Soul Force (C64)

SoulForce (Sarah Jane Avory) 12.99EUR (Digital) / 45.00EUR (Cart)

Game title: SoulForce

Game description: Soul Force is a horizontal scrolling shooter that spreads a whole lot of arcade blasting fun across 20 levels, each with its own distinct looking theme and soundtrack, all set within an evolving narrative that engages the player with the task ahead. You start the game with three ships and a basic weapon. Points are awarded for every enemy unit shot down with a bonus 500 points being awarded when you destroy a complete enemy wave. An extra ship is earned for every 50,000 points scored. Your weapon can be upgraded or replaced by shooting a supply ship that results in a power-up becoming available to collect. The power of the current equipped weapon is displayed in the top left corner of the screen above the lives counter and each weapon has its own strengths and weaknesses, which adds a little bit of a strategy element as you need to decide what weapon would be best suited to take on the upcoming waves. Additional pick-ups include smart bombs, an invulnerability shield and an energy shield. When you pick up the later shield, it stays in effect until the energy meter is depleted by bullets and enemy ships. The energy shield can be replenished after destroying a certain number of enemy ships. The game does take place within a story narrative with the plot journey being gradually revealed before each level via static cutscene dialogue between yourself and your commander. To top things off from a production standpoint, each level is preceded with a beautifully drawn bitmap (by Kwayne of Protovision) specific to the level you are about to take on. Given its size, you will be glad to hear that your progress is saved to cart but there will be times when you may want to utilise the game’s password system that allows you to go back and restart from specific levels to retry with the hope that you might perform better and finish up with more lives than what you have under your auto saved state.

[ Buy ]

  • Production - 90%
    90%
  • Fun - 95%
    95%
  • Depth - 90%
    90%

Review Opinion

From the very moment your fighter launches out to space, you sense that you are about to play something epic as your well drawn craft makes its way towards the nearby moon caverns with subtle layers of parallax scrolling applied to the star field in the background giving a good sense of movement and depth. The blasting action available within Soul Force is very satisfying. Despite there being so much happening on screen the game performs smoothly at all times handling the movement of ships, bullets, landscapes and the multi-layered parallax scrolling with ease. The variation of environmental themes and music on each level makes it impossible for you to get tired or bored of the game as the drive to see what the next level looks like is strong. This is one great looking and sound game with large bosses to tackle on every level. Soul Force certainly lives up to the hype and is an exemplary example of the current day commercial gaming scene for the C64. Lots of blasting, silky smooth movement, beautiful graphics, fantastic sound and an engaging story, what else would you want on your Commodore 64.

Overall
92%
92%
Sending
User Review
3.69 (13 votes)

Pros

  • Graphically impressive with parallax scrolling
  • 20 distinct looking levels
  • High production values
  • Automatic saves
  • Balanced difficulty settings

Cons

  • Nothing to entice people who get bored of shooters

Video Link Included

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