Web Warp was released by MB in 1983, was coded by Duncan Muirhead
with Bill Hawkings, and designed by Patrick King. This is another
highly original Vectrex game with it's closest ancestor being the
original Tempest arcade release in 1980. Web Warp was also
released by GCE in the U.S. where it is known as 'Web Wars'.
In Web Warp the player pilots the 'Hawk King', an interesting
looking figure which has an attached 'capture rod' which it uses
to capture it's prey which are called 'fantasy creatures'. As the
player manoeuvres the Hawk King down a 3D web-shaped corridor,
the idea is to capture the fantasy creatures with the rod as they
come head-on at you at sometimes blistering speeds.
Once a creature is caught by the Hawk King it is transported
to a trophy room which displays an animated picture of the
captured creature which are insect-like in appearance. 20 such
creatures exist throughout the game and the trophy room is like
the interlude between levels which marks your progression. If a
creature is missed by the player's hawk the 'Cosmic Dragon'
appears who will shoot fireballs so it's a good idea to intercept
each creature early on in the level.
'Drones', which are the deadly guardians of the web, come down
the web and the Hawk King has a blaster to kill them as they ride
up and down the sides of the web. After around 7 creatures are
captured the action becomes quite intense leaving only seconds
and quick reflexes to put your capture rod into action.
Web Warp comes highly recommended and as it was one of the
last commercial games developed for the Vectrex has a graphical
edge over it's predecessors. Web Warp appears on ebay time to
time and goes for around $35.U.S.
Score 8/10
Review written by Daniel Foot
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