Project Firestart Longplay (C64) [50 FPS]

Developed by Dynamix and published by Electronic Arts in 1989

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The year is 2061 and agent Jon Hawkins is sent aboard the research ship Prometheus to make contact with a group of scientists who have failed to communicate with Earth. Having docked with the ship, it doesn't take Hawkins long to realise that something has gone terribly wrong - corpses of the crew are strewn about the halls and the ship is infested with hostile mutants. Taking control of Hawkins, it's up to the player to find out what happened, rescue any survivors and warn Earth about the situation.

The game is depicted from a horizontal cutaway of the Prometheus' interior, with Hawkins navigating his way around the ship and exploring the various rooms, corridors and locations on each of the ship's four decks. Certain rooms contain items that must be collected and used to progress the plot, as well as objects that can be interacted with.

Hawkins is armed with a laser rifle with which he can defend himself from the alien foe. The rifle uses an internal battery that provides power for a limited number of shots before expiring - ammunition is extremely limited, so make sure to make every shot count. In fact, fleeing from the creatures might actually be the safer option, particularly when faced with multiple threats in a tight corridor.

If Hawkins sustains injuries whilst fighting with the monsters, it's possible to regain health by using one of the first aid stations located near some of the ships lift shafts. However, as is to be expected, the station can only be used once before it's empty and becomes useless. There is a med-bay located somewhere in the ship that can heal Hawkins as often as required, but running back to patch up will only slow you down in the long-run.

Project Firestart is quite remarkable for a number of reasons, none more so than it might possibly be one of the earliest examples of a game in the 'survival horror' genre. With limited ammunition, enemies that can spring out of anywhere without warning and a generally deep sense of foreboding, the game is surprisingly tense.

The game makes use of cut-scenes at key points to show things happening elsewhere on the ship, lending the game a genuinely cinematic quality more synonymous with a Cinemaware or Origin Systems game on Amiga or PC platforms - it really is quite impressive to see this kind of game on a humble 8-bit.

The game boasts some impressive graphics for the time, eschewing vibrant colours for drab greys and more subtle shades that help create a brooding atmosphere on the ship. Rather than the flashing lights and bright colours of Star Trek, the the aesthetic here is definitely aping the grimy and industrial interior of the Nostromo from Ridley Scott's 1979 masterpiece, 'Alien'.

The game features basic sound, but it's how it uses it that's most important. I particularly liked the way that everything is so quiet until the creatures attack, at which point the game introduces threatening music that refuses to abate until the creatures are dead, or you've fled to safety.

In some ways, it's a shame that the game couldn't be longer than it is. The C64's limited memory and storage capacity would have curtailed just how much content the programmers were able to include in the game - had more been available, who knows how much deeper the game could have been.

As it is, the game is both a tense and exciting experience with sense of style quite unlike anything else on the platform.
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