| Credits | |
| Published: |
1993, Renegade
 |
| Developer: |  |
| Design: | Simon Knight, Eric Matthews |
| Manager: | Graeme Boxall |
| Coder: | Steve Cargill, Mike Montgomery |
| Graphics: | Dan Malone |
| Musician: | Richard Joseph, Farook Joi, Haroon Joi |
| Information | |
| Hardware: | OCS, ECS |
| Disks: | 2 |
| License: | Commercial |
| Language: | English |
| Players: | 1 or 2, Simultaneous |
| Relationship: | Also available for AGA  Precursor to Chaos Engine 2, The |
| Categorization | |
| Genre: | Shoot'em Up |
| Subgenre: | Multi-Scrolling |
| Tags: | action, cooperative, gauntlet, levelcodes, scrolling, shooter, shop, steampunk, topdown |
| Magazine Reviews | |
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Added by Kim Lemon on May 25, 2004. Viewed 71607 times.
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Read review by Dastardly
Graphics: 8 ‧
Music: 9 ‧
Playability: 9 ‧
Overall: 9
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Among the highest results ever achieved by a game on Amiga, CH is not just an absolute masterpiece of playability, but a steam-punk manifesto of rare expressive effectiveness. Inspired by a retrofuturist dystopian novel, set in a hypothetical Victorian era infested with hideous mutant hybrids, the work of the Bitmap Brothers manages to recreate in a damn effective way the unhealthy, turbid, distressing atmosphere, on the basis of exceptional graphics in the care of details (rats that suddenly come out of their lairs, self-propelled hands, aggressive phosphorescent globes, factory windows from which intermittent flashes come out) and a soundscore based on inspired techno-industrial tracks and assorted clangs. An imaginary of rare expressive density that envelops the player, while he enjoys exploring the levels in multi-scrolling overhead, looking for keys and ways out of labyrinthine paths. The gameplay miraculously manages to combine complexity and immediacy: if on the one hand there are alternative ways and apparently inaccessible rooms, the path to reach the primary way out is however linear. Excellent definition of controllable characters, possibility of increasing their qualities with a strategic management of financial resources. Your partner is controlled by a CPU with a smart AI: that is, it is always you who go ahead first, but the CPU can help you and if nothing else care for you!
View all comments (11)
Probably the best game of the Bitmap Brothers on Amiga 500 (with Speedball 2).
As always superb graphism and sounds in the Bitmap style.
This game has a good life duration and a great playability. A great one player mode with a decent IA and an excellent two players mode (too rare on Amiga).
Sounds change in function of the place in the level and the ennemies.
This is the 'Commando' of the Amiga.
9,5/10
View all comments (29)
This is surprisingly low down this list as I would expect it to be guaranteed a place in the top 10 at least, as a defining Amiga classic, with Speedball 2, SWOS and Cannon Fodder.
I originally thought that the notable greyish colour scheme of the original version was a deliberate stylistic choice which suited the feel of the game very well. But I do also really like the standout colours of the AGA version and would find it hard to pick a favorite.
View all comments (93)
I thought I can't never forget to play it after weeks of training twenty years ago, just like riding a bike, but in fact I can. I'm not able to finish the last world now, am I too old?
Chaos Engine is one of the best games of golden era. And moreover, it's for two players in cooperative mode! It's just great
View all comments (114)
Definitely in my top 5 Amiga games list. The Bitmap Brothers deserve a gold medal for this one! Shame they changed the game format on Chaos Engine 2
View all comments (21)
As far as top-down run and gun games on the Amiga go, The Chaos Engine is easily one of the very best. It delivers a fun and challenging arcade-like experience mixed with rpg elements that give it enough depth to differentiate it from japanese contemporaries. Brilliantly and uniquely presented, it is, albeit not exclusive, best played on the Amiga (8/10).
View all comments (212)
This and Banshee are the games that introduced me to Steam Punk. Easily one of my top 5 Amiga games of all time.
View all comments (9)
This game is truly a challenge, but not impossible to beat! Even though the game is two players only, you can choose to have the CPU or a real life second player. The attention to detail in the artwork, sound effects, vocal audio samples, and music are very impressive. One thing that is great about this game is the fact that there is no timer. After you clear an area, you can take a break and come back to find your players waiting to be guided towards the exit. Levels are not very large and after several times you can easily memorize where enemies will spawn, etc... 9/10
View all comments (22)
Very tough top down shooter with great graphics and sound.
