Producer: Abbex
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £5.95 / £6.95
Language: Machine code
Author: Paul W. Reynolds

All or Nothing is the first game from Abbex since Krakatoa, which was a CRASH smash in the Spring. To describe all the playing instructions for this game would take an age as it is somewhat complicated. However, the basic objective is to parachute into an armed camp and more or less destroy it, and in the process find some secret files. Although All or Nothing is basically an arcade game which uses isometric perspective graphics rather similar to those in Ant Attack, there are also some elements of strategy and adventure.

On screen, the playing area shows a part of the enemy camp with its high wire fences around the perimeter. Directing 'you' causes the screen to scroll to follow the action. As in Ant Attack there are four camera views for when you get hidden behind a building, but this function is automatically activated if you do disappear from view. Inside the perimeter there are several buildings, some of which are warehouses, some are offices. The camp is patrolled by lots of guards and guard dogs. The guards are armed and shoot to kill. Below the playing area is the score line, time and six graphics depicting objects which may be collected or used. Movement around the camp is by means of a left and right rotation with a forward movement, which leaves fire and back on a joystick free for select and use (an object).

Of the objects, the transmitter may be used to request more time to complete the mission; your watch (which you lost just before landing on your parachute) must be found, and using it will indicate the amount of time left; boxes of ammo allow you to shoot at the guards with your gun; explosives have a time delay fuse and can be useful for creating diversions; money may be used to bribe the guards; gas cannisters may be used for knocking guards out. Disabled guards may be searched and may be found to have useful objects on them, like ID cards, which will give you a time of immunity. But most things you will need can be found within the warehouses.

Before you can search any of the warehouses you must first discover the office and break the code on the safe (within 30 seconds). This will result in giving you a key to a specific warehouse which you must discover. In this first warehouse you will find the key to another, and so on. Also inside there are various of the useful objects. You can only collect objects that you do not possess or are low on.

At any time (after entering the main office) you may leave the site via the Matter Transmitter. The overall object is to collect the secret industrial files and make good your escape.

COMMENTS

Control keys: user definable - a graphic of the Spectrum shows you the keys you may not select
Joystick: almost any via UDK
Keyboard play: responsive, although control takes some getting used to
Use of colour: average
Graphics: neat 3D although rather jerky scrolling
Sound: average
Skill levels: 1
Lives: 1 with percentage of damage
Screens: continuous scrolling
Special features: Currah Microspeech compatible

A variation on the Ant Attack idea with more content seems like a good idea. Here there are several tasks etc. which make the game last a little longer. The graphics are represented in good 3D, but as in Ant Attack, controlling the man is a little less satisfactory. Overall, a pretty good game which takes time to get into. Quite a few nice touches too, like the bouncing END titles to a game.

All or Nothing is a very good game with very good graphics. It is also an interesting game and true to life, as the guards do not often see you if you are lurking behind a building and they come rushing after you if you make a loud noise (like shooting a gun or using the gas). The safe combination is a hard one to crack, but once you do it is all plain sailing. It's a pity that the playing area is so small, only 10 buildings in all, and the sound isn't as good as the graphics. Otherwise, an interesting and playable game.

I liked Krakatoa very much, and was therefore looking forward to this one. And at the start it doesn't disappoint either, with the effective 3D graphics and a level of control that has avoided the pitfalls of Ant Attack. There also seems a lot to do, but once you really get into it, All or Nothing reveals that it isn't as hot as it first seems. In the end all you are doing is running around, avoiding the guards and trying to collect objects from different buildings. The result, for me at any rate, is a very playable game which does require skill, but one that lacks something in the long term appeal. Good, but not great.

Dave: This is something of an oddity in that it doesn't really fit into any one particular category of game. It's basically an arcade game, but there's also some strategic and adventure aspects.

Visually it resembles Ant Attack, in that the enemy camp you've parachuted into is shown in isometric perspective which can be viewed from different sides - but there's far more to it than that! Your mission is to rescue the secret files hidden in the camp's warehouses but first, you must find the office safe containing a gun and the key to one of the warehouses. Each warehouse contains the key to the next one along with some other useful items like bullets and explosives.

