Genetic Species
| Developer: Marble Eyes | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Vulcan | Sound: |
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| Year: 1998 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: First person shooter | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
7/10 | |
Another good Doom-like developed for the Amiga, but it was released too late to achieve the expected success. A certain Quake had already started to make its mark a few weeks earlier…
Genetic Species retains a few strengths, though. First and foremost, it doesn’t require a lunar setup (unlike Quake). Its 3D engine holds up well and delivers some fairly advanced graphical effects (spectacular lighting and explosions) while maintaining perfect fluidity.
The weapons are amusing (among them: an axe, a drill, a flamethrower, laser beam mines!) and, most importantly, the game’s main originality lies in the ability to take control of enemies and use their own abilities!
Now, the drawbacks: first, the lack of stairs and the prohibition on jumping or changing the vertical angle of view make it somewhat anachronistic. Then there’s the downside of using mind control—if you kill the wrong person, you’re stuck and have to restart the level. Finally, the limited inventory (only three items), limited save points, and the labyrinthine design of the levels (you often have to backtrack to fetch a key or weapon) are maddening.
Fans of first-person shooters hate walking just as much as they hate thinking, they should know that!
This game requires a hard drive (Amiga), Workbench version 3.0 or 3.1, and probably a few extra tweaks… I managed, very painfully, to get it running without sound, just long enough to grab these screenshots. Unfortunately, I’m not qualified to help you install it. Too modern for me!
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