The Chaos Engine Longplay (Amiga) [50 FPS]

Developed by The Bitmap Brothers and published by Renegade in 1993

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This week, my channel finally reached 2,000 subscribers, so I decided to celebrate this by recording one of my favourite Amiga games of all time, the original, non-AGA version of The Chaos Engine!

In my Amiga CD32 longplay and review, I noted that the more vibrant colour palette used to take advantage of the AGA chipset wasn't to everyone's liking. The version featured in this video is the (OCS/ECS) version I played on my Amiga 500 back in the day, and I personally think the original, more subdued colour-scheme is a much better fit with the game's steampunk setting. In any case, you can now compare the two versions and make up your own mind as to which looks best.

Set in a fictional, alternate timeline, a mad scientist and inventor known as Baron Fortesque creates a machine of near limitless power, the titular Chaos Engine. This machine turns on it's creator and tears a hole in the fabric of time and space, spawning mutated abominations and corrupting the land itself. A group of six mercenaries for hire are enlisted to sort out of the mess by fighting their way to Fortesque's mansion, finding a way inside and shutting the machine down for good.

Upon starting a new game, the player(s) must choose which of the six characters they want to be. Each has different skills, abilities and weapons, so it pays to select a pair of characters who's abilities compliment one another.

On the subject of character selection, another of the game's standout features is the CPU-controlled ally that takes the place of the second player in a single-player game. It would have been all to easy to make a solo player face the game alone, but the inclusion of the AI companion really is a stroke of genius, especially considering how well it functions. It's not perfect, but it is remarkably adept at shooting enemies, avoiding projectiles and, somewhat annoyingly, excellent at hoovering up loot and power-ups.

The game is divided into four separate worlds, each of which is divided into four levels. The exit to each level can be opened only by activating a series of power nodes which the player must discover. One of my favourite features is the way that some levels have multiple exits, each of which will put you in a different starting point in the next level. Discovering how (and where) these additional exits can be opened is a real challenge and gives the game significant replay value, usually rewarding attentive players with extra cash and power-ups for their perseverance.

The game features a loot system whereby any booty collected is pooled to a shared kitty (indicated bottom-centre) and is divvied up based on each player's efforts. This allocation of loot based on individual performance introduces an element of competition to the mix with each player scrambling to kill the most enemies, collect more loot and activate more nodes than their companion.

At the end of second and last level in each world, the spoils of war can be used to purchase upgrades and new abilities for each player. Purchasing "skill" unlocks upgrades to other attributes, including speed, stamina and weapon upgrades. With limited cash available, players must make their choices wisely if they're to succeed.

As is typical with Bitmap Brothers games, the presentation, artwork (Dan Malone) and audio (Richard Joseph) is nothing short of stunning. This is one of the first games that I can remember that featured dynamic music and ambient sound effects. Listen closely and you can hear bird-song in the trees of the forest world, while pipes rumble, hiss and gurgle with pressurised steam in the workshops.

Combined with excellent game mechanics, solid controls and tons of replay value, The Chaos Engine simply oozes quality from every pore and remains one of the Amiga's most endearing classics.
#retrogaming

Видео The Chaos Engine Longplay (Amiga) [50 FPS] канала Al82 Retrogaming Longplays