a long way from Chequered Flag and not really as good. The idea is pretty silly, but then so are quite a few computer games at the moment. Animation of the cars is very slow and the track moves a whole character at a time across the screen. Most of the game is written in Spectrum Basic which just isn't fast enough.\r\n\r\nThere's a lot to playing this game and you'll certainly have to study the 16-page manual for some time. Personally, I don't think it's worth it. It's one thing to have a good idea for a game, but another one to actually write the program.\r\n\r\nAnd one out of two isn't good enough.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"20,25","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"5/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Big K Issue 10, Jan 1985","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-12-10","Editor":"Tony Tyler","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tony Tyler\r\nAssisted By: Richard Burton\r\nArt Editor: Ian Stead\r\nFeatures: Nicky Xikluna\r\nSoftware: Fin Fahey\r\nContributors: Kim Aldis (Features); Steve Keaton; John Conquest; Richard Taylor; Nigel Farrier, Gary Liddon; Tony Benyon; Steve Way; Sean Cox\r\nPublisher: Barry Leverett\r\nPublishing Director: John Purdie\r\nGroup Advertising Controller: Luis Bartlett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Erica Vickers [redacted]\r\n\r\nEditorial Address: [redacted]\r\nTelephone: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPublished approximately on the 20th of each month by IPC Magazines Ltd. [redacted]. Monotone and colour origination by G.M. Litho Ltd [redacted]. Printed in England by Chase Web Offset, Cornwall. Sole Agents: Australia and New Zealand, Gordon& Gotch (A/sia) Ltd.; South Africa, Central News Agency Ltd. BIG K is sold subject to the following conditions, namely that it shall not, without the written consent of the Publishers first given, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade at more than the recommended selling price shown on the cover, and that it shall not be lent, resold or hired out or otherwise disposed of in a mutilated constitute or any unauthorised cover by way of trade or affixed to as part of any publication or advertising, literary or pictorial matter whatsoever. IPC MAGAZINES 1984."},"MainText":"USED RUNNERS\r\n\r\nMAKER: Games Workshop\r\nOTHER VERSIONS: CBM 64 & Amstrad (announced)\r\nFORMAT: cassette\r\nPRICE: £7.95\r\n\r\nGames Workshop have chosen to implement one of their board games for their move into software, but the original game, despite ears of work, was less than satisfactory and the computer version can most kindly be described as over-ambitious.\r\n\r\nBattlecars are armed and armoured cars in which you can either race or fight the computer of another player. There's a selection of differing off-the-shelf behemoths or you can use a Designer program to customise your own, with features like autosteer, powerbrakes, turbochargers or gunnery computers, while the weapons range from lasers and flamethrowers to mines and spikes. Three venues are provided, a duelling arena, the Autodome, a circuit and a town. Once started the screen displays three real-time windows, one for each car and an overall map of the area showing positions, plus vehicle displays, fuel, speed and damage or weapons. So far, so good sounding, but it's the controls that break the game. Each battlecar has six steering functions, four weapon controls, throttle and brakes and an amazingly uninformative overlay is provided for each end of the keyboard. That's right - in the two player version you each take one end of the same Spectrum keyboard! This hi-tech is too much! Playing solo against the computer you would, eventually, reprogram yourself well enough to have quite an enjoyable game, but I really can't see it as a two-hander.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"36","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"John Conquest","Score":"1","ScoreSuffix":"/3"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"2/3","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"1/3","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"1/3","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"1/3","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer Games Issue 15, Feb 1985","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1985-01-17","Editor":"Chris Anderson","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Chris Anderson\r\nDeputy Editor: Steve Cooke\r\nProduction Editor: Roderick George\r\nArt Editor: Ian Findlay\r\nStaff Writers: Peter Connor, Bob Wade\r\nEditorial Assistant: Samantha Hemens\r\nCartoons: Kipper Williams\r\nScreenshots: Chris Bell\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nGroup Publisher: John Cade\r\nPublisher: Tony Harris\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Peter Goldstein\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Sarah Barron\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Phil Pratt\r\nSenior Sales Executive: Ian Cross, Alan Gibson\r\nProduction Manager: Noel O'Sullivan\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Andrea Lawrence\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]. Typesetting by Spectrum Typesetting, [redacted] Origination by Fourmost Colour [redacted]. Printed and bound by Chase Web Offset [redacted]. © VNU Business Publications 1985."},"MainText":"MACHINE: Spectrum 48K\r\nCONTROL: Keys\r\nFROM: Games Workshop, £7.95\r\n\r\nBattlecars features four different sections all of which should keep you occupied for some time with their complexity and action. The four sections are a driving race, a car fight in an arena, a battle in a town and a chance to design your own car.\r\n\r\nThe cars are horrendous monsters kitted out with all sorts of technology and weapons to make them real mean machines. They have armour, offensive weapons like missiles and lasers and defences like oil slicks and smoke.\r\n\r\nThere are already eight cars set up but you can produce your own using a beautiful graphic designer sequence.\r\n\r\nThe cars battle either against each other or against the clock on the racing circuit. The autodrome is a bare arena in which the cars try to inflict more damage on their opponents than they receive themselves.\r\n\r\nSlug City is a townscape in which two players can fight it out, this time in the close confines of the streets. The circuit is less violent, with cars competing in a straight driving race round some rough terrain or against the clock.\r\n\r\nIn the autodrome and the circuit you can compete against a computer opponent, but in Slug City it's you, a friend and two keyboard overlays battling it out.\r\n\r\nThe screen for each game shows the area in which each car is driving, a map of the whole territory, its speed and fuel, as well as updates on the damage it's sustained and weapons still available.\r\n\r\nThe sound isn't up to much, there is very little of it, but that doesn't detract from the fun.