Game Review: The Captive (Commodore 64, Mastertronic)

The loading screen to The Captive seems to have you held prisoner somewhere, which of course is a nod to Nigel Johnstone’s nickname he used for this and Spooks – written by “Prisoner.”  The plot on the inlay explains that you have wandered around and found yourself lost in the Glen of Coloured Corpses, and will need to find a way to freedom.  There is a castle in the distance, which could hold the key, and indeed there are also Messengers of Doom to avoid along the way.  You also, it says, notice strange objects which used correctly could be used in your bid to escape freedom.

Command and Conquer the Castle

As with Spooks, the controls for the time are worth mentioning, as certainly they were a very early occurrence of being able to use the joystick entirely, or keyboard, to carry out the commands.  You can wander around with the joystick, and press fire to bring up the command menu.  There are less commands here than in Spooks, but notably a few of these are different, such as the option for abilities, and the stop using command.  The latter is primarily because some objects can be used whilst on the go, and you would need to stop that if another command needed to be executed later.  It was still quite new and innovative for this time, and shows thought going in to the gam design and gameplay too.

Sorcerer’s Splitting Ears

As the game loads, the loading screen by Jim Wilson resembles the game’s cover, with you holding your hands on to the iron bars being held captive.  When the game loads and shows the title screen and credits, along with some of the game map, there is a dreadful version of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice that plays.  It not only sounds out of key, but also out of tune as well and will have you reaching the volume control in next to no time.  It also plays a two-channel version in game, which you can thankfully turn off with the O key and just have the sound effects instead, which does allow you to concentrate on the game a fair bit more.

Don’t Shoot the Messengers

When you start the game, you are placed within a maze-like layout, with small buildings around you and some trees and forestry beyond.  You will also as you scroll around spot the Messengers of Doom.  These come and go as they please, but generally sail across the screen, and although are annoying when you scroll up and hit one by accident, with one hit being instant death and game over, they can be avoided a lot easier than the ghosts in Spooks, making it at a little easier to get into.  The screen is laid out differently, with the top half showing the game area and maze, the bottom left having any scrolls, items or actions displayed as needed, and the right-hand side has the commands to be used when you press fire, and the inventory and energy status when not.  As with Spooks, you can carry up to three objects at a time.

Food, Glorious Food

The energy does decrease at quite a quick rate, and it transpires this is because you have the plague.  Thankfully there are food items placed close by to your start location, so you can pick them up and use them to eat food and top up your energy by 5,000 units.  There seemed to be no upper limit either, so you can pick up and use as you find them and build up that energy to wander around the map and get further.   There is also a blue key and a green key quite close by which will allow you to pass by doors and gates of the same colour, allowing further exploration as you need.  Ultimately, you do need to find the castle and escape, and the key lies in some of the objects which are split in half.

Secrets of the Scrolls

Throughout the map are either whole scrolls, or parts of scrolls.  In terms of the two halves of a scroll you will need to pick them up and use them – and the combination shows at the bottom left of the screen.  Some of them will have a message and become a certificate, so for example you can swim, or you can fly a helicopter, or shoot a gun.  The key is you will need to find something so you can enter your name on the scroll.  Once entered, this becomes an ability which you can use, so if you have the swimming one, you can swim across the water to one destination.  If you have the licence for a gun, you can shoot bullets if you have that in your possession, because you have said licence.

Chopper Command

The helicopter proves to be one of the key items in the game for getting far.  Once you have found both halves, and combine them and have the appropriate licence, you can use the helicopter to fly around the map to locations as you need to.  Interestingly, one of the halves seemed to be beyond a wall where you needed to solve a mathematical puzzle on the wall itself to open a door.  For that, you need to find and use the calculator so you can enter the answer to the puzzle.  As you can tell, maybe a little obscure in places, but nonetheless it is well laid out in terms of its structure and once you get the hang of it, does work well.

A Plague Upon Your Houses

Once you have the helicopter, flying to the castle and the graveyard is key if you need to find the cure to the plague.  Just how you find that is up to you, but it did prove interesting to work out what needed to be done.  It is also worth noting too that with each game, some of the starting objects are placed in different locations each time, so it is not just about remembering all the locations necessarily, but more about what combination of those objects you may need to combine, such as the two correct matching halves of the scroll, or finding the food to eat to ward off an early death due to low energy, and all of what whilst keeping your eyes out for those pesky Messengers of Doom at the same time.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in The Captive are somewhat basic, but serve their job, with the trees, buildings, water, and the castle at least having some definition and splashes of colour.  The scrolling is a little less smooth than it should be and with a narrow but wide play area to scroll in does mean you can sometimes walk up or down and without realising, crash into one of the Messengers of Doom.  The status displays are laid out, and the abilities section does at least give you a count of what you have at any one time, whether a licence to fly or one to swim.  The music is dreadful as already mentioned, and although the sound effects are functional and do work, you will want to play this with the sound firmly off due to the fact the title music comes back into play at the end of each game and hurts your ears, badly!

Final Thoughts

The Captive, although in looks being slightly different to Spooks, does share similar gameplay elements, with the commands being joystick as well as keyboard driven to be able to do the functions needed.  That alone is worthy of praise, but the puzzles here although obscure do seem well thought out, and once you get the hang of one scroll being combined and completing the necessary message, it does allow for further exploration and progress.  The sensible placement of items to prevent an early death is good and welcome design, and shows good thought has gone into the gameplay.  You may prefer this to Spooks, or the other way around, but despite its horrific music, the game here does play well enough and is worthy of consideration if you have the time and patience.

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