Audyssey Magazine Reviews

Audyssey Magazine May 2000.

Top honours for all these reviews goes to David Greenwood's Lonewolf. This is the first ever game to be created for the VIP community that is not turn based. This means that while you are sitting there thinking about whether you should dive to escape the destroyer, or stay on the surface and get off a shot at your target the destroyer and (sometimes) the target keep moving. The destroyer bears down on you and begins firing, and if you don't react you will be sent to the bottom. The game is set in World War II, and you are the captain of a submarine. For some reason you always get these missions that send your sub in alone against sometimes impossible odds. You have to depend on your wits and quick actions to keep your sub moving towards the target. The game comes with 17 missions. The missions start fairly easy and progress up to very difficult. First time players should definitely work through the early missions a few times, increasing the provided difficulty ratings. Realise that you don't have to successfully complete a mission to progress on to the next one. The game is fairly complex at first, and uses about 35% of the keys on the keyboard for all the required tasks. However, the documentation is excellent, and after a few missions players should have no trouble understanding what is necessary. I've put probably 100 hours in to this game, and driving the sub is second nature to me now. So this is my top rated pick ... The best feature of all is that David will be allowing the ability to create new missions, and distribute them to registered owners of the game. At the writing of this article it is expected that these missions will be provided free of charge. … I would encourage teachers to buy Lonewolf, as it teaches graphing, and would be easy to work into a history lesson, and shows the relation between velocity and distance.

- Randy Hammer.

Audyssey Magazine July 2000

This review was written just prior to the release of version 3.0 of Lone Wolf

To get a description of the game please read my review in the previous issue. In this review, I'm going to describe the improvements. Suffice to say that this game will be better than almost anything on the market. The first thing that you will notice in the game is the easier switch between missions. Each mission is described and the user has a choice to accept or decline the mission before it starts. The second thing that will be noticed is the ease of play. The use of Windows sounds allows you to work a lot more quickly. The problems with sound cards is gone. Continuous sounds really are, and they are overlaid with other sounds pertinent to a sub captain. You hear every ship around you, the torpedoes streaking out ahead, and the planes sweeping over. The new soundscape feature gives excellent navigational information. It's actually easy to complete some missions with just the soundscape (no screen reader). Other features include a greatly improved sound delay, a deck cannon, and a mission creator. The sound delay actually works in the Windows version. It is now easy to play the game without having to review the screen. Just set your reader to read highlighted changes and you will have no problems. The deck gun is an excellent weapon when you aren't being pestered by destroyers, aircraft, or other attackers. You even have an advantage with the gun, as it shoots further and with more accuracy than enemy guns. The mission creator may or may not be included in the package. I'm not certain on this point yet, but some will have it. Those who do will be able to create and share new missions for the game. Creating missions is fairly easy, and increases the enjoyment of the game.

- Randy Hammer.

Note: The author of this review had a question whether the Mission Builder would be provided with the game. It is included with Lone Wolf for Windows.