Hostages Download (1988 Amiga Game)

Most of the noteworthy games software for the Amiga now seems to be emanating from the continent, not the States. Obviously spending the last five years on Orics and MSX machines has stood them in good stead, now that they have proper machines to work on.

In Hostages, you must free four diplomats who arc being held to ransom by terrorists in an Embassy. It's your job to get these guys out alive, and this is achieved in two stages.

Stage One

You must set three of your men up as snipers in vantage points to the North. South and West of the Embassy. You can toggle between Delta, Echo and Mike with F1, 2 and 3 respectively. To do this you must guide them round the street, avoiding the terrorist searchlights. If you're spotted they'll open fire, and you'll lose one of your marksmen positions.

You have a high degree of agility at your disposal. You can run in both directions as well as tumbling and diving for cover in doorways and windows. Once all three marksmen are in position (or however many you managed to get through) you can go about saving those hostages.

Stage Two

Your Helicopter flies above the Embassy, dropping three more of your team (controlled using function keys 4-6) onto the roof. From here you must abseil down the outside of the building and swing through one of the windows. But beware of the shadows at the windows - they're probably the bad guys. Here's where the marksmen come in handy as they can blow away any silhouettes that appear. Mind you, care must be taken when blasting away as there's no way of telling, from the outside, whether the person at the window is a hostage or a terrorist.

Once you're inside, you can prowl round the three levels of the building looking for the four captives. Once you've discovered one of these blue suited chappies, he will follow you up to the top floor to a room with no windows where he will remain. Once all four are in this room (or have been accidentally shot!), the game ends and you are treated to the newspaper report on your handling of the whole affair. However, you will no doubt come into contact with a few of the uncouth perpetrators of the crime, who do not play fair at all. They won't think twice about using one of the hostages as a shield, or shooting you in the back.

Your view inside the building is first person Whilst control of your machine gun is excellent, I found the actual movement control a little confusing.

The graphics arc superb, the animation simple but effective, and the sound effects music are highly commendable. In short, one of the few Amiga games I come back to.

Cool oldstyle action game, where you see your hero from a side-platform view. You have to run through many levels and complete the mission. Beware of the scouting lights and the enemies!

How to run this game on modern Windows PC?

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