Before you had any siblings, you were, no doubt, nagging your mother to buy

you a home gaming system. That home gaming system would have either been an

Amiga or a NES. Back then, every few months, you would be crying your eyes

out for a new game. One of those new games would have probably been The

Chaos Engine, by the legendary Bitmap Brothers. Unfortunately, neither The

Chaos Engine nor the Amiga is available at your local games shop anymore.

But it is now available on your phone.

The mobile port of The Chaos Engine is, like the original, very much action

oriented. You’re given six mercenaries to choose from, each as ice-cool as

the next. I would be lying if I said it didn’t matter which two mercenaries

you choose. Each wields a different weapon from the other, and also has a

different special ability. I played through the game with the meathead,

Thug, and Preacher, the weedy little nerd one with the healing abilities.

Each mercenary also costs a different amount of cash to hire.

The game itself looks pleasingly gothic. Sounds are convincingly Amiga-like,

while the enemy types are quite interesting. I would like to find someone

else that would think of a giant hand as an enemy. I also was compelled to

replay every level, as each contained a staggering number of secret areas

and items, as well as several different paths.

As you progress through the game, your characters will level up, becoming

faster and stronger. You will also get a visit from the merchant every few

levels, who will offer health, special abilities and extra lives at very

competitive prices. I found this guy very helpful while playing my 2nd of 3

files, with the gentleman, who is by far the slickest of the 6 characters

(and the quickest) but is also depressingly weak.

As mentioned before, the game provides you with 3 save files, which you’ll

probably need, as the game is quite a challenge. The smallest creatures are

able to kill you, while the levels become progressively huge, which may

cause you to get lost, as no map is provided. Some people may also find the

fact that there are plenty of monsters to kill on each level of the 13

levels annoying. On several occasions, I found that my 2nd character,

preacher, died very quickly, which left me with no healing.

All things considered, The Chaos Engine still rocks, even after all these

years in gaming exile. Also, some multiplayer touches would have been a

welcomed addition, however, the game does provide a sufficient challenge,

which will keep you occupied for ages.

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