Shootout at the OK Galaxy  (1982 - AH)
Platform: Commodore 64
Gametype: Undefined
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With billions of defenseless Federation citizens behind you and a horde of barbarian starships in front of you, Patrol Zone O/K 2.7345-9.02 is your OK Corral. Instead of a Colt 45 Peacemaker, your weapon is the FSS Demona, perhaps the best starship in the depleted Federation fleet.

The Demona has shields, hyperspace drive, and deadly lasers which can blast a barbarian raider out of existence with a single shot. Their hits, by contrast, will just scratch her shields, which you can easily reinforce with more energy. Energy is the catch, though. Every shot and hyperspace jump consumes an appreciable amount, while life support drains the ship as steadily as a clock ticks. More than their lasers, the barbarians' maneuverability is their deadliest weapon. Get a little too eager with your rapid-fire lasers and you'll have nothing left for that pesky life support system. Take too long to destroy all the enemies in your patrol zone, and they'll slip through to lay waste to the Federation's most populous planets.

A single supply ship exists, which you can visit as often as you need. Just make sure you don't run out of gas getting there or lining up with its fuel pod. Hyperspace jumps also take a certain deftness. While dogfights within a sector range across unlimited three-dimensional space, hyperspace is flat and there'll be no jumping with the Demona's nose pointing off the galactic plane. Heading and azimuth are on the main screen, which is dominated by a view of the starry void, complete with crosshairs. When you do jump successfully, those stars disappear, then slowly expand from a thin, horizontal line as you enter the new sector. Energy, shields, and sensor readings are packed into the main screen, too. Separately, a map is available showing enemy presence in the sectors you have scanned, along with the location of that vital supply ship.

Dogfights rest on interpreting the trajectory of the barbarian raiders in order to draw them into your crosshairs and meet them there with a slightly anticipatory laser blast. Fifteen levels of difficulty are available; at higher levels an occasional second raider in the sector can make their shots a genuine hazard. Nonetheless, the primary challenge of higher difficulty is life support's rate of energy consumption. With the energy level ticking down faster, each dogfight becomes a race to target the enemy raider and return to the supply ship while there's still air in your lungs.

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Description from the packaging:

TO: Darien, Captain FSS Demona FROM: Federation Fleet Command, Terra You are hereby ordered to relieve FSS Vengora in Patrol Zone Standard operating vigilance will apply. AUTHORIZATION CODE DELTA SEVEN Admiral Shaillen Balic, commanding FFC
FST 3259-110314

"I was not surprised to be ordered in to relieve the Vengora. In the twelve years since those blasted politicians decided that the Federation doesn't need a real fleet after all the High Command has bounced the Demona all along the border to handle the real trouble spots. Don't get me wrong. Vengora is a good ship but she ain't the Demona and Grasini isn't me. A serious attack and they'd both be space dust."

"That was the last time I talked to Darien before he warped out. He's gonna have his hands full, going to the O/K zone is always tough, real tough! But going there on a Delta Seven, damn."
Now, in SHOOTOUT (at the ok galaxy), you are the Captain of the Federation Starship Demona, the pride of the Federation. In the O/K patrol zone it is kill or be killed and those barbarians can make it be killed as often as not.

At the helm of your starship, you will scour your patrol zone finding and destroying enemy raiders that outnumber you at least twenty to one. You are the only line of defense. You are all that stands between the ravening barbarian armada and the defenseless planets of the Federation. By your success, or failure, you will decide the fate of BILLIONS of innocent citizens of the Federation. If even one barbarian vessel eludes you, these defenseless innocents will pay the price of your failure.

SHOOTOUT (at the ok galaxy) is a fast paced game that features state of the art graphics, hair trigger ship control and the ultimate in precision starship control.

Beyond the fine systems that make up this game, SHOOTOUT (at the ok galaxy) allows you to select the danger level of the situation from FIFTEEN increasingly difficult levels. Your skill will never outgrow the challenges that this game presents for as your skill increases there is always a higher level of danger that will test your ability.

For the best in solitaire galactic conflict, SHOOTOUT (at the OK galaxy) is the game for you. Yet another fine game from the craftsmen at Microcomputer Games and Avalon Hill.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/shootout-at-the-ok-galaxy
