Arcade / Arcade - Miscellaneous · 1983
Orc Attack
Published by Creative Sparks
atarimania.com — atari-400-800-xl-xe-games-orc-attack-8599
Information
- Genre
- Arcade - Miscellaneous
- Language
- Machine Language
- Controls
- Joystick
- Players
- 1
- Programmer(s)
- Lock, Dean M.
- Year
- 1983
- Publisher
- Creative Sparks
- Country
- United Kingdom
- License
- Commercial
- Medium
- Cartridge
- Rarity
- 7
Votes / Statistics
Rating: 7.7/10 · Votes: 44 · Downloads: 1,940 · Hits: 9,591
Screenshots (2)
Cover Art (2)
Book / Magazine Reviews (1)
Electronic Games · January, 1984
The well-drawn defender zips back and forth across the top of the screen on the battlements in response to the joystick. He moves at a fairly rapid pace, however, so that it is necessary to press and hold the action button to slow him down enough to make accurate aiming of missiles directed at the orcs possible. Before the player's onscreen character can do anything to deter the advancing army, he must get a weapon by visiting the caches located at the extreme left and right edges of the display. Once armed with a rock - the usual weapon - he can drop it on the ladder-climbing orcs below, slowing their progress up the wall. Since there are many orcs and only one defender, the player must rush hither and yon, making splitsecond strategic decisions on the fly and not forgetting to watch out for sneaky ninja orcs which don't even need ladders to climb the wall.
If the orcs do get a ladder built that carries one to the battlements, the program automatically gives the defender a sword instead of a rock the next time he rearms. As the orc tries to stab the defender with a dagger, the player's man can swipe at the loathsome creature with the sword. Pulling the handle straight toward the arcader causes the defender to make an especially strong cut with the blade. Too many of these tiring strokes weaken your man, so they must be used with some restraint.
The burning oil is a clever device used to end each wave of attack. When an oil flash appears, dropping it on the attackers causes them to burn up entirely, clearing the way for another assault at a more challenging level of difficulty. And when even those crossbow-firing savages fail to strike terror in the player's heart, look out for the spell-casting wizard, repulsive stone warts, and the demon trolls which appear in a tower of flame.
Orc Attack's greatest strengths are its clever graphics, distinctive playaction and entertaining premise. It can also be a tiring game, one that most home arcaders will not want to test their mettle against too many times in a row. It's great fun to play as a change-of-pace from other, more standard action games, though, and strongly recommended to Atari computer-owners for that reason.
Comments (4)
Monk — 12 Jun 2015
Orc Attack is one of those cases, where Atari shows its brilliance, in comparison to the other versions of the game. The C64 version is not too bad, but it is like a somewhat stripped and dulled-down version of the game. Playable, and fun for awhile, but feels like something is missing. The Atari version has it all - GREAT flame-effect (The flame you drop looks good when it falls, and then bursts into waves of fire in an awesome and satisfying fashion, it's so wünderfyl!) compared to the pathetic C64 attempt (the ugly and darkly colored, small piece of crap slowly crawls towards the bottom of the screen, where some dark goo seems to lazily spread, yawn), the Wizard looks cool and is actually animated, dropping bombs on those skulls remind me of old Atari 2600 games, like Crackpot and Kaboom!, and the sound effects are so 'video game perfect' that one couldn't ask for better ones. Playing this on Atari 800 XL, and then immediately playing the C64 version on a C64C (no emulators for me when it comes to Atari 800 (etc.) and C64, unless I can't get something to run on the real machine) makes the player realize that something is definitely not right with the C64 version. Something is a bit 'off' about the playability and speeds, and perhaps even the difficulty curve. But the worst offense is the awful C64-wizard - what, now he shows his face? He has a black, ugly coat, and he just stands in a pose, shooting black crap at you, so you don't get to experience the 'Crackpot' simulation? He looks so ridiculous, his pose is so stupid, and he stands in a weird place - a bit too right to be on the 'side' of the screen, like the Atari's Wizard so immersively conjured his spells, and his clothes are just black and ugly. What the heck went wrong with the C64 version? This shows you that the original is often the best, and the conversions, clones and copies play a second fiddle. Contrast between these two versions are at least as big as the contrast between the C64 version and the Amiga version (which is not official, of course, but it was my first exposition to this game). Speaking of the Amiga version, which is gory and all that, I don't think it comes close to the Atari version's perfect playability. As for the sound effects, the C64 effects are good, but the Atari sound effects really shine. This is one game that is so clearly better than the C64 version (and the Amiga version), that there can't even be any debate about it - I completely and utterly recognize the glory of this Atari version. And anyone that honestly conducts the same experiment I did, is forced to do also, by their own sincerity and the truth itself. A great classic! Only after playing the Atari version, do I fully understand the goodness of this game. Atari's red looks really good compared to the C64's red, by the way, when you look it side by side - at least with this game.
lotek style — 7 Apr 2010
Rocks like hell!
kerem — 13 Nov 2009
3 joystick died.Outstanding...:)
Muffy St. Bernard — 15 Jul 2007
So much carnage! So much fun! To fine-tune your aim, hold down the button while moving, then release the button to drop your rock.