February 5, 2015

The C.H.A.O.S. Continuum

Dash Digital, 1993


I have to say that The C.H.A.O.S. Continuum was my very first Windows based game, because up until that very point I'd been playing only DOS games on my computer (well, I don't really count minesweeper and solitaire as games). The game's very opening sequence did leave an exuberant impression on me and I still think it's a good one. I was actually quite surprise to see that the game requires more then 256 colors. After the impressive start the game is on the way. Unfortunately it's not as good as one would have hoped for. The thing is, it all looks really beautiful, but has no gameplay whatsoever! I mean, all you have to do, is to follow the flashing buttons and press them at the right time. It's like you'd be playing a guided version of the game, so you can't really fail!

You control some sort of a robot and have landed on the Titan colony. It's a colony on the Saturn's moon Titan. It was the first colony built by C.H.A.O.S. (Cybergenetic Holistic Autonomous Orbiting Server). The C.H.A.O.S. is a powerful tool for colonizing new and unfriendly places through the universe. But something has gone wrong. The Titan colony has the best research facilities this side of the Milky Way, but one of their top nudge scientists is missing. There's also a problem with the C.H.A.O.S., which became a bit too autonomous for most people tastes. Now, it's up to you to save the solar system. Can you do it? Can you press the right button at the right moment while enjoying a really great looking and sounding game? I mean this game is a real definition for something that's hollow and empty, but has a marvelous facade around it (with nothing to hold it).