\r\n\r\nIt will take you a while to get to know the controls and all the aspects of the game but it's well worth doing. It's a bleak view of an automotive future but terrific to play.","ReviewerComments":["The game itself is best suited to people with more than the regulation number of hands - some twelve keys are required for absolute control of your vehicle.\r\r\n\r\r\nDespite this, Bottlecars is really rather fun. The screen layout is original and clear, well suited (as are the dual sets of keys) to the two-player option. Also given the amount going on all at once, the graphics are very adequate, if a little jerky.\r\r\n\r\r\nThe game requires some effort to be put into it for its entertainment potential to be realized but it is worth it\r\nPeter Walker","Because of the incredible amount of keys needed to control the car, especially if you chose to include weapons, it soon becomes apparent that to keep moving as you want and to attack your opponent as well is almost impossible.\r\r\n\r\r\nThis is not a game I would recommend.\r\nMartyn Smith","I found the game boring and complicated, which is a pity, because the instructions makes it look really exciting. Another one for the white elephants graveyard, I'm afraid.\r\nSimon Rogers"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"32,33","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Bob Wade","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"},{"Name":"Peter Walker","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Martyn Smith","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Simon Rogers","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"3/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Originality","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Lasting Interest","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 86, Nov 1984","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1984-11-02","Editor":"Peter Worlock","TotalPages":74,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Peter Worlock\r\nProduction Editor: Lauraine Turner\r\nSub Editor: Harriet Arnold\r\nEditor's Assistant: Karen Isaac\r\nNews Editor: David Guest\r\nNews Writer: Ralph Bancroft, Sandra Grandison\r\nFeatures Editor: John Lettice\r\nSoftware Editor: Bryan Skinner\r\nPeripherals Editor: Kenn Garroch\r\nHardware Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nPrograms Editor: Nickie Robinson\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nArt Editor: Dave Alexander\r\nAssistant Art Editor: Tim Brown\r\nLayout Artist: Bruce Preston\r\nPublisher: Cyndy Miles\r\nPublishing Assistant: Tobe Bendeth\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nGroup Advertising Manager: Peter Goldstein\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Bettina Williams\r\nAssistant Advertisement Managers: Laura Cade, Claire Rowbottom\r\nSales Executives: Claire Barnes, Phil Benson, Mike Blackman, Julian Burns, Steve Corrick, Tony Keefe, Andrew Flint, Christian McCarthy, Isabel Middleton, Sarah Musgrave, Tony O'Reilly, Anita Stokes\r\nProduction: Richard Gaffrey\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Jan Moore\r\nSubscription Enquiries: Gill Stevens\r\nSubscription Address: [redacted]\r\nEditorial Address: [redacted]\r\nAdvertising Address: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]\r\n© VNU 1983. No material maybe reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\nPhotoset by Quickset, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Chase Web Offset, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Seymour Press, [redacted]\r\nRegistered at the PO as a newspaper"},"MainText":"PRICE: £7.95\r\nPUBLISHER: Games Workshop, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDeath Race 2000 on a micro - that's the excellent Battlecars. You know you've got a winner the instant you open the package - two keyboard overlays and a hefty instruction booklet to make your mouth water and your fingers twitch.\r\n\r\nSet in the year 2081, with the Highway Code flung in the gutter, it's down to you to equip your battlecar and duel to the death with fellow gladiators. Numerous options mean you must take some time over the manual before getting started. The main menu gives you five choices. First up is Solo Practice (mastering these monster vehicles takes more than a few spins with BSM) in which you take a few leisurely turns round the track, alone or racing against the computer.\r\n\r\nOr you can check out your lap speeds in timed trials. Then there'sAutodmme for some solo combat against the computer, a simple two-player game and, best of all Slug City.\r\n\r\nEach battle car has six steering functions, turning through 450 or 90 degrees to left or right and drifting - handy for corners. There are four fire controls, one for projectile devices like shells, guns, flames and lasers, the others for the 'passive' weapons systems housed in the left, right and rear pods, containing goodies like oil, spikes, mines and smokes.\r\n\r\nFiring isn't as simple as it looks, due partly to a limited quantity ammo, and partly because shots are accurate only to 15 degrees (unless you've a gunnery computer aboard which brings this down to 10 degrees). And of course there are throttle and brakes - it takes a long time to get used to all this lot.\r\n\r\nThe display during an Autodrome duel comprises five main sections; at bottom left and right the two cars are shown from above, and damaged areas flash orange. To the side of these are fuel gauges, and just above is a speed indicator. Aerial views of each car take up most of the screen which changes colour to give a rough idea of speed. Turning too quickly damages the tyres which further reduces your safe cornering speed. At bottom centre the two cars are shown as moving white dots, so you can plan engagements ahead of an encounter. When you're hit, the damage display becomes a weapon display of what weaponry is still active, and the damage points to each car. You can stop a bout at any point, such as when your car stops moving and there's an orange blob in the centre of the car - you're dead.\r\n\r\nThere are eight cars set up, but you have money to invest in a really hot rod, so you can select chassis size, engine type, armament and armour, and even save car specifications to tape for use in later games. And there's some crazy kit - for instance, the auto-steer which increases your safe cornering speed by 10mph.\r\n\r\nThe Slug City, where you battle with an opponent in the streets, take time out for refuelling and repairs (if you can find the pit stops, that is). The graphics an action are tremendous.\r\n\r\nIt's about time someone came out with an original idea for a computer game. Go out and buy it today, there's so much in it.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"54","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Bryan Skinner","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]