Seeing as Lester has done the screens, and Markie has done the sprites and page layout (from what we saw)... thought I might as well start on the reviews with this game. Especially as it's my favourite Jeff creation. Anyhow I had fun writing this, so I hope you have fun reading this. Comments etc as usual, but hopefully good enough to be used on the new Llamasoft Archive site...
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Poor old Cippy. First time we saw him, he was being shot to pieces by flying sheep on Sothis B. Though we do have to question the sanity and the rationality of the species. Upon escaping Zzyaxian control, not only do they ally themselves with the people who were trying to kill them (real smart), they then agree to do a suicide mission to destroy a weapons base because they are the only creatures able to resist the mind-control security (even smarter!). A death wish or is the Ancipital part lemming?
Two things of note are readily identifiable upon loading the game. That is assuming you could actually load the damn thing at the time. Did you buy Ancipital on tape? Could you get it working properly? If so, I'd really like to hear! Three bloody copies from the shop, could any of them survive being put through the datasette ringer? Screech, screech, screech went the fast loader and all the pretty colours appeared on screen and then... eeeeeeeeeeeee, as it crashed whilst loading. Over and over again. It still remains the only original (non copied) tape I can't load and I've got over 750 of the buggers at home. I had to resort to buying Yak's Progress and then, finally, shouts of joys, was able to play the game at last.
Anyone who has bought a Nintendo product in say, oooo the last 10-15 years will know almost all of them come with a little warning pamphlet about the dangers of epilepsy. If this was a Nintendo product back in 1984, they'd have to print it out in big letters so everyone could see and get the message. At least Jeff got around any potential lawsuits over the stroboscopics used by telling people to turn them off if they hurt the eyes. Nice one there Jeff... you ever done that staring trick at an object and then turned away and could still see it there, as a ghost image in front of you? This would last for minutes upon end with parts of Ancipital after a good session on the game. Who says Jeff couldn't push boundaries on all fronts?
Secondly there's the fact there's no music. Nada, zilch, none, bugger all, nothing. In its place we have what Jeff called the "Phil Collins simulator". Thankfully this doesn't mean the tired warblings of a balding once great band member, but rather a eloquent random drum machine. The strange thing about it is that it actually works in the context of the game. Heavy beats, driving you on amidst the loud effects trademark to Jeff's games, it all becomes hypnotic and gets you into the rhythm of shoot, avoid, jump, bounce, crash and shoot some more.
As for the actual gameplay itself, it's major league shit time that the creatures have gotten themselves into here. One hundred rooms, aligned in a 10x10 grid, need to be cleared by whatever means possible. A room is cleared when at least one exit is opened within the room, the exits become active after a certain time period and then good old Cippy takes the short dive into one. Quite often this involves shooting shit at shit and making it "damage" the walls in question to reveal the exits, but sometimes more taxing and intricate ways are needed. Jeff managed to find memory space to put a hint message in for each room should you get stuck. And trust me, you will.
Coupled with this is that the Ancipital is a nimble fellow and can jump, rotate and land on any of the four walls of a room. Needless to say, this is about the first skill that needs to be learnt, otherwise the poor horned beasties will die from going splat sidewards into the opposite brickwork when they jump. They seem to be allergic to it in general as merely walking into the edges kills them also.
And there are plenty of things in the base that can kill Cippy. It is almost as if the entire contents of Jeff's brain has been dumped into visual form and is out to get you. Paranoid Ancipitals? They'd better be. Rizlas, splifs, hippies, CND symbols, animals, fruit, computer media; you name it, it's probably there waiting to kill you. Plus they will behave differently depending on what room Cippy is in, so no predictability there either.
Anyone collating the number of "Minter you cunt!" moments within the game won't be disappointed. First up would have to be Rory the savage guinea pig. Not a wise idea usually to direct any fire towards him otherwise you'll get plenty of unwanted attention. And then there are the camel keys and magic goats, the former required to open new parts of the maze, and the latter giving you the ability to open walls just by jumping on them. Collecting all of them is required to complete the game 100%. Unfortunately if you leave the room or die before getting one, it disappears. Gone, vanished forever and with it said hopes of finishing the game. Needless to say the first time you discover this fact... well you get the picture.
Amidst all this chaos is the truth that Ancipital is a pure, addictive blast. It looks hard, it sounds hard, it plays hard. It is part homage to Robotron (not Hilage!) in arcade adventure form. It will kick your arse so hard it hurts at times, and yet you will still go back to it and curse, swear and promise that you will do better next time to overcome the terrible, warped, fiendish room you died on and progress beyond. That is a measure of what a class game should be, that for all that stands in your way, you still wish to continue playing.
What is Ancipital? You have to see it for yourself...
Ancipital review
Ancipital review
Lie with passion and be forever damned...
Xbox: Mayhem64
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Re: Ancipital review
Well done Matt! 
PVB hat on now.
Typo:
PVB hat on now.
Typo:
Mayhem wrote:Thankfully this doesn't mean the tired warblings of a balding once great band member, but rather a eloquent random drum machine.
There is a specific section for them.
sounds like a good call to me chap.