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The CRYPT Mag

Warblade

By Ian Urie

I'm sure everyone who owned an Amiga will remember the game Deluxe Galaga. This was one of the best shareware games on amiga, unsurpassed for excitement. I spent many happy hours trying to outdo my previous high score. The writer of this (Edgar Vigdal) moved on to pastures new with a P.C. And it was no real surprise that he wrote a new version specifically for Windows. The game was renamed to Warblade and I reviewed it some time ago. Time to go back and see what's happened to it.

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Well, since I bought the game some time ago, I receive lifetime updates for it. The game was finished last year and the version is now up to 1.2c. The game now has profiles embedded into it. If you use profiles, you get better start-ups on the game, just for starters. The higher your score, the better weapons ,speed, number of bullets etc.

Your profile also allows you to see all your stats.

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There are now more versions of the game as well. For instance instead of the usual game, you can use time trial, or start a two player game either singly or both at once.

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Deluxe Galaga also had sub games, and Warblade continues this. Amiga users will remember the meteor storm.

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There's also the memory station.

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You'll notice the three bars at the side of the screen, labelled s,b,and t. S is for speed, B is for bullets, and T is for time. The game comes with a manual, so everything is explained. Users can now make their own voice pack . The voice pack is sound files that play at certain times in the game, and there is the jukebox option to allow you to play your favourite music while the game is progressing.

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What else? Well, again, Amiga users will remember that the game had secrets which helped you amass a better score and weapons. There were 10 secrets in DG, Warblade has 30....... at least.

I don't want to be a spoilsport and tell you the ones I've discovered, but, I will say that some are the same as they were on the Amiga version, so there's a very large clue. If you don't know what I'm talking about....... tough!!

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Damn, this grab shows you one of the new secrets..........or is that two?

The shop is where you used the money collected in the game to improve your status.

It also has had an overhaul, and some of the prices are different.

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It's hard on a web page to convey how much the graphics have improved since the original version. Suffice to say, a helluva lot.

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I'll show some of the grabs of the game, and maybe you'll see the major differences.

The game can use any power of computer, but it does help if you have major grunt behind it. The game plays extremely smoothly, and a faster machine means you can up all the quality aspects of the game.

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The aliens graphics are astounding and the fire patterns are fiendish, especially as you get to the higher levels.

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The gameplay is still as addictive as before. I'm still smarting that my daughter can beat me hands down.

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The weapons , as you can see from the grabs have also had a spruce up. Fireballs is a personal favourite, but in the later levels, nothing compares to the war 1 laser, and you'll need it, plus either loads of luck and / or loads of everything else.

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This game is a major time waster, and the full version has all the voice packs, sub games and 100 levels. The game itself is very reasonably priced and Edgar has mooted the question whether anyone would wish an alternative set of alien levels. I'll bet my bottom dollar and say that this will happen in the near future. British users have a golden opportunity just now with the exchange rate being so much in the £'s favour. This means the full game would cost just over £10. An absolute bargain!

Have a gander at the website http://www.warblade.as/index.asp and read the facts. Drool at the grabs and, if you're still unsure, download the demo. I'm certain that you will want the full version after that. I forgot to mention that the game hi score can now be uploaded to the Hall of Fame on the site. Suffice to say, my personal best comes nowhere near anything on this...........

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You can also merge hi scores with other users using the tool provided.

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I can't praise this game highly enough. Hopefully, after reading through this, you'll end up seeing this picture on your monitor soon.

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© RIYAN Productions

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