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This is the very first Arabian computer game at least for the IBM PC, and perhaps - as in general. It was created by the Syrian Radwan Kasmiya - at that time a young programming enthusiast, and just a few years later - the director of the Afkar Media company founded by him and in fact a key figure in the entire national game industry that was born at that time. Since in those days, as many people probably remember, the Internet was not really widespread even in the West, not to mention the “third world,” this thing spread through “floppinet” in friendly circles (of course, for free), but it soon gained popularity and fame in the homeland and in other Arab states. In the West, they supposedly found out about her in 2012 - from the wonderful book "Video Games Around The World", subsequently reprinted, and then from an interview with the author translated into English, where, in particular, he said that when creating his first work he was inspired by the famous river Raid. Unfortunately, only a tiny one-level demo version is available here - this is all that the author has preserved. As the name implies, formally this thing is dedicated to the tragic events in the Middle East that took place in October 1973 and later received the name "Doomsday War"; at the same time, in fact, no “plot”, most likely, was not supposed even in the full version, and if it were not for the flags of the opposing side, depicted on some objects, then not the slightest attachment to real history is observed here. It's more or less a classic shoot 'em up; under our control is a conditional combat fighter. Perspective of the review - top view; the movement is automatic, but with the possibility of "moving away" to the sides, as well as acceleration and a small "reverse". There are only three "Lives" (their number is not indicated anywhere on the screen and is calculated empirically); there is also some “margin of safety” within each of them, expressed as a small yellow decreasing scale in the upper left of the screen. In the case of death and the presence of "attempts", rebirth occurs instantly at the same point (and they can easily knock us out again). Unfortunately, no bonuses are provided. Shooting by pressing "Ctrl"; only one attack method is available to us (by abstract "charges". Enemies are represented by all kinds of equipment: these are tanks (only they move from ground types in this game), stationary anti-aircraft machine-gun mounts (only at the very beginning), anti-aircraft guns in bunkers (individually not very dangerous, but in one place there are them a large cluster, and there the fire is truly heavy), cannon-missile systems, as well as extremely dangerous "self-propelled guns" (though, here, as was already indirectly noted, static), firing homing missiles; it’s quite possible to bring down these “charges”, as well as to avoid them, if by means of maneuvers to get these objects out of the visible space - at the same time, they, unlike all other “dangers”, are capable of purposefully pursuing and overtaking us. It is also necessary to meet with enemy planes - small squadrons that behave very passively (one of them will most likely have to be destroyed - and the other, immediately following it, can really fly around from the side). The concentration of the enemy on the ground in the conditional "first" part of the level is quite high, so "killing them all" - given the inability to stop or turn back - is problematic; then the amount of equipment drops sharply. The ultimate goal of the level is to destroy the enemy radar station; separately about this, again, is not reported anywhere. In order to complicate the task, equipment is installed on both sides of the base where it is located - and due to the features noted earlier, most likely, only one of its two clusters will be completely eliminated; shelling the building, thus, almost certainly will be under fire. If we achieve success and still survive, then there is an automatic exit to the main menu; alas, the duration of the entire action described above is extremely short and amounts to only about one minute of real time. However, you shouldn’t be completely upset: the level of difficulty is not the lowest, so it’s unlikely that experienced arcade lovers can win the first time, - especially since enemy units often notice us even before we see them; in practice, this leads to the fact that the same missile can be dangerously close to us (and it flies at high speed) instantly and completely unexpectedly. There is only one way out - the “trial and error method”: you need to remember the location of the equipment (it is the same every time you start), competently maneuver (and ideally, gradually build the optimal travel route) and, if possible, attack at least the most dangerous enemies in advance, so how to hit the "invisible" targets here is quite realistic, if you imagine where they are. After some training, you can reach the base with the radar with a full supply of "lives" and almost (or even completely) without damage. that the same missile can be dangerously close to us (and it flies at high speed) instantly and completely unexpectedly. |
