LICENCE TO KILL

 Domark has released a number of James Bond games over the years, and many of
them have proven extremely tough to play. LICENCE TO KILL is no exception, but
this time, the difficulty is worth it. The sound and graphics are thoroughly
conceived and executed, and the design of the game play is clever. (This review
is based on the Amiga version.)

 You play James Bond, and since this is a movie tie-in, the six different arcade
sequences closely follow the action portions of the movie. In Scene 1, you and
your partner, Felix Leiter, fly over Cray Cay in a helicopter, trying catch
Sanchez as he races off in his jeep. In order to survive, you have to knock out
a number of gun emplacements. You also have to be careful when increasing your
forward speed, because pushing up on the joystick causes you to fly lower as
well as faster: If you're at the wrong altitude, you can inadvertently crash
into buildings, trees, and high-tension lines along the route. On the other
hand, if you're too high, you won't get a good shot at Sanchez in his jeep.
Obviously, cruising along slowly at maximum altitude isn't going to score you
many points.

 When I first started playing the game, handling the helicopter seemed very
tricky; I'd crash for no reason just moments after beginning. Finally, I
realized this isn't your usual "shoot-'em-up"; you have to balance forward
progress against altitude.

 If you make it through Scene 1 without totally demolishing your helicopter,
you'll survive long enough to head off on foot after Sanchez in Scene 2.
(Incidentally, you enter the next scene with the same number of lives remaining
from the previous scene.) There are many henchmen hanging around the buildings
and behind the oil barrels. Initially, you have only 15 shots, but killing a
henchman will give you another 15 shots, so things become a little more
manageable as you progress. If you hit the oil barrels more than four times,
they explode -- not so good if you're nearby.

 Using the Beretta in this scene is interesting. You have to press the fire
button (or spacebar), turn right or left to aim the gun, and then release the
button/spacebar to shoot. Again, this sequence seems virtually impossible at
first, but it makes lots of sense once you get used to it.

 In Scene 3, being lowered by rope from a helicopter, you attempt to land on the
back of Sanchez's plane (no mean feat!) and attach a tow rope to it. Clouds
periodically obtrude in the process, complicating an already challenging task.
This scene, unlike the two previous, has a fixed time limit, so the pressure is
really on. I was holding my breath from moment to moment, rushing desperately to
make the connection before the clock on the control panel ran out!

 In Scene 4 you are James Bond the expert frogman, trying to interrupt a drug
drop by Sanchez's smugglers. This is sort of a combination -- but not at all
repetitive -- of the previous scenes. You have to deal with the smugglers in the
water as you did the henchmen on land in Scene 2 (this time in an underwater
knife fight); handle the drug caches the way you did the gun emplacements in
Scene 1; and wait for the seaplane to appear, so that you can line up with one
of its pontoons and then harpoon it (something like the tow rope challenge in
Scene 3). As if this weren't enough, because the boats on the surface are firing
at you, you must swim underwater to avoid their shots...and you only have so
much oxygen in your tanks. Whew! Take a break and have a drink if you finish
this one: It's one of the most challenging scenes in the game.

 Scene 5 offers a bit of a breather (relatively speaking!): All you have to do
is water-ski barefoot behind the seaplane you harpooned in Scene 4, avoiding
rocks and floating objects along the way. Over time, you'll manage to make your
way toward the seaplane, over which you must gain control in order to escape.
Sounds simple, but this one is a pure reflex test.

 Finally, you reach Scene 6, bleary-eyed and trembling with fatigue and
anticipation, no doubt. Sanchez's drug factory has been destroyed. But no,
that's not the end of him yet. Now you have to try to catch Sanchez before he
reaches the border with his 18-wheeler tankers, all full of the remainder of his
evil booty. You start off in a cropduster, fly over the first truck you find,
then make the jump once you're properly positioned. When you land successfully
on this 18-wheeler, you have to maneuver it into each of the other trucks in the
convoy to destroy them, until you've finally caught up with Sanchez. Your truck
is easily damaged in the process, and the control panel reveals where you've
taken hits along the way.

 So, you made it through all six scenes and you still want more? Go around
again, but this time, the entire game will rise in difficulty one notch.

 In each of the arcade sequences the game screen is nicely divided between an
overhead view (which covers about three-quarters of the monitor), and a control
panel to the right (which changes for every sequence). The control panel
provides information regarding altitude and damage to your helicopter in Scene
1; number of magazines/bullets remaining, and number of hits you've taken in
Scene 2 (as in OPERATION WOLF); oxygen remaining in your diver tanks in Scene 4;
and damage to your truck in Scene 6.

 Getting used to the layout can take a while. I generally expect to find that
type of control information at the bottom of my screen, so it was hard at first
for me to monitor the right side during play. But after some practice, this
arrangement proved just as effective.

 LICENCE TO KILL comes on one copy-protected disk, which may remain
write-protected if you choose. Only 512K of RAM is necessary, and you can use
the keyboard or a joystick to control your onscreen character. Game control is
precise with either input device, but the joystick lets you avoid the
possibility of hitting a wrong key.

 Wow! If you've wanted to play James Bond, here's your chance. As I said above,
this is no picnic. In some sections, careful visual analysis of the action is
necessary to solve the puzzles; in others, only really fast reflexes will handle
the maneuvers. However, the beautiful sound and graphics combined with a
well-integrated sequence of separate games make LICENCE TO KILL not only unique,
but the best of what we look for in this genre. It's definitely a purebred
action game -- with more than the usual set of action screens and situations. If
you're looking for a fast-moving game that's not just a repeat of the hundreds
you've played before, LICENCE TO KILL will certainly fill the bill.

 LICENCE TO KILL is published by Domark Ltd. and distributed by Broderbund.

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253