Terminal Velocity

17tThink of Terminal Velocity as a combination of X-Wing and Descent. It’s a roller-coaster ride with complete 360-degree freedom of movement, digital sound and the first-person shooter mentality of a Doom clone. It blends elements of flight sims (however loosely) and action into a package that should satisfy people who are fans of both genres. After a quick briefing on the target planet, detailing your mission objectives and all known enemy ships and targets in the area, you’ll jump into the fray with only a dozen or so essential key commands to remember.

Simple, yes — but not as easy as it sounds. On anything but the easiest skill level, the opposition is fierce and thick as flies, often striking when you’re least prepared. Fortunately, you’ll find plenty of weapons and powerups in the debris of vaporized enemies, including the most ass-kicking afterburner you’ve ever seen.

The action is, arguably, basic shoot-’em-up fare, but Terminal Velocity gives us new worlds to conquer that are far from standard. Missions take place on eight planets, one asteroid, an alien ship and in dozens of Descent-style tunnels, offering players more than 400,000 square miles of terrain to fly over and through. The setting for each scenario is varied, with hills and valleys characterizing most, and vast cities populating others. These keep the look of the game fresh, and present new challenges as you progress through the game.

8tFor all its graphic and sonic delights, though, Terminal Velocity’s arcade approach begins to wear thin after a while — especially when you’ve had your fill of bosses that preside over each level. It’s only fortunate that the game provides a multiplayer option, although it’s one that is hard to set-up (hey, we’re talking about 90’s shooters; what did ya expect?). More of a Decent-like action game than flight simulator, Terminal Velocity is still outrageously fun; not entirely original, and a genuine must-have for retro action fans..

System Requirements: 486DX/75MHz, 8MB RAM, 40 MB HDD, DOS 5.0

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