All the time you're playing, the camp's being patrolled by guards who shoot at you, and dogs which just get in the way. Once you've found some money it's possible to bribe the guards to leave you alone for a while, but you can always tempt them to move away with a few carefully placed explosions.

All in all, this is quite a good game. I've a few reservations as to its lasting appeal, but I would recommend it. 3.5/5 HIT

Ross: Isometric full-colour graphics aren't such a thrill these days, but they are used well. 1/5 MISS

Roger: Get ready for this death-defying program - it's quick wits all the way. 4/5 HIT

SPY VS SPY VS KEYBOARD

MAKER:
FORMAT: cassette
PRICE: £x.95

Everyone's hitting the graphic adventure bandwagon these days. A.O.N. goes for the espionage theme. You are attempting to get gold of the secret files from a heavily guarded enemy camp. Various useful objects are strewn around, and a graphic inventory show you what you've got. The problem is the guards. Although they seem to possess roughly the same level of intelligence as their dogs, there are plenty of them, and they carry guns. They can however be bribed, gassed, or shot. I wasn't too successful at any of these options and spent most of my time running up and down frantically.

3D Graphics, say Abbex. Well I'm not so sure I'd call them that. Since all motion is in one plane, it looks pretty two-dimensional to me. You can run behind the sheds though, so perhaps it's a bit 3D. Control is through the cursor keys or joystick, and you get prompted for special options like picking things up. There's also compatibility with the Currah speech unit, but I can't comment on that 'cos ours don't work!

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K
CONTROL: Keys, Joystick
FROM: Abbex

Your job in All Or Nothing is to recover secret files from the enemy base situated at a very secret location. Unfortunately, the base is also populated by vicious guards and their unfriendly tracker dogs.

You aren't unarmed though - you have some explosive charges which can be placed at strategic points around the camp. These charges draw the guards away from you and allow you to complete various tasks.

Firstly, you must retrieve your watch, which was lost when you parachuted into the base. Next you must crack the safe in the main office.

This can be very nerve-racking, as you have to input the correct four-figure code within 30 seconds; if you don't succeed, the alarm sounds and you are killed. But presuming you do manage to open the safe you then move on to examine the warehouses in the base to find the files you are looking for.

Graphics are drawn in a solid 3D colour perspective, giving a sort of side-on view of everything. The enemy base scrolls by as you move around, and perhaps this could have been a little smoother. The camp is not very large, but the ability to enter buildings in the base gives the game extra depth. The movement of the guards and dogs is fairly unintelligent they seem to either run or shoot past you.

There are some nice little tunes and good sound effects accompanying your mission. I especially liked the alarm sound if you fail to open the safe (...something I heard all too often).

It's possible the humour and undoubted novelty of the game could wear off. If you take All Or Nothing as a good challenge, you'll be satisfied; if you're looking for a game to return to again and again, look elsewhere.

A strange game this. A mix of strategy, arcade and adventure. Enjoyable but with a lot of features which are hard to use die to the rapid pace of the game (i.e. although you may have the gun it is very hard to select and use it quickly.)

The controls? AAGHH! I have nightmares about this type of rotate-left/right-can't-work-out-which-way-your-man's-facing stuff. Despite that, this game is very complex and entertaining.

MARTYN SMITH

'A real Spectrum classic' boats the cassette inlay, and while I might argue with that, All Or Nothing isn't bad at all.

Currah speech-unit owners get the added bonus of spoken instructions, and the odd 'Stop or I'll shoot!' (Don't bother stopping - the rotters will shoot you anyway...)

PETER WALKER

The graphics are unpleasantly flickery and the characters nastily stick-like. There were some fun moments in the game, such as getting bitten by the guard dogs and then blowing them up in revenge. But not even that compensates for the overall dullness.

PETER CONNOR