STAR COMMAND

 STAR COMMAND is a computer role-playing game from SSI. One of its authors
(Winston Douglas Wood) was also the programmer for the PHANTASIE series, but
STAR COMMAND doesn't remind me at all of those games. (This review is based on
the Amiga version; Atari ST version notes follow.)

 The premise of the game is that you, the player, are in command of a group of
eight characters who are assigned missions by STAR COMMAND. You start out with
green troopers and wind up with a group that can (and must) save mankind.

 STAR COMMAND is a disappointment. No mouse support exists, and the graphics and
sound effects are very simple. When you boot up the game, the title screen
depicts hand-to-hand combat between troopers and ant-like aliens, but it's
poorly drawn.

 When you leave the starport, you see a small section of the galaxy you're in.
You maneuver your ship with key controls to a star. You use a key control to
display a close-up of that solar system. Information is available for each
planet using the proper key commands, but there are no furthur graphic displays,
except of ship-to-ship or party-to-party combat. (Both of these are standard.)

 The ship-to-ship combat is illustrated with small icons of the various ships on
a plain background. You use keyboard commands for maneuvering your ship and
firing the ship's weapons. It's not arcade action, though: You're dependent on
the skill levels of your characters, not your eye-hand coordination.

 Party-to-party combat occurs when you board a ship (by moving the ship icon
over the last remaining enemy ship's icon), or land on various planets. In this
situation, the icons are letters of the alphabet! The enemy is always divided
into two parties, represented by the letters "A" and "B." They're also always in
the same poorly-illustrated setting: outline drawings of boxes representing
tables and chairs in a room. Disappointing to be sure, but you do become
accustomed to it as you play.

 STAR COMMAND allows for replayability by not assigning the same missions to
every crew you may create. I found creating a crew and equipping it a little
bewildering, however. You are given a limited amount of funds to begin with, not
nearly enough to buy more than a basic space ship, and become properly armored
and fitted with one Multi-barrel Laser Cannon (recommended).

 I made several false starts by trying to finish the first mission rather than
just going out and shooting down Pirate ships to earn money. But once I spent
time accumulating a little wealth and equipping a crew in order to board the
Pirate ships and tow them to Port (earning still more money), I was able to
finish the first mission quite easily.

 There are 53 different weapons to choose from in outfitting members of your
crew, 16 different types of armored suits, and pages of other weapons, ships,
and equipment to learn about!

 The fun of the game is in developing your characters and upgrading their ship,
weapons, and armor. You make the money to do so by completing your missions, and
by selling enemy ships that you've towed in. Locating the objects of your
mission can be tricky. Painstaking exploration of each square within a specific
area is required. This is often tedious work, and it slows down the game
considerably.

 STAR COMMAND runs on all Amiga systems. It requires 512K of RAM and a color
monitor. The disk isn't protected, but manual protection is employed.

 I cannot enthusiastically recommend STAR COMMAND. It's only average in
gameplay, and below average in sound and graphics. But because of its large
variety of weapons and the ability to upgrade, the game does have some very
devoted fans. Bear this in mind when you're deciding whether to purchase it.

 ATARI ST VERSION NOTES

 The Atari ST version of STAR COMMAND fares better overall than the Amiga
version described above. While the sound effects are typical SSI (cheesy, as
usual), the graphics are fine, and either the mouse or the keyboard can be used
as a controller. Since there's no physical copy protection (documentation checks
arise prior to a game save), the three disks can be backed up on to floppies or
installed on a hard drive. You'll need 512K and a color monitor.

 Seven hundred and fifty copies of version 1.0 of STAR COMMAND were shipped with
a virus, which is less alarming than it sounds. The deal is that the virus
copies itself to backup disks, and to any disks booted after an SC play session,
by way of a system reset (a warmstart). The virus, however, won't kick in until
it finds a "key," which is actually another virus -- one that has already
infected your system. If you turn your ST off and COLDSTART it, the virus code
will be restricted to SC backup copies.

 By the time I learned of the virus, I'd already copied all the program files,
picture files, and data files to floppies _and_ to a hard drive. The word is
that hard drives aren't affected; in any case, no strange or deleterious effects
have surfaced (so far). As long as you use backup copies exclusively and
coldstart your machine after playing SC, v1.0 shouldn't cause problems. Just to
be safe, though, you might want to let SSI/EA replace your game disks with v2.0.

 STAR COMMAND looks really good on the ST, even though the graphics are neither
spectacular nor state-of-the-art. Once you've created and trained a squad and
become involved in the missions and exploration, the game plays easily. It's
complex (insofar as there are planets, aliens, and weapons galore), but not so
complex as to be unwieldy. (I've heard complaints to the contrary, but I didn't
seem to have much trouble.) SSI's rating system usually underestimates, so
expect the game to be tougher than its Introductory level implies.

 Each new game offers a different series of missions, allowing repeated play.
Although an RPG will always be an RPG -- regardless of setting or plot
trappings, STAR COMMAND is a fine adventure made even better by its SF theme.

 STAR COMMAND is published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. and distributed by
Electronic Arts.

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