Best played in 2 player mode.
Was just too difficult for me.
edit: Recently picked this up again. Game has lots of issues, mainly the only way to get anyway where is to edge forward in tiny increments and then rush back around a corner when an enemy spawns. If you try to play it in any normal sense death is very likely. 6/10
View all comments (135)
Were the bitmap brothers incapable of releasing a game that had a smooth frame rate? Really drags it all down. Good game though, not fantastic, just good. The steampunk theme was pretty fresh at the time, which added to the atmosphere.
View all comments (42)
A classic game still fun and changelling after 19 years.
View all comments (6)
Absolutely marvellous game! Read my full review if you want to know more about what I think of it.
View all comments (211)
Overhead multi-directional scrolling shooter in a steampunk-ish setting. The graphics are drawn in the typical, original Bitmap Brothers style.
Can be played 2-player co-op. In single player mode, the CPU will control the 2nd player! This may not sound much today but at that time I thought it was pretty groundbreaking that someone finally bothered to implement this.
I also really like that there is a little bit of "intelligence" to your sprite in the sense that you do *not* get stuck when hitting a wall a bit by one or two pixels.
However, comparisons to Gauntlet are ridiculous in my opinion: the original Gauntlet (Arcade), was very hard with a frenetic pace, and had dozens and dozens of enemies on the screen at the same time. Chaos Engine on the other hand, has rather few enemies at any given moment on-screen, with rather slow-moving bullets.
Overall I consider Chaos Engine overrated. It's a good game but not *that* good.
View all comments (99)
One of the best games of all time! They achieved to squeeze so much goodness in two floppies. The Bitmap Brothers are by far the best game developers for the platform and boy could they take the Amiga to its full potential. Perfect controls, good AI, sometimes your sidekick (Computer controlled) does some funny things, but the monsters are really smart. I don't know how, but BUY IT!
View all comments (18)
Love this game. It looks so good and plays like a dream. I like the Victorian era atmosphere.
View all comments (9)
Bitmap Brothers rulez. Great Game.
View all comments (8)
We have here a classic top game for the Amiga. An awesome new Gauntlet with cool spectacular graphics by the Bitmap Brothers. 10/10
View all comments (61)
The Alien Breed games were very good but this was better for 2 players
because of more space to run around in. A classic for sure - 9/10
View all comments (248)
What can i say? Great game with polish in every direction. The 2 player was brilliant fun.
View all comments (524)
Cannon Fodder on speed and with bigger guns.
View all comments (52)
This is amiga at it's best. Superb graphics, music, sound fx, gameplay etc! The packaging, the intro, the menu artwork suck you right in! I love it! I still play this one now and then with a pal. Cool stuff!
View all comments (23)
One of the best two player games to ever be released made even more impressive with a fairly decent AI for it's time. The CPU would take over the second player position if only one player was on.
The musical score is fantastic and the voice saying "Node activated" and "Power up" is a nice touch as well. The difficulty,multiple ways of going through each level and hidden items makes Chaos Engine a game to come back too.
The only downside to Chaos Engine is not being able to go through with one character unless you kill the second player off, a real one player option would have been nice.
Chaos Engine came out on multiple platforms in the U.S. But the name was changed to Soldier of Fortune along with Preacher being changed to Scientist as not to offend.
View all comments (25)
I had the non-AGA version on my A500 back in the day. A truly unique game - the amazing music, the overall steampunk look of the game, character design, even the packaging. It's also a game that's based on the familiar: you could say that it is after all a Mercs/Ikari/Commando clone at heart. Exceptional fun as a two player game. Countless hours were spent in front of a monitor with this one. By far one of my most favorite Amiga games of all time. Never tried Chaos Engine 2.
View all comments (44)
Actually prefer this non AGA version.. GFX are pure bitmap bothers bliss! The whole style from the game to the menus are just of such high quality, the music is amazing and suits the game so well, and then there is the brilliant game play! One of my all time favourite games!
View all comments (178)
I love this game so much! The graphics are lovely (and in only 16 colors!), the sound and music are beautiful and surprisingly clear, and the game itself moves at a fast pace through its massive levels. One of the best games on the Amiga.
