Action Force Longplay (C64) [50 FPS]
38Developed by Gang of Five and published by Virgin Games in 1987.
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During the mid 1980's and beyond, one of the most successful range of action figures was Action Force, a European precursor to the G.I. Joe series of figures. It's worth noting that despite eschewing most traditional children's toys in favour of computer games, I was big fan of the Action Force/G.I. Joe toys, of which I still have a large storage box full of the figures and accessories.
I remember my parents buying a copy of Action Force for the C64 from a local branch of Woolworths and being incredibly excited as not only was it a computer game, but it was a game about a toy brand that I also loved and I remember that I couldn't wait to get home to play it.
Sadly, even back then, I recall being very disappointed with the game, mainly because it was just so damned hard. Replaying the game today, nothing has changed my opinions of this title.
The premise of the game is quite simple, with the objective being to protect the "All-weather and Environment buggy" (AWE) as it attempts to deliver top-secret information to home base. As Wild Bill, you must take to the skies in your Dragonfly attack chopper and defend the AWE from hostile COBRA forces.
Threats come in the form of mono-copters and jet-fighters being piloted by Viper troops. The copters shoot dumb-fire missiles that inflict a single point of damage for each successful hit against both your helicopter, or the AWE. The AWE can withstand 100 points of damage before it explodes, whereas your chopper can take 200 points - if either chopper or AWE is destroyed then the game ends. To make things more difficult, attack jets will attempt to drop bombs on the AWE that will destroy it instantly, regardless of how much health it has left.
Aside from COBRA forces, the actual environment can be just as lethal to the AWE. It will merrily trundle to it's own demise at the bottom of a large crevasse if left unattended, so it's imperative that you check out the terrain for any holes and then locate bridge pieces that can be transported and used to fill in the gaps. The developers made it even trickier by always having less bridge pieces than there are holes, so players have to be nimble in removing bridge sections that the AWE has crossed and laying them down in the next location required before the AWE reaches the hole.
On the subject of bridges, it's possible to carry up to four pieces at a time and it's also possible to carry them between levels, something that isn't made clear at all. In fact, you'll be at a real disadvantage in later levels if you don't make sure you're carrying a supply of bridges and I was really annoyed that I didn't learn about this until later.
With limited ammunition and fuel, the player must locate the allied depot within each level to refuel and rearm. Even this process is risky as it takes time for this process to complete, meaning that the AWE is at risk as long as you're not around to provide an escort. Enemy copters and jets can still shoot you whilst rearming, so you need to keep one eye on the skies so you can avoid incoming fire.
In all honesty, aside from the Action Force logo and some references to characters during the mission briefing screens, there's virtually nothing in the game that really associates itself with the series of toys; this is just a case of slapping the Action Force brand on a generic shoot 'em up.
What I will say is that the actual game concept is interesting, does work and would actually be fun to play were it not for the game's crippling difficulty. What makes the game so hard is that it's impossible to repair either the chopper or the AWE, and any damage sustained by either vehicle carries through to the next level. You must keep both vehicles alive throughout the entire length of the game's eight levels without dying, a task that really is impossibly difficult.
Considering that the game features some decent(ish) graphics, reasonable controls and a game concept that works, this could have been much more enjoyable if only the the designers had actually provided a way to repair the vehicles, perhaps by regenerating a certain percentage of health when completing a level, or expanding the rearming depots to include a repair station.
Unfortunately, it's just far too difficult to enjoy and I suspect that most players will have given up by the second level and turned it off in frustration. As it stands, it's more Action Farce than Action Force, which is a real shame.
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