Escape From Nazi Mountain

.: By: Mike :: Device used: iPAQ H3650 :: December 6, 2000 :.

Escape from Nazi Mountain is, as the author describes, inspired by an old game going by the name of Castle Wolfenstein. Unfortunately, never having played Castle Wolfenstein, I can't comment on just how faithful it is to the original. What I can tell you instead is that the game strikes me of a cross between Rogue (which saw you exploring a randomly-created dungeon packed with all manner of unfriendly creatures out to end your existence... reminiscent in many ways of the London Underground!) and the classic Wolfenstein 3D.

The game sees you inside Nazi Mountain (having infiltrated it via an old mining tunnel), which as the introduction informs you, is the Allied code name for a fortress dug into a mountain on the border between Austria and Germany. Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to steal the design notes for a Nazi super weapon stored in an unknown location within the base. The bad news is that you start off with only a gun, a few bullets and one grenade to ward off an entire base-full of Nazi soldiers.

The slightly less bad news is that you can add to your collection, either by searching through the bodies of anyone you happen to take out, or by opening the various chests that inhabit the base. Stealing stuff from dead bodies is easy - you simply walk up to the body and, if anything useful can be found, it will be added to your inventory. Getting at the contents of a chest is less simple in that you have to pick the lock which eats up a few seconds, potentially fatal ones if a guard happens to catch you in the act.

Control is relatively simple - by default, tapping an area of the screen moves your character to that location. A green box flashes up to show you where you tapped which, although helpful, doesn't exactly add to the atmosphere! Hitting the "Toggle Aim/Move" button (which you can assign to a hardware key of your choice) allows you to switch between tapping where you want to move to and manually aiming your gun to fire in that direction, which can be useful when there are a lot of bad guys to deal with.

The all-important act of shooting is achieved by, unsurprisingly, hitting the fire key. Aiming, unless you've switched to manual mode, is automatic with the nearest target being nicely taken out with no effort on your point. The further you are from your intended victim, the more chance there is of missing and the less damage you do, so the more bullets you're likely to use up. Therefore, if possible, it's worth getting up close and personal when doing your dirty work!

However, going in all guns blazing is not always the best strategy. If you can catch a soldier by surprise (i.e. by walking up behind them) and as long as you're waving your gun in a suitably menacing way (well, have it drawn at any rate!), then the chances are that he'll recognise the amount of trouble he's in and simply surrender. That way, not only do you not have to waste any bullets, but you can also search him for items in a similar manner to dead bodies. I found that, especially on early levels, getting soldiers to surrender was relatively easy to achieve and a good tactic to use.

There are two types of enemy in the game - your average run-of-the-mill soldier, and the feared SS troopers. Regular soldiers are naturally easier to take out whilst SS soldiers, in addition to being generally harder, can and will pursue you from one room to another. This throws up a minor flaw in the game - surrendered SS soldiers will still follow you about, which is disconcerting to say the least!

There are five levels in total, and you can only move from one to another by means of the appropriate staircase, randomly located on each floor. Finding the staircase can be a frustrating experience, especially given the fact there is no map to help you out - the only directional aid you have is your memory. There are five levels in total, with the difficulty increasing accordingly. Once you've found the plans (located in a random chest), you have to fight your way through level five in order to escape. All I can say is, good luck! You'll be needing it...

In terms of presentation, the game is good, if nothing special. Graphics are roughly equivalent to that of an average NES game, for example. Animation is basic but adequate, as are the sound effects which I found quickly became repetitive. The in-game AI is very solid for the most part - enemies react as you would expect them to do, with guards making a beeline for you as soon as they spot you. Likewise, the route-finding algorithms for moving your character are, for the most part, excellent.

In terms of gameplay, if you're a fan of Rogue-style games, I guarantee that you'll like Escape from Nazi Mountain. Obviously, if you're a fan of the original Castle Wolfenstein, then there's no reason why you shouldn't love this game! It's a fairly unique and individual gameplay style, mixing action with adventure, shooting with strategy, and provides some great moments of suspense and action. The one major question mark over the gameplay is its repetitive nature - there's not much in the way of variation, so the game's lifespan is in question. On the positive side, each new game brings a totally new, random base layout. It's also worth noting that the game has been programmed to run in landscape mode, which makes for a pleasant change. A really neat touch is that you can even flip the screen horizontally to accommodate left-handed users.

The main quibble I have with the game is its asking price. At the time of writing, it was set at $25 which, considering the number of free games and emulators available, seems a little high - this is the main reason why the rating below isn't higher. Nevertheless, Escape from Nazi Mountain has gameplay in abundance and is an enjoyable little game.

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