We are not Hormuzed

Producer: Again Again
Joke of the Year: £9.99 cass
Author: Durell Software

The scenario for Operation Hormuz is a topical one. Oil bases in the Middle East are at risk due to mounting tension in the area. The US Naval Air Force has decided to 'show its strength' by attacking seven enemy missile bases. This mission is codenamed Operation Hormuz and is to be carried out by just three VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) fighter jets.

Each plane is equipped with limited amounts of cannon shells, bombs, air-to-air missiles and air-to-ship missiles. After taking off from its aircraft carrier, the plane flies over a horizontally-scrolling seascape to reach enemy bases. Enemy planes and ships continually attack. You should also watch out for Exocet missiles heading for your carrier.

Once a base is reached, the missile silos can be destroyed by dive-bombing. Then you can return to your aircraft carrier (if it hasn't been destroyed) to refuel and rearm.

Possibly the most original aspect of Operation Hormuz is its weird control method. The up and down keys make the plane roll, while pressing left/right makes it pitch upwards/ downwards. Otherwise, it resembles a souped-up version of the ancient Harrier Attack, also by Durell - a tanner for this is far too steep.

PHIL [32%]

THE ESSENTIALS
Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: the huge planes and ships fight it out on colourful, but jerkily-scrolling backdrops
Sound: simple 48K title tune, basic shooting/explosion effects
Options: definable keys

First impressions of this are that it's a joke. Gameplay is tough; keeping an eye on both the main screen and the radar scanner, while dodging enemy missiles and selecting weapons, is demanding. Practice helps though, and the game's fun for a while. A good game for say £1.99, but the repetitiveness of gameplay makes it comic at £9.99.
STUART [37%]

Again Again
£9.99
Reviewer: Phil South

A game based on whaaaaat? Americans fighting in the Arabian Gulf? Oh dear, oh dear. Trifle ideologically unsound, old chaps, what with peace breaking out all over the political scene... even in the land of olive groves and men with sheets on their heads. So one out of ten for international tact.

Durell? Now there's a name which I know. Didn't it used to be pretty heavy in the Spectrum software biz? Well it's a programming house now, and this game bears a less than striking resemblance to one of Durrell's last games before biting the bullet last year... Spitfire, wasn't it? You control what looks like a Harrier (I didn't know the Yanks had any Harriers! oh, I see, it's apparently a McDonnell Douglas VTOL! Yer leam summink every day, duncha?) Anyroad, you control this plane and fly over the ships, left and right, and bomb the bass out of them.

Operation Hormuz is supposed to be a 'realistic and highly detailed simulation of battle against the latest form of international terrorism'. But it isn't. What it is though is a skillfully crafted and playable arcade game with a certain nagging addictive quality that should keep you going for quite a while. Even getting blasted continuously you last quite a long time, so there's none of the frustrations attendant with getting your undercarriage blown off every two seconds. Ahem. But it's true, you get value for money from the length of each game, and great sound and graphics, up to Durrell's usual high standard - especially the music at the front. Definitely Worth a look.

Alternative
£2.99
Reviewer: Jon Pillar

If you're a bit of a fan of flip-screen arcade adventure type games, then Operation Hormuz may come as a bit of a disappointment. Probably because it is in fact a flight sim.

It's a bit of a weird one actually, as you view your plane from the 'outside' rather than the more usual 'inside'. The idea is to fly around (controls are conveniently simple - Roll Up/Down and Loop Left/Right), and bomb important military and naval shipping areas along the Straits Of Hormuz (whoops - there we go again!) in your McDonald Douglas VTOL (a sort of Harrier plane I think). This adds a rather large shoot- 'em-up element to the thing as well.

Your plane handles well, and the graphics depict your movement pretty convincingly, including taking off (from your starting Carrier), flying and turning, although we're hardly talking Fighter Bomber standard or anything here. Taking care of enemy planes isn't too tricky, as you can use (limited and bombs, or your machine gun, and release flares to avoid being hit by enemy fire (the computer tells you when you need to do this). You can withstand quite a lot of blasts so you'll thankfully be able to stay airborne without getting shot down every 2 seconds.

The missions are simple - fly around until you come to an airbase, bomb the silos and then the rest (this needs considerable practice - best taken very slowly), re-land on your carrier the other side (to re-fuel and rearm) and then do the same again. It's quite exciting at first, but the novelty soon wears off, as this is all the game really consists of with no major changes although admittedly it certainly gets a lot harder).

