“Rotating wheels of destiny inflame the city lights.
Machines call out for followers far out into the night.
The calls of the machines drowning in the steam.”

(Excerpt from “p:Machinery” by Propaganda)

Our world is full of terrible inventions, such as the atomic bomb, Agent Orange, the electric chair, talent shows or Tamagotchi, to name but a few. But one of the most terrifying inventions was already made sometime during the 19th century, when an experimenter with time, space and early computers created a bizarre machine. The inventor’s name was Baron Fortesque. The machine was “The Chaos Engine”.

Although primitive the machine became incredibly powerful and turned against its creator. Its power to corrupt time and matter was out of control. A cloud of chaos descended over the land. Humans and animals were turned into ravenous beasts...


Chaos Theories...
So, once again the world is on the brink of total destruction. Because the government doesn’t want to declare a war against the evil Baron and his army of bloodthirstily creatures, two mercenaries are hired to seek and destroy the deadly machine and its mad creator. Well, that’s the plot in short, but both in the game magazines back then (Amiga Action, The One, Power Play) and current websites (Wikipedia, MobyGames, Giant Bomb) the background story differs in some way. So, here’s one version of the events:

“A time traveller takes a journey back to Victorian England, bringing fabulous technology. However, his futuristic technology falls into the hands of the evil Baron Fortesque, who retrofits the equipment for his own personal means, thereby creating an alternate timeline. The Baron creates what becomes to be known as the ‘Chaos Engine’, a terrifying machine with the potential to alter matter of time and space. After prolonged use, the machine absorbs the Baron, making him a part of the machine...”

In an early preview from autumn 1991, there’s the talk of “a brilliant Baron Fortesque who’s addicted to opium.” In this variation, he creates the machine by himself, without the forced help of the above-mentioned time traveller...

Ironically, neither the game’s manual nor the game itself come up with a profound storyline – even the enhanced, animated intro of the CD32 port doesn’t go further into detail. But because “The Chaos Engine” is a top-down shooter, there’s no need of an extensive story, just as it’s the case on genre colleagues like “Dogs of War” (“You are a mercenary soldier, doing the kind of deeds that mercenary soldiers do!”), “Mercs” (“While touring Central Africa for world peace, the former President of the United States was taken hostage by a group of Zutulan revolutionaries...”) or “Total Carnage” (“Out of nowhere, crazy, power-mad General Akhboob became the sole military power in Kookistan by creating his army of mutants from the radioactive goo produced in his bio-nuclear generator...”) – well, not exactly complex plots, aren’t they?

Or, to say it with the words of one of the mercenaries: “The Chaos Engine... is a machine that’s screwed up time. And space. Me? I’d form a Party to find Baron Fortesque, the nutter who invented the machine, and blow ‘em both up. Sure, I’d waste anything I saw. And wouldn’t think twice about it either.”


Recreating the Steam...
The Bitmap Brothers weren’t famous for reinventing the wheel – they’d never created ground-breaking subgenres like the “god game”, the action RPG or the RTS (although rumour has it, that the Bitmaps had the idea for “Z” before the release of Westwood’s “Dune II”). However, they were brilliant in enhancing already existing game categories. Just think of “Speedball” and its sequel “Brutal Deluxe”, a mixture of American football, soccer and rugby added with a teaspoon of futuristic character and trace elements of brute force. The rules are… there are no rules! The result: Particularly the second part is a true classic that got many late ports (CD32, Xbox 360, GBA) as well as some remakes like “Speedball 2100” for Sony’s PlayStation or “Speedball 2: Tournament” for Windows PC. Or the medieval action-adventure “Cadaver”, the great 16-bit homage to the famous “Knight Lore” on BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum and MSX!

And last but not least the splendid “Gods”: At first sight just an ordinary platformer (albeit with awesome graphics), but it’s much more than that. Actually, it’s an action-adventure containing cool puzzles with a special focus on the enemies’ artificial intelligence.

The concept of “The Chaos Engine” again bears a striking resemblance to “Gauntlet”, however, the basic gameplay has been much improved. Furthermore, the Bitmaps have relocated the event from the dark dungeons to a Victorian steampunk setting that contains also open-air levels – a welcome change to the somewhat monotonous levels of the Atari original, which only differs by different floor patterns as well as the colours of the walls.

Something else the two programs have in common, is the choice of several characters. Whereas Atari’s medieval-orientated (coin-op) classic offers a bunch of typical fantasy buddies – namely Thor, the warrior, Merlin, the wizard, Thyra, the Valkyrie and Questor, the Elf – Renegade’s nineties reinterpretation comes up with a total of six heroes: Brigand, Gentleman, Mercenary, Navvie, Preacher and Thug.

