US Gold
£9.99 cass/£14.99 disk
Reviewer: David Wilson

First off, let me just say that despite the oh-so-obvious opportunity for me to write lots of Metal Mutha-type quips in this review I most definitely will not be doing so. Hem hem.

Right, here we go then, with a game that we first told you about quite some time ago. It's Heavy Metal, the tank game which mixes arcade action with strategy simulation. So, without the slightest shaking of them thar golden locks or strumming of an invisible guitar, let's take a closer look, shall we?

It's a colourful little number to be sure, programmed by Probe Software, in which you begin as a cadet laced with the prospect of having to qualify in three different vehicles. There's the XR 311 FAV (that's fast armoured vehicle, fact fans), the ADAT (air defence anti-tank), and the meaty M1 A1 Abrams MBT (main battle tank). You get an arcade/sim sequence for each of these, so, er... shall I explain them?

The FAV bit plays just like an arcade sequence in which you basically drive at high speed shooting everything in sight. The MBT bit is more of a sim. And the AOAT is more of an arcade than a sim, but a bit in between the two. Instead of just using your cannon in this bit (on the enemy tanks and fighters via your moving cursor) you can also adopt surface-to-air missiles to repel the airborne baddies.

Achieve a certain qualifying score in all three vehicles and you get to enter the strategy game. This shows you a map of a continent with your forces positioned across it. Each unit has a certain strength, which will dictate how many vehicles or 'lives' you get if you opt to control it. You can either sit back and watch the computer play or choose to control your different units and then fight out the arcade sequence to determine the outcome. This looks the same as the qualifying sequences, but isn't as easy 'cos you've only got limited ammo.

Sounds great, doesn't it? So how does it play? The answer is that the three vehicle segments are strangely addictive. Strangely because, when all's said and done, their gameplay is a tad repetitive and limited. The FAV segment is your basic shoot-'em-up fare with slightly ropey graphics. The sprites (planes, tanks and cactii) don't increase in size convincingly as you approach. For example, you see your vehicle from behind approaching a plane at high speed and as you whip toward it it appears to be about a third of the size of your FAV (in other words very small indeed). Hem hem. The ADAT segment is quite addictive and colourful, but restricted to a limited number of screens - your ADAT being static, apart from the gun scrolling left and right. The nicest looking bit though is the MBT tank jobby. You've got a tricky gun-sight to master and three types of shell - armour piercing for taking out tanks, and two forms of high explosive for soft targets (like people, heh heh). If you're copping a bit of flak, why not hide yourself behind a cloud of smoke!? Yep. you've got smoke cannisters too! Hmmm, I feel a song coming on... "Smoke On The Waa-ter", keraaaang kraang! Argh! No, stop it! Smoke and ammo aren't so important in the qualifying section but in the strategy game you'll have to use your limited supplies pretty carefully! Anyway, get into the strategy game and you'll have a nice overall perspective on the whole thing.

Not a bad game this one with three playable segments, but in some respects it's very much a mixture of extremes. At one end of the spectrum you've got the very simple, graphically wobbly FAV bit - a simple left-right shoot-em-up - whilst, at the other, you've got the reasonably complex and satisfying MBT tank sim with all the component parts thrown into a strategy game. Quite polished but it ain't exactly a whole lotta rosie. Aaargh!

Label: Access
Price: £11.99
Reviewer: Chris Jenkins

This isn't a pop industry simulator for long-haired denim wearers, but a trigger-happy combat sim offering three games for the price of one.

Heavy Metal is a follow-up in spirit to the classic BeachHead, and as an exciting bonus you get a copy of that game too. But Heavy Metal is much more sophis game in every respect: istead of just endless blasting, it has a lot of really deep sim-type features AND endless blasting.

There are three basic sections, each of which is a shoot-'em-up to some extent: only if you acquit yourself well in these three can you get onto the fourth, the Tactical Command Centre section, where you use the skills you have gained in the aims to plan a whole campaign.

The first sim puts you in control of an Abrams M1 Main Battle Tank (MBT), which is not the sort of beast you want to find in your space in the bike sheds. The display screen is festooned with features - over twenty separate displays showing your combat radar, weapon status, speed, direction, incoming missiles, laser range-finder, and so on. The main aim, though, is just to keep rolling and smashing as many enemies as you can. A periscope display shows targets as your laser rangefinder locks on, and you have to choose the appropriate type of weapon to take them out.

Basically this is an advanced version of Battlezone, with excellent graphics and scrolling, and it's heaps of fun. Annoyingly, in this section the manual gives an incorrect list of keyboard controls, and you have to work out for yourself that W and S move the tank while QAOP directs the gun.

The next bit, ADAT (Air Defence Anti-Tank System), is more of a straight shoot-'em'-up; planes and tanks zoom towards you, and you have to take them out either with missiles or cannon. There's a radar-controlled missiles target cursor, while you control the cannon cursor; match the two up to launch a missile at a plane, or just use the cannon cursor to take out a tank.

The third bit puts you in control of a FAV (Fast Attack Vehicle), which is the sort of car I'd like to drive to work: a partially-armoured dune buggy with a TOW missile mounted on top. Zoom through the dunes, blasting the tanks, helicopter gunships and equipment for points; don't hit anything, because at 100 mph you won't survive the crash!

Assuming you accumulate enough points to quality for a higher rank, you get to enter the TACC section. Here a campaign map is displayed, and it's your task to assign different units to various troublespots, return to HQ to refuel at regular intervals, and take control of individual combats (which are basically re-runs of the MBT, FAV and ADAT routines).

Apart from the enormous amount of tape loading involved, heavy metal is non-stop fun. You're getting four games for the price of - well, not one but two - and they're all substantially better than ninety percent of the stuff on the market right now. Heavee!