Citadel

STORY / GAMEPLAY
Inmates in a death-row from other space colonies were transferred to a base called Citadel and were used as subjects in a new kind of bio-research involving many dangerous experiments. But as communications with the Earth ceased, it is decided that you should set off to find out what happened. Inside Citadel things look pretty horrible already, with dismembered bodies hanging from the rafters and nasty sharp-toothed baddies thirsty for your blood! Your mission is to destroy the Citadel and its alien monsters and make your exit to freedom. Citadel can only be destroyed by detonating a huge bomb split into six different pieces that you'll need to find. The mission is not easy. As usual, apart from dealing with enemies, you will also have to solve puzzles that include finding the right magnetic cards to open doors, move walls, blockades and various teleports. The enemies are of different intelligence, so creating fighting tactics is also possible. Although the game starts weaponless, you will find a good selection of weapons to collect, ranging from a standard gun to a flame-thrower, rocket launcher and a machine gun. Fortunately, first-aid kits are also available and can be found in rooms and corridors. There is also a detail that needs some attention: Every time you touch a wall, bang onto a corpse or other obstacle, you'll lose some of your life energy!
Citadel is a good game on its own right, so there's no need to compare it to any Doom-clone game for the Amiga released before it (Gloom, Fears or Alien Breed 3). Continual disk-swapping is also another issue, but it's a common Amiga "habit" back in the days. Citadel does nothing to enhance the gameplay compared to the other Amiga FPS titles, but it surely is a good effort and deserves a try, especially if you own a fast 68K processor Amiga (A1200, A4000 or an accelerated A500/600/3000 etc). The fun in those games lies in the use of the FP perspective, the pace of the gameplay, the credibility of the plot and the execution of the control system mechanics. Citadel offers all the aforementioned with success though it has its own glitches.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The game's graphics are good, based on a real-time rendered 3D environment and it is obvious that a great deal of care and attention has been taken over them. The game runs pretty well, even on the standard Amiga but only if you reduce the screen size (you have 5 options to it) and set the visual details to the minimum (there is: max, medium, low). Screen size 5 is the largest possible but the frame rate drops significantly (if max details are selected). Each environment looks great, with a decent amount of details and up to 32 simultaneous colors. Note that the title screen is in HAM mode and performs an image of more than 1000 colors at once! In general, the game is not so smooth set with max details and screen size on the classic A500. A more advanced Amiga like the A1200 will run this in max details and size at around 30fps.
The game's sound effects and music are similarly good and effective. There is a nicely composed and creepy introductory tune plus several sampled sounds that match perfectly to the game's atmosphere (like creepy screams coming out of nowhere, explosions, gunfire and more).