View all comments (141)
A great game! One of the Amiga's best!! Beats even Alien Breed in my view!! The non AGA version is the best (as it has the best colour scheme). Use a joystick/joypad with an autofire button as this helps not waste your special power! Good in one player, but great in 2 player, the multiple routes and little secrets are great!!! Hopefully one day this will get made for Xbox Live!!!!
View all comments (3)
This was a brilliant game. I thought shawn Dimerys comment that he finished it in 20 minutes was a little silly to be honest. But anyways, great level design, music, characters, graphics and very playable with an entertainig story. Classic bitmaps and classic amiga.
View all comments (9)
Perfect game, from the packaging to the last screen.
View all comments (19)
WOW!!! Best amiga action game!!! Sound, music, graphic very-very phantastic, atmospheric!!!
View all comments (10)
Stunning game. There was also a bug on the second (?) level which gave you unlimited special power if you ran into the door with the buff active.
Lots of puzzles, and multiple ways to complete each level keeps the game interesting every time.
View all comments (53)
A masterpiece. Beautiful graphics, great soundtrack and flawless, challenging (though a bit on the easy side), fair, enjoyable gameplay. Best Gauntlet-style-game ever!
9/10
View all comments (25)
This game has the worst sequel in amiga history. The original Chaos Engine is the best isometric shooter on this platform. Awesome music, speeches and characters (Preacher is my favourite). 9/10
View all comments (24)
Mostly played as 2 player and we completed it too, good game
View all comments (14)
Superb Steampunk shoot'em up. I like the characters of this game, most are tough looking bad a..es.
View all comments (18)
Characters to choose from are fantastic. A few years later i put faces of my buddies in their art-work images and "wallpapered" them in the internet club
View all comments (56)
Oooh, the memories... Beautiful graphics, great sound and as always with The Bitmap Brothers, fun as hell too! One of my best childhood memories. Chaos for everyone!
View all comments (15)
I bought this on my 12th birthday. I found the game a bit too easy but was quite happy with it anyway. The style of graphics creates just right mood. Characters, levels and enemies were all great in design. One of the finest shooters ever. But still too easy.
View all comments (250)
Wrist-achingly frenetic and hour-consumingly challenging, The Chaos Engine is rightly one of the best loved games on the Amiga.
View all comments (2)
Great graphics, great gameplay and a great 2-player mode = a great game.
View all comments (36)
Wow, I can't believe I missed out on this game, yet it's in fact is very hard, but lets not consider that a drawback. The great pixel art and details of graphics kept me looking at them for countless times. Do us a favour and go play this game. It's the best of them all.
View all comments (50)
Remember those "energy-Orb" like things at the very end of the game? For some reason it reminded me of the Protoss Archon in Starcraft... But I digress - Fun game.
View all comments (11)
Not bad, not bad at all. Good music, good gameplay, fast (even on the Amiga 500+) and plenty of explosions and guns to keep me as a young lad entertained for hours!
View all comments (64)
Holy rolling cubes Batman! This was one of the best action games on any platform ever! Hands down! Two players mode is a freakin' ride with non-stop impulse and sooooo in the sci-fi hype at that time. Hypertime, that is.
View all comments (100)
Not bad, but very overrated. Nice package, but nothing really special.
View all comments (21)
This game was very fun to play. It also had a nice ending.
View all comments (37)
Amazing graphics, music, and sound! I don't even remember if I finished it, it's been 13 years since I played it......
View all comments (9)
A Bitmap Brothers classic, I remmber playing this game for hours and hours. One of the best on the Amiga, it still looks good even now 13 years later the game looks so good. Long live classic games like this
View all comments (31)
This and Gods were the best games on the Amiga. Others don't even come close.
View all comments (6)
Bitmap Brothers did it again. The Chaos Engine was one of the coolest games on Amiga. Cool voices and a brilliant atmosphere. Didn't play the successor but this part looks much nicer anyway ***thumbs up!***
View all comments (7)
Really the best game ever I finished it 45 times now I play it at 200§% speed to make it more difficult..AWESOME
View all comments (2)
Excellent game indeed, but I never quite managed to polish it off.
View all comments (116)
Great game, superb graphics (as to be expected from the Bitmap Brothers), fine sound and damn fun 2 player blasting action.
