RABID TVophiles may recall a weary rice-opera which used to pop up occasionally on BBC2 going by the name of The Water Margin. If you don't, it doesn't matter - actually, even if you do it doesn't matter - all I wish to allude to is a section of monologue which used to appear at the beginning of the show, and which went something like this:
"Do not despise the snake because he has no horns, for who say nay he will not turn into a dragon. So may one just man become an army..."
There in essence you have the plot of Onslaught. No, nothing to do with snakes and dragons, but the bit about one man becoming an army. For in the land of Gargore there is a mean son of a tank whose strength is of 10 and whose ambitions include travelling the world and meeting people, shortly before he cuts them up into little pieces and stamps on them.
This land is no sceptred isle of kings. It is strewn with the countless dead (and undead) of a thousand sieges. The only way to bring peace and harmony to the blighted soil is to kill everyone. Ho hum - what must be done must, I suppose, be done.
Strategy is the first element of the game. Upon first embarking to his duty the player is confronted by a 16 x 16 grid of the land. He may then elect to invade territories neighbouring his own. The indigenous troops come in several flavours, from bog-standard hill-men with clubs through board-
There are 14 types of tribe in all, each with their own peculiar characteristics and preferred strategies.
Enough of all this strategy prattle though, all you have to do is follow the worms to the field of dishonour and wade in gore. Destroying everything that comes your way is not always the best policy. You can kill 50 to the right of you and 50 to the left and not think it too many, but unless you advance pronto on the enemy banner you will be awash with wave upon wave of demented avengers.
Once the enemy standard has been captured, it's off to lay siege to their castle. This is much the same as before but with a nicer backdrop. Finally we come to mind control. This is where you take on a thing with lots of arms throwing stuff at you. Easily the most forgettable part of the game.
If the enemy should capture your banner first, you must go back a stage until either you have won or one side is vanquished. Talismans picked up in combat can be used to flit across the less accessible terrain in order to broaden the range of combat. Occasional crusades and plagues may result in loss of territory, but these things usually pass.
The land may be edited to your own design, to make it easier I suggest. Of course, this means that you can also save your current character - up to 10 on the disc. Throughout are strewn Hewson-
Another Hewson game with ingrained excellence.