Not one for the true flight-sim addict (not enough keys for a start), and not one for the frantic shoot-'em-upper either as a considerable amount of practice and thought is needed throughout. But perhaps worth a look for everyone else - just don't expect to be gripped for too long.

Label: Again Again
Author: Durell
Price: £9.99
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Chris Jenkins

Operation Hormuz is not, as you might expect, a medical simulation involving the removal of some strange internal organ. No indeed. It's operation in a military sense, and Hormuz as the Arabian Gulf, an area of the world where one load of Arabs are constantly shooting up another load of Arabs because they open their eggs at the wrong end, or something equally childish.

This leads to a great deal of military argy-bargy in that part of the world, and Operation Hormuz is an arcade/simulation involving carrier based American fighters trying to sort out the aggro.

Hormuz is written by Durrell, whose chequered past includes some good games, many awful ones, and some of the most spectacular missed release dates of all time. This one's coming out on the Again Again label, but the question is, ho-ho, will you want to play it again and again?

You have three vertical take-off Harrier aircraft, which are based on a carrier. Your mission is to take off from the carrier, fly to a series of enemy missile bases, the hell out of them and return to base to rearm and refuel. One slight snag is that Exocet missiles fly past you aimed directly at your carrier; fail to intercept them, and you won't have a home to go to, and can't complete the mission.

The sideways scrolling play area is dotted with oilrigs, wrecked ships and gunboats, while the air is full of MiG21s, Exocets and explosions. The graphics and animation aren't bad, but your Harrier is surrounded by an unmasked square which causes some peculiar effects.

Your planes are armed with machine guns, bombs, air-to-air/ship missiles, and flares. A radar display at the bottom left shows upcoming targets, while a message screen gives you helpful little hints like WARNING! LAUNCH FLARE! when a heat-seeking missile is on your tail. Looping to left or right sometimes throws enemies off your tail, but it's more fun to jockey into position behind them and blow them to bits - the explosions are particularly big and flashy.

If you get far enough, you'll reach a land-based missile emplacement which you must bomb. Careful experimentation reveals that a low-level attack isn't a good idea - guns and tall buildings tend to bring a swift end to your flying career. Try instead locating your target, gaining height, then diving down, guns blazing, and releasing a at the last before pulling out. Oddly enough you can't actually crash into the sea or land; similarly, you can't crash when you return to your carrier to re-arm, because an automatic pilot takes over and brings you safely into land.

Not very polished or flashy, but action-packed and fast moving. Operation Hormuz won't teach you much about international diplomacy, but it will teach you enough sense to stay out of the Arabian Gulf.

Oh No! Not Again Again!

Things have been quiet in the Persian Gulf of late, but it's still a volatile place - which is presumably why new software house Again Again chose to set one of their first games there.

As a US pilot flying a McDonnell Douglas VTOL ground attack jet, launched from a carrier anchored in the Straits of Hormuz, your mission is to destroy seven enemy shore-based Exocet missile bases. Fortunately, the Big Mac is armed to the teeth with air-to-air and air-to-ship missiles plus a forwards-firing cannon and a whole mess of bombs. The bombs are the most important weapons, used to destroy a number of silos at each missile base in order to render the base harmless.

Not to say that the other weapons are useless: no sir, they're extremely handy for taking out the MiG fighters that protect the bases and for intercepting the Exocets that are occasionally fired toward your carrier.

Protecting the carrier is a major priority, because with every hit the ship takes one of your three planes is destroyed. When you're in flight and the on-board planes are lost, either get shot down or allow the carrier to get hit again and it's game over time.

Operation Hormuz is not an impressive start for Again Again. The control is bad and the game idea weak so lasting interest will be low. Let's hope their next releases are better.

Reviewer: Andy Smith

RELEASE BOX
Atari ST, £19.99dk, Out Now
Amiga, £19.99dk, To Follow
Spec, 128 £9.99cs, Out Now
Amstrad, £9.99cs, Out Now
C64/128, £9.99cs, Out Now
IBM PC, £24.99dk, Out Now

Predicted Interest Curve

1 min: 65/100
1 hour: 55/100
1 day: 45/100
1 week: 15/100
1 month: 10/100
1 year: 0/100