by Robert Lewis

Somewhere far away there is a planet that has been taken over by hostile forces. No matter what the citizens and armies did to thwart off the attackers, the end results were always the same. Just when it seemed like all was lost, scientists in a hidden space station decide to drop their only prototype of a super soldier onto the enemies below. So with their fingers crossed, the only hope for the planet is placed in an untested soldier with the primary function to bring death from above to this vermin.

Arcade Shoot Out
Death From Above is Chris Dillman’s first venture into creating high impact shoot—’em ups for the Mac. It is a low resolution, side scrolling, shoot and destroy all that is moving game that can really test your reflexes at staying alive. With over 40 different types of creatures to destroy, DFA is sure to keeps you at wits—end as you try to make it through the 16 levels. To aid you in your quest to save the planet, you will have to locate 5 different weapons with enough stopping power to make The Terminator look passive.

Staying Alive
Chris also added many different types of goodies along your path to help you as you try to rescue your planet Some of these can grant you extra lives while others can make you temporarily invincible. As you attempt to move from one level to another, you better keep you eyes open for the different types of weapons available to you. These weapons include tracking missiles, flame throwers, plasma guns, bounce lasers, and blasters. At a recent AOL game chat, Chris also hinted that an Easter Egg could also be found within the game but you will have to use ResEdit to find it.

Getting A Handle On It
Control of your surrogate persona can be done via the keyboard or any programmable joystick or GamePad. As with other games I have looked at, I found the ChoiceStick by Kernel Productions in conjunction with the six button Asciware GamePad or Sega Remote GamePad to be ideal for this genre of game. If you still prefer to use the keyboard, all control keys can be user defined to meet your needs. 

Sights & Sounds
Besides all the action found in DFA, Chris also added a compliment of other features to help enhance the gameplay. First, there is the music. Thirteen “techno soundtrack songs” were created for the different levels with 32 channel sound. Unlike other arcade style games that only use a portion of your screen, DFA gives you full screen with the capability to pixel-double the graphics if your Mac is fast enough. Even though Chris describes the graphics to be low-resolution, I found them to be fairly sharp and well done. 

A Little Green Behind The Ears
Since DFA is Chris’ first venture into the Mac gaming market, one cannot help but expect some type of flaws in the game. Initially, when Chris was developing DFA, he had a full development team. Halfway into its creation, the team fell apart and Chris was left to finish the game on his own. Due to that, a few features that could have made DFA a 4 to 4 1/2 joystick game got either forgotten or left out. One of them (and most important to me) was the skill level. It is a pity that some type of skill level was omitted since some of us (including myself) need some of the action toned down so we can get use to the workings of the game. When you first start the game, the game begins at a wicked pace and may make some people give up before they make any headway into the game. Now it is possible that on slower Macs this pace may diminish to a point that the game is not a killer to begin. 

 Another feature omitted is to be able to save your game. DFA has 16 levels to it and unless you are Yoda, I do not think you are going to beat all the levels in one sitting. It would have been nice if you could save your position each time you finished a level. Sadly, this is another feature that was overlooked. At least a pause was included so that if the phone rings or mother nature calls, you can walk (or run if necessary) away and pick up where you left off. 

Last Words
Overall I found Death From Above to be challenging to play and beat. As I wrote earlier, the action is fast and furious and is sure to keep you busy as you try to save your planet from these intruders. Even with the above weaknesses and if you like a good shoot—’em up, DFA may be right for you. If DFA is any indication of what Chris can do then I can hardly wait to see what he comes up with next.

Pros
• Fast and furious action
• Great soundtrack
• Well done graphics
• 32 channel sound
• Smooth animation
• Multiple weapons
• Over 40 different creature to do battle with
• scrolling is very smooth

Cons
• Not able to save game
• No skill level feature
• Game may be too hard for the novice

Publisher Info
Black Star Software
Created by Plaid World Software
1626 14th Ave South
St. Cloud, MN 56301

http://www.islandnet.com/~voltaire