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Today I am going to write about one of the funniest two-player-battle-it-out-in-a-maze-games on the Amiga, called Extreme Violence. There isn’t an in-depth storyline behind this game, other than there being two silly-looking gents who hate each other’s guts so badly that they want to use any means at their disposal to rid this planet of the other’s existence. You, and another person who you have persuaded to play this insane game with, are put into the shoes of these violent gents and you are both thrown onto a playing field armed with a machine gun and your task is to seek the other player and destroy him. If you succeed you will get one point and then it’s on to the next war zone. The player who gets his point counter up to 10 first wins the game.
Before each stage a quick view of the battle field is shown after which the screen gets divided vertically into two halves, each showing one of the two players. On the bottom there’s also a radar screen on which the position of both players is shown. This can be used by both players to orientate oneself and to find the other player. The battlefield in the first game will consist of a rather empty space with few walls to hide behind against enemy fire. But as the game progresses the number of walls will increase, causing the playing area to become more and more like a maze. This aspect makes the use of the different weapons which are scattered around the battle area, more important. For example when you collect magic bullets you can fire your bullets right through walls, thus making them obsolete for your enemy for hiding purposes and making him a sitting (or more likely: a running) duck! Bouncy bullets are another neat weapon to decrease the hiding effect of walls for your rival. These bullets, like the name already gives away, bounce from wall to wall, thus making it able for you to bounce bullets around a wall. Your opponent will never know what hit him!
Furthermore there are speedy bullets which move at tremendous speed, making them absolutely impossible to dodge. Or a power laser which is wider than normal bullets, thus making it more effective. And when you find some speed boots somewhere, don’t leave them because they look un-cool, because they are extremely useful! They turn you into a true Roadrunner, who can outrun bullets or who can surprise his opponent out of the blue with a speedy attack. All of these bonus weapons are lost when you get killed, but… you will take them to the next level when you kill the other. This makes it necessary for the guy getting killed to really pay attention where the weapons in the next stage are so he can upgrade himself again. The other player who probably already is packed with neat toys can try to find and collect the weapons first, thus leaving an opponent behind with only a simple gun to play around with. Besides the weapons there are also some tools to be found in the mazes like a radar jam, which makes the dot on the radar screen representing you to vanish into thin air, thus making you “invisible” for the other player. Finally, there are also the funny map which shows both players a quick view of the entire playing area for re-orientation purposes, and the extra point which sets you one step closer to victory!
Why do I think that this game is so good and original, which sets it apart from countless other duel-games? Well, first there is the speed of the game. Everything moves very fluently and fast and this will force you to be on edge all the time, because you never know when your opponent is rapidly moving in for a kill. This really increases the excitement. Especially when one of the players wears the speed boots, things will get really hectic. Another great feature is the strategy element. Making the walls in the playing area a form of defence when used for hiding or an effective weapon when having the right weapons is a very original element. But the thing which really makes this game so good is the fact that it will very soon make you obsessed with winning and obsessed with collecting the best weapons and upgrades as soon as possible for yourself, and yourself alone and at the same time making it impossible for your enemy to find his own neat little toys. And this sometimes means dilemma-time: will I collect this inferior weapon to the one I already have or shall I leave it, making it available for my enemy? This game will turn any two players playing it into homicidal, egoistic and vile bastards… brilliant!
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This is actually the worst part of the game, so after this things will only get better. The game looks simplistic, rushed, almost childish. But in a funny way, it increases the humour of the game tremendously. I don’t think this game would be quite as much fun when the graphics were very neat and polished. So, doubting between favouring looks or effectiveness, I will float in the middle and give it a 7.
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Do me one favour. When you decide to play this game (and you really should!), turn up the volume! The game contains a lot of ridiculous samples and sounds, which will make you smile constantly! A special mention must go to the “bouncy bullet”-sound which will make any opponent nervous as hell, not knowing from which direction a bouncy bullet will hit him in the bottom.
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This game plays fast, it is very funny, it contains some pretty innovative little weapons and it gets extremely addictive very fast, because the looser will never grant the other player a victory, always wanting a re-match!
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| Extreme Violence is the only game I know of, which can turn the most peace-loving of persons into egoistic death-seeking killing machines. Putting this disk into your Amiga will turn any miserable day into a feast. |
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Get Amiga Forever with pre-installed Workbench, games, applications, and much more.
It also contains the original Amiga ROM-files, 100% legally!
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