Guy Spy and the Crystals of Armageddon. (computer adventure game) (Software Review) (Evaluation)
by David Sears

As if the world needs another threat, despicable Baron Von Max lacks only the elusive Crystals of Armageddon to power his doomsday device. The worst fears of pulp heroes could come true unless Guy--the spy who never sleeps--can shoot and slug his way through a series of adventure vignettes to beat the evil baron to the punch.

You'll immediately recognize the visual similarities between Guy Spy and the Crystals of Armageddon and Dragon's Lair. Knowing a good thing when it has one, Readysoft has pursued the interactive movie approach to gaming for some time now, and Guy Spy, while more or less as linear as its predecessors, offers much more action within each of its constituent episodes. At the Berlin train station, for example, Guy must dodge bullets and fire his own--arcade style. A life meter gauges his proximity to death, and when it comes, Guy reappears to blithely try again. That's a far cry from the make-one-mistake-and-you've-lost-a-quarter mentality of the original Dragon's Lair.

Guy's travels also bring him face to face with an animate mummy and take him on ski runs down grenade-pocked slopes, headlong into bar brawls, and, finally, to the Doomsday Tower for a vicious altercation with Von Max. Multiple backdrops and ample animation make these excursions into serial verite a cartoonish pleasure; the engaging action renders this less an exercise in memorization than a playable game. Of course, to make Guy Spy more playable still, the designers might rethink the interface for the next installment--some system of movement allowing for simultaneous attacks would act as proof positive of Guy's superspy status.

For now, Guy Spy will capture the interest of anyone not already exhausted by other Readysoft adventures, and it stands well above the company's earlier efforts. Scads more fun than secret ciphers and far more heroic than selling atomic secrets, Guy Spy and the Crystals of Armageddon could give espionage a good name.