View all comments (65)
You just gotta love this game
View all comments (1)
One of the best shooters for the Amiga. A tremendous mixture of late-victorian steampunk sci-fi, 'orrible critters, non-frustrating maze-game and shooting shooting shooting! The only real criticism is that the boisterous 'Party Power!' sample used in the demo was much better than the one used in the completed game. What happened, guys?
View all comments (145)
Great GFX, nice sound and I loved the gameplay, was a good time for The Bitmap Brothers
View all comments (522)
Such a good game, the graphics are fantastic, the music is great and sounds are good.
View all comments (116)
In my opinion this is THE two player shooter on the Amiga. I probably completed it 3-4 times just to get to all the hidden places on the different levels. Great graphics and music in the unique Bitmap Brothers style. I really love the later levels with all the retro-futuristic machines. Definitely one of my all time favourites.
View all comments (3)
Still one of the best actiongames to date! And what a great 2-player mode! This is really a masterpiece of action! Perfect level design, stunning graphics, cool sounds, great (title) music, nice weapons, awesome shop-and level-up-feature!
Graphics 94%
Sounds 93%
Playability 97%
Overall (1P) 92%
Overall (2P) 96%
View all comments (809)
This game is what owning an Amiga was all about. All you needed was an A500, you and a mate, two good joysticks and hours of fun were yours. Quality plus game. Great graphics, music and lots of playability. It's well designed so with dedication and practice, it can be completed (although best with two players). I recall buying first the OCS version then the AGA when I got the A1200
View all comments (29)
This game has "class" written all over it. A very enjoyable shooter with great graphics and animation, cool sounds and voices, and most importantly, oodles of playability. You've got different characters to choose from and, because they work in pairs, different character combinations to choose from. Then you've got weapons, weapon powerups, special powers, upgrades to your abilities, tons of diverse levels to explore and heaps of interesting and kooky enemies to blow up. I honestly never found the game repetitive at all - I was engrossed all the way. A highlight for me was all the secrets the game contained, and also the really great ingame music! My only criticism was that I thought two characters - the Thug and the Mercenary - were underpowered, but perhaps that was due to my playing style. Regardless, a high quality shooter that never loses its appeal and fun factor.
View all comments (30)
For me this has to be THE game for the Amiga. As a kid I don't think there was a game that had a bigger impact on me.
View all comments (1)
Even if you are not a shoot 'em up fan, you will love this game. Perfectly executed with great graphics, sound, pace, and playability, the fact that this game has six players to choose from, the option to play with two players simultaneously, and secrets to find on nearly every level, Chaos Engine will quickly become a game you can't put down.
View all comments (51)
This is a typical precise Bitmap Brothers' work. I think, they were the best developer for Amiga games ever. The game itself is perfectly balanced, catchy, with many surprises, hidden passages and puzzles. Graphics is good, sound incl. Soundtrack is awesome and gameplay is excellent. I fully agree with the reviewer here.
View all comments (768)
Yep, the Amiga-zealots called the Piira brothers overrated this game in the Pelit magazine
View all comments (201)
A really polished game as you'd expect from Bitmap Brothers. 16 colours put to very good use and the art design is original. Fun when played with a pal but still I think The Chaos Engine is one of the most overrated Amiga games. "Pelit", the best Finnish games magazine back in 1993 gave this a score of whopping 95! Deduct it by ten and I'd be happy. Now, who was the reviewer? Oh shit, it was me
View all comments (166)
Graphics, gameplay and sound are good. Lacks sometimes when it's too much graphic and things on the screen. In other words.. When it's real heavy!
But it's still a good work from Bitmap brothers who also made the well known "Speedball"....
View all comments (75)
In my top 5. A revolutionary graphical style, excellent music and sfx, gameplay to die for.
View all comments (33)
Fantastic. 2 player mode was the best. I think I cheated in the end, it gets very difficult.
View all comments (40)
This game rocks. In single player but more so in 2 player mode this is a game packed with adrenalin and challenges. I've never reached farther than the second world, but still I put this game on for another go. Pure addictive gaming art of the finest sort.
View all comments (17)
Best Amiga game ever. Stop reading you fool! Go play
View all comments (20)
Without any doubt the best Amiga game ever!
in 2 player mode it's even more great. A must!
View all comments (10)