Sentinel Returns |
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Tuesday November 24, 1998 |
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Sentinel Returns |
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Tuesday November 24, 1998 |
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A puzzle game like no other. |
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otherworldy skies exists an irregular landscape. A
landscape of peaks and valleys. This craggy expanse is
governed by an entity known as the Sentinel whose
withering gaze keeps lesser beings in a state of constant
fear. Mortals like you and I hide in the shadows,
dreading the moment when the Sentinel's eyes will descend
on their person. If and when this does occur, the
Sentinel will begin to absorb their life force and will
not end until they are no more. All right, enough of that. This is a puzzle game. It's a remake of a game that first appeared on the PCs back in '88, published by some obscure company named Firebird. The gist of this game is that your life force is contained in a robotic host body that is trapped on a 3D terrain of varying elevation. At the highest point of this terrain, this thing called a Sentinel sits, slowly rotating to survey the landscape beneath him. If you come into the Sentinel's view he'll start sucking the life out of you and you'll die, so you have to stay one step ahead of him as he rotates. The only way to escape from this area is by moving yourself to a higher or equal position to the Sentinel and sucking the life out of him, at which point you proceed to the next level. Because the Sentinel already occupies the very highest point in any given area, the only way to get up to his level is by creating boulders to stand on top of. The creation of boulders requires energy which you don't have much of, so you have to absorb the energy of trees which are scattered here and there, to augment your supply. The challenge in this game stems from the fact that, while you're busy absorbing trees, making boulders and getting on top of them in order to zap the Sentinel,
Looking up, past the trees, at the Sentinel. |
 Looking down from the Sentinel's perch the Sentinel is slowly rotating, getting closer and closer to looking directly at you.You're never quite sure how close he is to looking at you and you don't really have enough time to take a glance over at him to determine this, so you go about your business with this little voice in your head saying, "Is he looking? Is he looking? Come on, move man, you're running out of time. Move!" Seriously, if you already have paranoid tendencies, this game will only exacerbate them. If you play Sentinel Returns for long enough, you'll start looking over your shoulder as you wait for the bus in the morning. It really gets under your skin. Adding to the tension in this game is a creepy soundtrack which was done by John Carpenter. Yep, the same guy who directed and made soundtracks for horror movies like The Fog, They Live! and one of my favorites, The Thing. Graphically, the designers of Sentinel Returns went for a minimalist feel as the environments are pretty sparse. The trees are represented by simple, elongated cones and your robotic host is an ovoid on a pedestal. The graphics aren't really that important in puzzle games as most of the action takes place in your head as you figure things out. However, the question is, is this thing any fun to play? Action gamers should avoid this title as there is very little action. If you're big on puzzle games you might get off on this, but there's no threat of this game unseating Tetris as the king of this genre. In short, if you're looking for a puzzle game to play, you might want to pick up a copy of Sentinel Returns, but everyone else should look elsewhere for entertainment. |
Company: Category: NOTES: Interest:
75% TOTAL : 66% Requirements: Operating
System: Memory: Hard
Drive: Sound
Card: Video:
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