One of those oil rich dictators from the Middle East has
finally gotten too big for his shoes and declared war on the world for some
misguided reason. Not only does he have droves of high-tech planes, tanks and
weapon sites at his disposal but through the help of his biologists also
managed to bring back some mean dinosaurs to further boost his forces. The UN's defence budget must be running a bit low since they decide to send in only one Apache
helicopter. Your job of course is to pilot it and save the world.
Despite the rather elaborate storyline Dimension Force is a
rather simple game. In fact the only place you'll learn the plot is in the
manual since the game itself contains no intro, cut-scenes or even ending. I'm
sure those people unfortunate enough to not have the manual was wondering why
they were shooting down jets on one stage and dinosaurs on the next. If you've
ever played a game of this type in the arcades you should know exactly what to
expect. You have to pilot your small helicopter through six levels teeming with
enemies wreaking as much destruction as you can along the way. Foes attack in
swarms and there's no shortage of bullets heading your way which considering
the fact that it only takes one hit to destroy you makes for a few hair-raising
experiences.
Ultimately though Dimension Force is one of the easiest
games in the genre thanks to the three skill levels and the ability to have up
to nine lives to start with. Furthermore you continue where you were shot down
with full fire-power and even when you are game over have unlimited continues
which place you back at the start of the stage without taking away your
power-ups. This means with a little perseverance anyone should be able to
finish this one.
Looking at the graphics D-Force is decidedly average with
the usual ocean, forest and desert type backgrounds. Apart from a few freaky
dino's the enemy designs isn't anything special either. Despite the basic
graphics the screen can get rather cluttered at times making those small,
indestructible enemy missiles a real nuisance. One of D-Force's main (well only
actually) gimmicks is the ability to alter your height on some levels. You
simply tap one of your shoulder buttons and the view zooms down so you can
shoot enemies on the ground or dodge obstacles. An interesting idea but the
levels are rather short and the graphics get a little blocky up close. This
feature is also one of the reasons I suspect there's no two-player mode.
The audio is a bit of a mixed bag with sound effects being
about as feeble as can be. Apart from the tame sound your guns make, a few
explosions and the sound of a power-up being picked up you'll hear nothing
else. The music isn't that bad and some of the tunes (especially the song on
the final stage) actually sound nice but overall I have to say they don't
really fit the game. These tunes are a strange choice for a fast paced shooter
that's for sure.
Besides the main game there is also a "Shooting"
and "Technical" mode but these are basically the same levels from the
game split up into "zooming" and "non-zooming" sections. Trying
to put up a high score is nice but since the game has no battery backup also
pretty pointless. In the end only the lack of other good shooters makes D-Force
worth playing and even so it won't keep you busy for long.
[6]
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