Unlike to its ancestor, “The Chaos Engine” is much more role-playing-oriented – each gunman has specific attributes, such as stamina, speed and intelligence as well as special abilities (e.g. shot burst, Molotov, map, bomb, dynamite, first aid etc.). Thus, you’ll find six character cards containing a detailed profile of each hero inside the original box. Certainly, a short description appears in the program itself. So, we have different chaps with different characteristics plus a nice deck of cards – all right, but the game dives much deeper into the role-playing genre! Similar to a real RPG, also here, the attributes of all characters can be enhanced during the offensive against the evil Baron. Furthermore, you’re able to upgrade your weapons and abilities respectively, or you can buy new specials. Of course, the “Brothers Bitmap” don’t go so far as to implement such elements as experience points or even char levels. However, for an action game, the whole RPG thing got quite profound and is far more than just smoke and mirrors… in a manner of speaking, the perfect blend of both worlds!


Double Trouble
The second – and maybe more interesting – feature of “The Chaos Engine” is the fact, that even a single player won’t fight alone. If there’s no other “comrade-in-arms” available, the artificial intelligence supports you with a computer-controlled companion… and what should I say? In terms of the AI, the Bitmaps (in particular coder Steve Cargill) have done an extremely good job, because the CPU sidekick acts like a partner of flesh and blood! Honestly, I’ve never had the feeling that I’m assisted by a bot – no, the AI pal’s performance appears almost true-to-life, he actively supports your chosen hero, but also makes mistakes and constantly snatches the best extras from right under your nose (and you can’t even kick his ass for that – too bad!). Speaking of AI: Each of the six protagonists holds a certain level of intelligence. The Gentleman, for example, is – in a pure physical manner – a quite weak character. But then again, his intellect is remarkably high plus he’s very light-footed, what makes him an extremely smart and fast CPU buddy. The Thug, on the other hand, “is a mammoth of a man, a little stupid but very powerful.” Or in other words: He’s a strong built guy, “fast” like a turtle and moreover dumb as a rock! So, this candidate (as well as his “brother in spirit”, the Navvie) seems only to be used as a player character, because of his low speed and lack of cleverness, right? Not at all! The great thing of “The Chaos Engine” (well, the game, not the machine itself) is, that it’s even possible to increase the IQ of each CPU-driven hero! Thus, in a manner of speaking, you’re able to turn a mush-for-brains moron into a rocket scientist… hm, sounds strangely familiar, doesn’t it?

But as we all know, nothing’s for free in this word and even an evolutionary marvel as the human intellect is reduced to a sales item in the Bitmap Brothers’ universe; just as skill, speed, health and the several extras…


“#*[email protected]*€#%+?” – “O.K. What do you want to buy?”
Such transactions are done in a shop – this so-called “Character Equip Screen” appears after every second and fourth level of a world. It’s no secret that practically every game by the famous UK trio contains a “point of sale” – exceptions like e.g. their debut “Xenon”, “Cadaver”, “Magic Pockets” or the awful successor “The Chaos Engine 2” (a matter for the “Sequel Police” for sure!) prove the rule.

Attributes and equipment are paid in hard currency, that is, with treasure that dead enemies drop. Speaking of enemies: Whereas the monsters of the first world (“The Forest”) are not much more than cannon fodder, already in the second setting (“The Workshops”) things will become much more complicated. Among the obligatory muscle-bound dumb-asses, who unfortunately are extremely tough, you’ll also have to deal with aggressive creatures, which appear to come right from the gene lab, little but nevertheless powerful “fire-breathers” as well as jumping kangaroo-like mutations. But the level architecture itself is tricky, too, because this maze-like section comes up with some dead ends (a tribute to “Megablast”?), destructible walls, hot steam which escapes from broken pipes, and rooftops that are laced with deadly spring guns.


