Lancaster (Amiga) - A Playguide and Review - by LemonAmiga.com
56Lancaster is a rail shooter created by 'Actual Screenshots' , priced £19.95 in 1989. So it's Chocks Away! as we reach for the skies in this WW2 shooter, published by CRL. Tally Ho old chap.
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Production Notes:
Captured: 17th November 2020
Narrated: 1st July 2021
This request came from the same source as Apprentice; the very old comment section of this channel; so that's another one ticked off the list! This game is perhaps a niche market for some people, but after playing it, and enjoying the voice speech as we get attacked, it felt worthy of inclusion in this series. Call me a softy, but I liked the atmosphere: - the animations of the takeoff, and the 'welcome home' screens with the wife, girlfriend and mother. They even got the mothers voice in a Yorkshire accept; which I copied in the narration, but didn't make the cut.
I tried everything to get this running better. Several different cracks, ADFs, WinUAE setups, and computers were tried; mostly PAL and NTSC stock A500 configurations. Nothing seemed to be a sweet spot between slightly faster action, and impossible combat, seen on faster CPUs.
The footage was recorded during Lockdown 2020 as it happens. I hoped that by recording some games, it might take away some boredom until December 2020. Again I seem to have got into the habit of shouting over the audio, and I have noticed that the volume of the narration is actually always louder and more shouty at the end of my reviews, perhaps as I get my voice warmed up, and throw myself into the action. Everything (as always) is done in one take, so what you hear is what came out of my mouth on that day in history.
Danscore:
CRL were the KINGS! when it came to ridiculously unacceptable games on the Amiga, and most other platforms. This is perhaps the best of a bad lot, and at least has some atmosphere. The aim to fly the British Allied Command bombing runs over the duration of those months in World War 2 sounds appealing, in the same way that Wings and Knights of the Sky made those World War 1 scenarios come alive. We can speed up time on those lonely flights, dodge hot spots, and even choose the time of day we fly - all of which adds a lot for the novice. Lancaster also has a top down bombing run, which is fun to knock out those enemy targets, and also a healthy congratulations feel when you return safe from harm. Unfortunately, the bulk of the gameplay comes down to a rather laggy shooter, which relies on the same patters of enemies to constantly bombard the player until they die or give up. The night missions are the best simply because of the search lights, but everything which moves on the screen slows down the action. You can switch off details and move to a faster CPU, but then the action becomes impossible, as you have to get most of your shots on target. Even with computer AI pilots, and without the rail shooter aspects, this still wouldnt be too much fun. If the users could swap between pilot, navigator and gunner, with real time waves of action, this could have been better. But it's easy to slag off a game for what it doesnt have. I love the presentation and atmosphere, but gameplay gets too repetitive to be fun, so I can only give it 5 out of 10.