Producer: Grand Slam Entertainments
Retail Price: £14.95
Author: Oxford Digital Enterprises

The ultimate submarine, powerful and virtually undetectable, takes the starring role in The Hunt For Red October. And the strategy/simulation game follows closely the situation set up in Torn Clancy's best-selling novel of the same name (published in paperback by Fontana).

The player is a Soviet submarine commander - but not for long, if his plans work out. For the challenge in The Hunt For Red October is to defect to the West and deliver the nuclear-powered craft into American hands, acting with stealth beneath thousands of miles of sea, without the conscripted crew knowing, against the might of the Soviet Red Banner Fleet.

As soon as the intentions of the Red October's commander and officers became known, the captains of the Soviet Red Banner Fleet commenced an immense search-and-destroy mission for their erstwhile vessel.

Sea and air forces have combined to search the oceans and blockade American ports to prevent the entry of the Red October, and Soviet spy 'trawlers' monitor the world. Pressure makes the defectors ruthless and desperate in their quest, risking both their vessel and lives.

The first stages of the mission require the Red October to be navigated carefully through a heavily-monitored and patrolled sea passage off Iceland. The underwater landscape is dangerous and complex; careful navigation is essential, or the vessel will be grounded or damaged.

But while the Soviet fleet is on a sub hunt, the US Navy is looking to rendezvous with the Red October, take off her crew, and scuttle a decoy submarine. The plan is to then take the defected sub into an American port for examination - all in deadly secrecy. If the Soviet vessels are led to fire upon the Western forces, the Americans will have to abandon their scheme and, to avoid war, join the Soviets in their hunt.

The positions of the Red October and the US and Soviet fleets are shown on a large map of the Atlantic Ocean. To the right of this central display is a column of command icons controlling the sonar, engineering, weapons and periscope systems of the defecting submarine. And a display panel to the left supplements these with information on the Red October's speed, heading and depth, and sonar and contour map displays.

The Red Octobers two sensitive sonar installations listen to the underwater world - sonar is like radar, but uses sound waves rather than radio waves to locate objects. The presence of submarines and ships, their headings and their identity can be established using passive sonar, but the intelligence may need to be verified by visual sightings, or by active sonar.

Active sonar gives a more reliable reading, but can easily give away the position of the Red October.

These sonar traces can be superimposed upon a contour map of the ocean bed, giving a clear picture of the safest route around underwater hazards and the opposition Details about sonar contacts and their direction, distance away and speed are shown in the message window. This information can be fed into the weapon systems for possible attack, or into the hydrophonics circuits for an accurate assessment of the threat.

By accessing the engineering systems, the commander can switch between different forms of propulsion - nuclear and diesel power, and caterpillar and propeller drives. Nuclear power is faster than diesel and less noisy, but after ten days the defectors have to disengage the nuclear power plant and rely on diesel.

And whether the commander prefers speed (propeller) or silence (caterpillar) determines which of the two drives he uses.

The only weapons that the Red October carries are acoustic torpedoes. Their targets can be selected manually or through the sonar system; the number and status of each of the sub's four torpedo tubes can be called up, and if the commander chooses to manually control the torpedoes he can direct the heading and elevation.

Helpful in a tight corner, the weapons system can also release deflecting flak to decoy approaching missiles and torpedoes.

The periscope system can only be activated when the sub is near the surface; the horizon can then be checked and possible targets visually identified. And if the Red October must surface to carry out repairs, which are done automatically, the periscope can be used to check that the surface is clear.

The Red October's arsenal of electronics also includes surveillance manual antennae can be activated, which allow the sub to pick up electronic messages sent between ships.

Whatever system is being used, all commands are given using an icon-selecting arrow. A scrolling message window beneath the main screen reveals the responses and valuable information from various system officers.

Commands must be given quickly, for Soviet forces are homing in on the Red October and could deal it a death blow before it has even begun its transatlantic adventure. The hunt is well and truly on.

Grand Slam Entertainments is the new name for Argus Press Software, which changed hands last November.

COMMENTS

Joysticks: Cursor
Graphics: atmospheric
Sound: meagre

If Tom Clancy's novel is as absorbing as the game, I'm off to the library. The Hunt For Red October is very playable, and I found great enjoyment in outwitting the Soviet ships and occasionally blasting a few out of the water. Control of the submarine is easy to master, and the simple icon system soon becomes second nature. One clever and effective feature is the newspaper report that appears in the fictitious New York Telegraph at the end of a game, reporting whether the player's mission ends in disaster or success. This submarine should appeal to anyone interested in the genre.
MARK [85%]

The book of the game was a tense, exciting novel so it's interesting to see how Oxford Digital Enterprises approached the computer version. The result is a mixture of strategy and arcade elements. The strategy side works well and the icon system is easy to use (though the pointer is sometimes a bit fiddly to position accurately). The problem with The Hunt For Red October is that it's a REALLY tough game. From the very beginning, everything happens at once with mines, torpedoes and enemy vessels homing in on the submarine. This may be realistic but it's awfully unfair on the player. But if you like strategy and can put up with the difficulty of it all, The Hunt For Red October is worth a look.
ROBIN [59%]

As a simulation buff I was happy to try some variation from zooming about the skies in a jet. And Oxford Digital Enterprises has managed to cram an incredible amount of detail and loads of displays and controls to fiddle with into The Hunt For Red October - there's certainly more than in most battle-action aims. Some of the displays, I particularly the sonar maps, are very realistically designed and well-programmed.

