Exile
| Developer: Audiogenic | Graphics: |
 | |
| Publisher: Audiogenic | Sound: |
| |
| Year: 1991 | Difficulty: |
 | |
| Genre: Unclassifiable | Lastability: |
 | |
| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
8/10 | |
As you return from some unknown space mission, you receive a distress call from the planet Phoebus: a mad scientist named Triax has kidnapped a group of researchers. You must save them.
As soon as you land on said planet, Triax sneaks aboard your ship and steals the destinator, a device without which you can no longer take off…
Exile was designed as a pure exploration game: no lives, no levels. You move freely in an unknown world, flying with your jetpack. Additionally, you have a teleporter to return to places you have previously marked (using the “R” key).
Special attention was paid to what we would now call the “physics engine”, meaning that all objects are subject to forces (gravity, inertia) and can be carried away by a gust of wind or the blast of a grenade.
You encounter different creatures, sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile, and puzzles of varying complexity. These puzzles open new routes leading to Triax’s laboratory.
Combat plays a secondary role. Different weapons are available, but sometimes it’s simpler to use cunning to get yourself out of a dangerous situation.
The controls are rather unique. Press the “Space” key to open a menu, select an icon by moving the joystick, and finally confirm with the joystick button. In the heat of action, it’s not easy, especially if you want to pick up an unpinned grenade to defuse it… You can also play with the keyboard, but the button configuration is quite impractical and cannot be changed. This is the game’s major weakness.
It was re-released in 1995, following a graphical overhaul.
I enjoy finding spiritual successors to my Amiga games. Here’s a serious contender: Starbound (PC, 2016).
|
