Predator Longplay (Amiga) [QHD]

Game Info
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Developer: Source Software
Publisher: Activision
Year of Release: 1989

Game Review & Impressions
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13 years ago, I subjected myself to playing through what is arguably one of the worst video game adaptations of a movie ever created. The C64 version of Predator is painfully slow, sluggish, incomplete shambles of a game, with the PAL version rendered unbeatable due to omission of a functioning log trap to beat the titular Predator. Over a decade later, I figured I'd finally built up sufficient courage to tackle the Amiga port. It surely couldn't be any worse than the original C64 game, could it?

The short answer to that question is "no", it's not any worse, but it is equally as bad. The 68000 CPU, Copper, extra memory and graphics capabilities of the Amiga made precious little difference to this absolutely dumpster fire of a game, simply because the game design is absolutely identical to the C64. The player assumes the role of Major Alan "Dutch" Schaeffer, the solve surviving member of an elite special operations unit sent on a rescue mission into the heart of the hellish jungles of South America, taking out local guerrilla forces, whilst discovering the grisly fate of his fallen comrades.

Understandably, the designers needed to take liberties with the original movie script to make the plot fit within the mechanics of a video game from this era, but the execution is lamentably poor. Enemy soldiers open fire before you can even see them, whittling down your limited health bar in seconds, filling the screen with bullets that you can barely see, let alone avoid. The various guns you can collect from your fallen comrades are all functionally identical, with no defining characteristics, other than a different graphic displayed at the top of the screen. Hand grenades are of little to no use, given their explosion radius is laughably small, and getting close enough to an enemy to even land a successful hit is pretty much suicide. Running out of ammunition during the first three levels means you might as well restart the game from scratch, because getting close enough to melee enemies is equally pointless.

As for the Predator, it looks as laughably poor as it did on the C64. The blocky brown splodge of a sprite is replaced with an ash grey version, which looks even worse. It looks absolutely nothing like the iconic alien hunter from the film, with it's featureless dome head and grey skin making it more like the Xenomorph from the Alien franchise than a fearsome Yauja warrior. As with the Commodore 64 version, bullets and grenades have absolutely no effect, so you're forced to drop your gun and punch it in the face until it decided to wander off. It's impossible not to take damage during these sections, so your only hope of beating the game is to make sure you don't lose any of your lives before the final confrontation.

Speaking of which, the Amiga version does at least feature a working log trap, although you'd be forgiven for missing it, given the graphics for the pulley and log look like just another part of the background scenery. You need to stand in precisely the right spot to raise the log, then time your pulls so when the log is fully raised, it comes crashing down on the Predator's head. You only have a limited number of chances to master the timing before you run out of lives and the game ends.

So there we have it. The Amiga version sucks just as badly as the C64, which is probably a worse state of affairs, given the superior capabilities of the platform. The only redeeming feature here is the music during the title sequence, which is quite atmospheric, but it in no way redeems this awful adaptation of what is one of the greatest 80s sci-fi action movies of all time.

Related Longplays & Videos
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Predator Longplay (C64):    • Predator Longplay (C64) [50 FPS]  

Chapters
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00:00 Intro music
02:50 Stage 1
06:53 Stage 2
10:11 Stage 3
13:21 Stage 4
15:40 Ending