The action is fraught from the start - you're under attack almost immediately - and the tension just doesn't die down. The icon system makes for quick and easy command-selection, which is just how it should be with so many activities to take care of in real time.

The only letdown is the strange loading system, which seems to require the game's start position to be saved on a separate tape so a new game can begin after the submarine has been sunk. But this doesn't detract much from an otherwise excellent and atmospheric simulation.
PAUL [83%]

Argus Press Software
£14.95
Reviewer: Jonathan Davies

Things have come a long way since the days of Captain Pugwash. Apparently the latest totally and utterly secret weapon to emerge from the Russian equivalent of "Q" is Red October, wickedest of the wicked where submarines are concerned.

What's more, you (the captain) have decided to defect! That's right, you've had enough of joining an eighteen mile long queue just to pick up a copy of the latest Beatles record. You're off to the West, where flared Levis and ZX81s can be bought with a mere three months wages.

Easy, you might think. You've got the latest in sub-aqua hardware, complete with 26 nuclear ballistic missiles and the unique Caterpillar propulsion system. Not so! For a start the entire Soviet Navy is out to get you, and the Americans are still wondering whether it's all some double bluff. Only your crew are still in the dark, and you gotta keep it that way until you're safely across the Atlantic.

As you'll be able to tell from the way the game's set out, its roots lie firmly in the various 16 bit 'puters. (Good abbreviation, huh? Hope it catches on!) It's all icons, windows and the rest of it, and you control everything with a rather dodgy cursor that tends to go haywire at moments of extreme tension.

To drive the sub, orders are given out to the crew, who'll report back once they've been carried out. You can switch at will between a variety of displays, such as a map, sonar, radar and even the good ol' periscope.

Whoever converted the game to the Speccy, has obviously tried to keep everything as 16-bit-looking as possible, resulting in the graphics looking a bit mucky in places where they've been scrunched into our tiny screens. The backwards "R"s are naff for a start.

The main problem/advantage of the game is its massive complexity, depending on whether that sort of thing appeals to you. I'm afraid it's a bit easy to get overwhelmed by it all, and you'll be tearing your hair out from places you never knew had it.

A game not to be taken lightly. Make sure you know what you're letting yourself in for before parting with your pennies.

Label: Grandslam
Author: Mike Fox
Price: £14.95
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Chris Jenkins

A case of Russian in where angels fear to tread (This joke is not funny - Ed.) The Hunt for Red October belongs to that most difficult of genres, the submarine-simulator-based-on-a-best-selling-novel. It's a complex and challenging game, and if you can forgive the fact that all the R's are printed backwards, the manual and the game itself ooze authenticity.

The plot. You are the commander of a top secret Russian nuclear submarine, Red October. Fed up with a constant diet of cabbage and vodka, you have decided to defect to the West. You must make a rendezvous with the American fleet in order to fake an accident an complete your defection; but first you must traverse the Atlantic with the Russian fleet searching for you!

Everything is fashionably icon-driven from the High Level Command Screen. The pointer is moved using the joystick or keyboard, and you select the function you require from the left or right of the screen. In the centre is the map display, which shows your own position, and those of the American and Russian fleets.

Other commands can be issued by clicking on the icons for particular officers. For instance, to switch on the sonar, or the sea bed contour display, you have to select the right icon then click on EXECUTE. You can cancel orders if you change your mind, and you'll find yourself sometimes having to do this as the situation changes. Remember that not all the officers are in on the plot (some of them want to stay Ruskies); if you deviate from the mission profile, they may relieve you of your command, in which case you've lost the game.

Combining your sonar information with the contour display enables you to navigate dangerous undersea terrain without risking sonar detection by the fleet. Your power source is also important; you can choose fast, noisy propellors, or slower but more silent caterpillar tracks (yes! this submarine crawls!). If your pursuers come too close, you can choose to fight. The Weapons Officer icon gives you control of the torpedoes, which can be aimed automatically or manually. To do this you'll need to surface to periscope depth, study the seascape, and identify enemy ships using the recognition chart in the manual. The Electronic Surveillance option allows you to pick up messages from enemy ships, which are displayed beneath the main screen.

You'll enjoy Red October whether you like strategy games, action or simulations.

There's a catch, of course. The manual is fine if you have a PC, but pretty dreadful if you have a Spectrum. Many of the screen displays are different, the command controls aren't explained properly, and the tiny sheet included for the benefit of Spectrum owners does little more than explain which bits have had to be left out of the Spectrum version. I would have thought that with a little extra effort, a 128K version with full facilities, and improved music and sound would have been a doddle. Black marks for neglecting Spectrum owners but otherwise A+.