DATA EAST

1 SEPTEMBER 1989

Taking inspiration from games like Ikari Warriors and Commando (Wolf Force), with a good dollop of Rambo to top it off, Bloody Wolf gives you guns, death and destruction. What more could you want? Viewed from a sort of overhead/side on angle, you have to make your way through town, river, forest and many other types of terrain with just your wits and a massive weapon under your arm. Along the way you will get the chance to rescue hostages - hiding in trucks, caves, tied to trees etc - and by opening crates you gain useful power ups. These include things like spread shot, flame thrower, rockets and frag grenades, but also contain more subtle items like flippers that allow you to move faster when ducked under water. Also, if you manage to shoot someone off their motorbike, you can get on it and race away, mercilessly running down anyone who gets in your way. At various points in the level you will come across bosses that break up the action a little. Also, you have the ability to jump, which comes in handy when traversing chasms or avoiding any suspicious rolling logs that may be out to get you.

To get the negative out of the way first, Bloody Wolf has some Bloody Horrific Slowdown. At certain points, the game almost grinds to a halt. Luckily, this will work more in your favour than against you. But despite this flaw, the game itself is excellent. The levels are long and have enough variation, either in visuals or in level structure to keep you interested. There's also a nice point where you are captured and then have to play as your partner who is sent on the rescue mission. The sound is great with some nice and some excellent pieces of music (especially if you listen in stereo). Graphics are well drawn and varied with good use of parallax effects for water, and the game is not too frustrating or too easy either. At first, I thought Bloody Wolf was a decent enough game, but with time it has remained one of my favourites and a great game to really get your teeth into.