Computer Platform Games #10

Gods (1991)
By: The Bitmap Brothers Genre: Platform/Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Amiga First Day Score: 99,884
Also Available For: Atari ST, PC, MegaDrive, SNES, Jaguar, PC-98, Archimedes

My determination in the 80s into the early 90s that consoles were superior to even the most powerful home computers meant that I got into the Amiga pretty late, and accordingly I missed out of a good number of its classics. One game that I didn't miss out on, however, was Gods by the revered Bitmap Brothers. It cast me, and indeed anyone else who played the game, as the mighty Hercules who seeks to attain immortality by reclaiming the Citadel of the Gods which has been taken over by four idiotic 'guardians'. Quite why Hercules has a greater chance of liberating the citadel than actual gods, I don't know. Can't they just zap the guardians with lightning or something? Hercules is a mighty man indeed, but still just a man at this point. Hmm, anyway, I'm sure his quest won't be an easy one. Let's find out.

Despite having played and indeed owned this game in its day, it was always one I never quite 'got' for some reason. I knew it was a top quality product, but it was one of those games where every now and then I'd load it up, have a quick go, not get very far, and then leave it for months again. Playing it for this review, then, is really my first proper playthrough - certainly my first time getting beyond the first level of which there are four in total, each split into three stages. I was going to say that makes it a pretty big game, but I guess it was about average for the time. It's definitely not one of those games where you'll get through all those stages on your first attempt, though. It's a game that was famed for its graphics at the time, but one drawback is that Hercules is a bit of a slow, lumbering oaf to control.

Fortunately, there is no time limit, so you can at least take as long as you like carefully exploring the stages which are generally of a platforms and ladders persuasion. Exploration is advised too, for they are not simple left-to-right affairs. Most are multi-tiered and some have branching paths, although there is still usually only one path to the end of the stage. There is plenty of stuff to collect and secrets to find as well, though, which is what most of the other paths are for. Collectibles are very much needed here too, for every stage is teeming with monsters. Helpfully, the first pickup is Herc's first weapon - knives - and is found right at the start of the game. These knives are in infinite supply and are thrown across the screen, but other weapons and lots of other helpful stuff can be found either lying around or at the in-game shop which turns up now and then, offering many fine wares - for a price.

Money to spend here is one of the many things you'll find laying around and is also often dropped by destroyed monsters and mostly comes in the form of various gems, but there is also an occasional money bag. Some of the stuff you can find/buy includes new weapons which include throwing stars, axes, maces, etc. If you collect the same one you already have, you can throw more of them at once (up to three). You can also find items that vary the arc of your shots, one that increases the height of your jump, a temporary shield, a smart bomb, and a few other bits and pieces. Hercules has an energy meter (represented by what looks like a jug of beer) and, thankfully, there are items that will partially or fully replenish this, too.

Even with all this, though, it's still a pretty tough game. Considering what a badass Hercules is meant to be historically, it's disappointing to find he loses energy from falling too far like a little bitch. There are also traps such as spiky things that move up and down, though these and other traps can be turned off by finding the relevant switch. The monsters are unsurprisingly the main reason for this high difficulty, though. The occasional flock of flying creatures swoops in now and then but most of the monsters are hideous abominations that stumble around on the platforms. This would be fine except some of them can spit bullets at you, and due to Herc's rather ponderous nature, they can be difficult to avoid on occasion. The monsters also have a tendency to flash into existence from out of thin air, which isn't always ideal. I don't mind it too much though, oddly, as it seems to suit the game's style.

And a very stylish game it is, too. As mentioned, it was famed at the time for its flashy audio/visuals, although the former isn't all that great. The spot effects such as grunts and groans from Herc and the enemies, and the creaks and clanks and everything else from doors, traps, etc, were and remain fantastic, but there is no in-game music and the loading/title tune is not one of my favourite Amiga compositions, if I'm honest. The graphics still look great though. There isn't a huge variety, admittedly - it's all stone castles and dungeons and what have you - but the choice of colours is excellent, and the hi-res detail on the sprites and foregrounds is superb, as is the animation. It's my favourite type of Amiga graphics, in fact, which not even the mighty Mega Drive can duplicate properly.

The flashy visuals are definitely one of the game's highlights but it's certainly not a glorified tech demo either. I guess I didn't really notice with my brief plays back in the day but the stage design is really good too. Some of the later examples can get quite large and intricate, and finding the right keys to access certain rooms or areas is the only way to progress. Luckily, Herc can carry up to three of these or other items at once (not counting power-ups). Some of them are out of reach so you have to rely on a certain type of enemy to pick them and then wander closer so you can kill him and grab the item! As mentioned, it is a pretty tough game but in about as nice a way as possible. Neither of my two pet hates are evident (time limits and respawning enemies), for one thing. There are only a couple of irritations, really.

The only annoying things I found are slightly sticky controls including having to use up for jump (only really a problem for those used to console controllers, I guess) and, partly because of that, unreliable grabbing of ladders which can sometimes result in long falls (and the loss of most of Herc's energy). There really isn't much to complain about here though. There are even passwords for each stage so if you have a run of bad luck, you can try again another time with a full stock of lives (but no power-ups), so it's a large but surprisingly fair game. I've really enjoyed my time with it in any case, and I'm really not sure why I didn't get into it in its day, despite having it for my A600. It's not even one of those Amiga games that gets constantly interrupted (something that always puts me off).

It only takes up two disks so if you had an extra FDD (as many Amiga owners did) you wouldn't need to swap disks at all, and the loading times are short too. Amazing really. It's not only one of the Amiga's best looking games, but I'd say it has to be among the system's best action games generally. Great graphics and sound effects which have both aged well, interesting and challenging stages, and a lot of them (nearly two hour's worth, and that's a speedrun by someone who knows the game well). There are a couple of points where it's not obvious how to proceed, but generally it's a superbly designed and highly enjoyable platform adventure. The Bitmap Brothers might be more revered for titles like Speedball or The Chaos Engine, or even Xenon II, but for my money, this is their best game. It's just a shame it took me so long to get around to giving it the time it did and still does deserve.

RKS Score: 9/10

Gameplay Video: here's a video of the whole game being played by one of the talented fellows at AL82 Retrogaming Longplays (check out their great channel here). Oh, and don't watch if you want to avoid spoilers!