• Completed
& Reviewed by Neil Collins
C.O.R.E. by A & F Software is a rather large arcade
adventure boasting over a thousand mapable rooms. You
control an astronaut named Andrew around the vast
labyrinth within an asteroid, and have to seek out
pieces of a brain that can be assembled to retrieve data
about an advancing alien fleet. It's your standard 'save
the world from disaster' scenario. The game itself is
very difficult as your energy decreases constantly - for
no reason, and even more so when you complete physical
tasks or make contact with enemies. Some contact is
fatal and rids you of your one and only life. You have
to constantly collect batteries on your quest to top
your energy up. The graphics are very poor and
everything is in the same single colour which changes
now and again. All the rooms look very similar and the
map is huge - so I doubt you will ever get to see it
all. I used to dislike this game, but I enjoyed it the
more I played it - but I did put many hours in to get
anywhere, which is a lot more than I expect of most
gamers. Overall it's not awful but it certainly isn't a
game I'd recommend as it's all a bit slow, dull,
repetitive and far too difficult...
The adventure is
over...
...and time for a few
words.
The End.
HOW WAS IT COMPLETED?:
I poked the code to stop the energy drain. I used a few
maps I found online and mapped the later stages myself.
SO WHAT HAPPENS?:
Once all brain parts are collected the brain on the
status panel starts to flash. You then have to locate
the final transporter deep inside level four and
teleport yourself off the asteroid. If you don't have
all brain parts you get a failure message. If all brain
parts are assembled you get a message to tell you that
you have deciphered the co-ordinates of the alien fleet.
You are then beamed towards your next mission. Andrew
the astronaut is shown standing beside the message.
Pressing the fire button shows the final screen which
tells you how much of the game you completed, how long
it took and how much of the map you explored.
- Neil:
It's another poor ending, but I'm not too unhappy as
it's a vast game I really wanted to beat.
-
Vinny:
This game isn't brilliant, but it doesn't deserve
the overall score of 37% that ZZAP! 64 magazine gave
it back on the day. It#s frustrating and slow, but
there's still a game there.
As for the
ending... it is what it is and wasn't ever going to
be something sensational. I'd be happy to give it
2.5/10.
-
Frank Gasking:
I'll have to dig this game out and take a look.
Looks like a clone of Nodes of Yesod, with a similar
main character. Ending isn't too bad, and typical
probably from a company like A&F.
-
Brendan Phoenix:
Defo top marks to Neil. I saw the map over at The
World of Spectrum and it is indeed HUGE!
Ending is no great shakes but good to see a
seemingly impossible game to complete put to bed.
-
Andrew Fisher:
Even though the astronaut is called Andrew, this is
a terrible game! The ending is no great shakes
either.
-
Gaz Spence:
The type of game beloved by saddo Speecy gamers
called Malcolm or Keith. Going through 7 billion
rooms of monochrome sameness never really cut it
with the 'cooler' C64 crowd, thank goodness.
-
Andy Vaisey
Awful from start to finish.
C.O.R.E.
