Reviews

Dex is a Pacman clone reminiscent of numerous similar games that appeared on the Spectrum in the early 1980s like Gulpman or Gobbleman, indeed the author states in the instructions on World of Spectrum that his intention was to create such a game.

The plot, such as it is, sees you tasked with filling ten randomly selected mazes with paint while trying to avoid the paint bugs who patrol the corridors looking for paint brushes to eat. This is a nice flip on the usual plot for Pacman games where the aim is to clear the maze of objects, in Dex the aim is to fill the maze with colour.

Every level comes with a set amount of bonus points to start with, which you can use to scare away the paint bugs for a limited period of time or keep to bank if you complete the level. This is a clever way to implement the usual ‘invulnerability’ mode typical in Pacman games by forcing the player to choose between a temporary invulnerability and the chance for a greater score at the end of the level.

The difficulty of the game is punishing, though you can select the speed the game plays at (which essentially constitutes a difficulty selection), but even on the slow setting it still constitutes a challenge to the casual gamer.

As I’ve mentioned above the author’s intention was to create a game similar in style to the early 1980s BASIC games and in that respect they’ve succeeded completely. As to how much you’ll enjoy it that depends on how much you enjoy that era of games that can sometimes feel quite basic compared to what was to come over the next few years.

Taken from: http://zombiesatemyxbox.com/2011/10/05/zx-spectrum-games-of-2011-reviews/