Dark Realm…
“The Engine’s somewhere in the Hall Of Machines which is hidden in the dank, dark cellars of the Baron’s mansion…”

However, this is only a foretaste of what is to come, ‘cause in the third world (“Fortesque Mansion”) the action gets really hard! The inhabitants of that dark and sinister manor don’t do things by halves; they want you and your (virtual) partner dead! They want your families dead! They want your houses burned to the ground! They wanna go there in the middle of the night and they wanna pi$# on your… well, let’s say, they aren’t very happy about your presence. The welcoming committee includes the following “staff”:

• Ball-throwing fatsos (somehow these guys’ performance look very aesthetic)
• Small, but nevertheless disgusting spiders, which could come right from the wet dungeons of BBs’ “Cadaver”
• Yellow-skinned hulks
• Projectile-spitting skulls
• Rotating bar-bells (…what the hell?)
• Doppelgangers of your two mercs…
• …and - without doubt the graphical highlight of this world – the perfect animated Thing T. Things, that would make their inspiring example of “The Addams Family” proud!

So, “Fortesque Mansion” certainly is no walk in the park, but the worst is yet to come…


“The Sewer Lines run under this Neighborhood too…”
Eventually, the now armed to the teeth (let’s hope so) duo infiltrates the dim cellars under the mansion – in fact, a large part of the cellars includes the sewer system. Again, the layout of this level can be very confusing: Flooded drainage canals that prevent further advancement (please note; most video game heroes of that time weren’t able to wade through knee-deep waters, not to mention to swim!), indestructible, moving “blockers” (somehow they remind me of robotic vacuum cleaners), which your team has to evade, secret passages and, yes… even the once useful nodes have now turned against the player(s), blocking the way with an impenetrable line of fire. Wait a second, nodes? Oh, I almost forgot: Unlike to “Gauntlet” and its many rip-offs – like e.g. Rainbow Arts’ “Garrison” or Hudson Soft’s well-known “Dungeon Explorer” for PC-Engine/TurboGrafx-16 – the several exits in each level of “The Chaos Engine” are initially locked. Not until you have activated (that is, shoot at it) a certain number of those nodes (in their “pupated” form they somehow look like Green and Purple Tentacle), the gate(s) will open. The starting point of the next level depends on which gate you’ve passed through in the previous stage.

But let’s get back to “The Cellars” themselves: Whereas the enemies of the first three areas were creatures of flesh and blood – turned into beasts by the Engine’s poisonous cloud – the mechanical beings of this final world could come straight from the bowels of the evil machine. Apart from the common sewer rats and powerful spring guns, the setting is populated with:

• Golden-coloured robots, propelled by rotating gyroscopes
• Small mechanical, claw-armed “floor crawlers”
• Jumping cylindrical robots
• Floating electric orbs…
• …and some kind of robots on wheels, apparently inspired by the cyborg Box from the sci-fi classic “Logan’s Run” starring Michael York

Honestly, “The Cellars” with their many details (like e.g. the circulating lights on the brickwork, the up and down moving crankshafts or the pools, filled with bubbling muddy water) seem to be taken from a novel by Jules Verne and are without doubt the graphical highlight of the game. No matter whether you play the OCS/ECS original or the here reviewed enhanced AGA port with its 256 colours, both versions are a real feast for the eyes!


“Chaos and the Calm”
Finally, the hour of reckoning has come: After the Engine’s defence mechanism has shut down, the party is teleported on top of the giant machine. For the last time, the diabolic steely beast brings the big guns in: Multiple shots, bombs, homing missiles, lasers… well, the whole gamut. During the fierce fight, the dome explodes, and the team eventually meets the evil Baron Fortesque face to face – the once creator of the Chaos Engine has now become its slave! Finally, the destructive monstrosity detonates in a bright flash of light; a last scream of pain escapes the Baron’s lips. The Chaos Engine is destroyed, its inventor is dead, or isn’t he? Once again evil was defeated, and peace has been restored… really? Or is it just the calm before the next storm?

After a number of hits, “The Chaos Engine” marks the zenith of the Bitmap Brother’s career: It’s far more than a further “Gauntlet” rip-off plus it was one of the first games which contains a steampunk scenario, even before the release of ground-breaking classics, such as Charles Cecil’s “Beneath a Steel Sky”, Yoshinori Kitase’s “Final Fantasy VII” or Ken Levine’s “BioShock”. Moreover, back in the day, the BBs' style of mixing action and RPG elements was a real novelty. A few years later, Konami tried a similar attempt with “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night” for Sony’s PlayStation – today, this episode of the famous series is considered as one of the best; so it’s no wonder that many of the successors (e.g. “Circle of the Moon”, “Harmony of Dissonance”, “Portrait of Ruin”) relied on the same concept.

Whereas the “Castlevania” franchise lives on until today, “The Chaos Engine” was already concluded with the second part – after that, the series was buried… together with the Amiga…

"I have guided you here so that you might set me free. The Chaos has ended, you will be remembered!"