Into the Eagle's Nest

Into the Eagle's Nest

Game No.	124
Voting	7.24 points, 34 votes
Developer	Andrew Challis
Publisher	Pandora, Mindscape (US), Edicola
Musician	Mirai
HVSC-File	/GAMES/G-L/ Into_the_Eagles_Nest.sid
Release	1987
Platform	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari ST, C64, PC-DOS, ZX Spectrum
Genre	Shoot'em Up, Gauntlet
Gamemode	Single player
Operation
Media
Language
Information	also: Castle Maze The game is indexed.

Description[edit | edit source]

In the fortress "Eagle's Nest" three comrades are held captive. The task of the player is to free them. Furthermore the building needs to be explored and as many stolen treasures as possible need to be found. The main aim of the game is to destroy the fortress. This is reached by activating a detonatorin each floor. Here is is advisable to bring the comrades to safety beforehand. For this you need to escort them to the exit on the first floor. The elevators between the floors can only be used with the help of a keycard that you find in the single floors.

In the game there are eight levels with each special missions. With limited ammunition the player needs to stand his ground against armed guards and always look for supply. Wooden doors can be opened by a shot, for steal doors you need keys. With senseless "shooting around" will not get far. A planned approach is a big advantage in this game. It helps that despite the numerous armed (!) German soldiers in the castle full of ammunition there is not one shot fired at the player. Even better, they queue to die! If you place yourself a bit skillfully, you can defeat one after the other without getting harmed yourself. A bit more effort for the AI would have been good.

Of course there are points for shooting the hostile soldiers, collecting different treasures and - here we have a very questionable feature - the shooting of defenceless, drunken officers that sit at the table and sleep.

Design[edit | edit source]

... the different items ...

... a short animation from the game ...

2D view from above, on the right side there is the info area with the number of keys, ammunition supply, number of hits you took and the points. In the lowerline messages are shown. (e.g. when collecting keys etc.). The music is fast. The controls easy and quick.

The visual field of the player is very limited, only when you reach the edge, the screen will scroll (it is rather a shifting) a bit further. Here it might have helped to make the allowedly nice big sprites a bit smaller, the more so as a careless shot at a box of explosives means "Game Over".

Hints[edit | edit source]

Basic hints[edit | edit source]

Hints by Sledgie, from experience that he has collected durint playing :D

In some boxes there are bombs. These are only activated after touching them and end the game prematurely.
If you only just shoot around you have 'a bad hand'. Here skill and thinking are needed.
Always look for the display of your health and keep in mind where in the fortress the 'medi-packs' are.
When collecting the ammunition do not be to greedy. A maximum of 100 shots are possible, keep the rest back for later.
Do not just shoot onto items, with this you may destroy ammunition, medi packs or else.

Controls[edit | edit source]

To control the game plug the joystick in port 2.

- go up
- go right
- go down
- go left
- you can fire while walking into the corresponding direction

RESTORE - press the keyto abort a game
SPACE - press the key to pause / continue the game

Solution[edit | edit source]

On the site of c64games.de you can download two maps of the fortress. In both of the maps the single floors are shown seperately with the position of keys, ammunition boxes, medi packs etc.

Cheats[edit | edit source]

Pokes:
After the game has loaded, make a reset and then enter the following Basic commands (not tested):

POKE 24651,234

POKE 24652,234

POKE 24653,234

SYS 32784

The version by "Remember" contains next to the manual an a highscore list, that can be saved on disk, also the following cheat modes: Immune against shots, unlimited ammunition, key always available, immune against explosions, adjustable speed of the guards, only one shot necessary for enemies, lift pass available by keystroke, enter lift by keystroke.

Voting[edit | edit source]

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
7.24 points at 34 votes (rank 363). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
C64Games	8	10th August 2007 - "super" 3806 downs
Lemon64	8,1	10th August 2007 - 46 votes
Kultboy.com	7,33	19th July 2009 - 9 votes
Happy Computer	68%	Games special 8/87
ZZap64	90%	Issue 87/05

Reviews[edit | edit source]

Sledgie: "Fast 2D-shooter with strategic elements. The sprites are seen at a view from above, therefore this is noo action shooter game; but rather a bit into the direction of Paradroid. The sound is implemented well. The story is debatable. My overall vote is 9 out of 10 points."

Rockford: "I would rather rank the game close to Gauntlet. To make the mission you need to invest some time. If you then - after two hours of playing - hit a box of explosives by a silly carelessness or an imprecision of the joystick (yes, it is ALWAYS the fault of the joystick!), this can be very, very, veery frustrating. 7 points from me."

Shakermaker303: "Not my cup of tea, but anyway I tried it again and again to reach something in this game. It is quite entertaining and was fun for a certain time. The noises sound fully developed, the graphics are good and the handling is ok. Although this is not really my game environment, I vote 7 out of 10 points for it."

Ludi Purger: "What is there to say about. A simple shooter, with which you have some a good time. Partially, I cannot understand the stir but this should be left to everybody's own discretion. It takes quite a long time to get to the aim and - as my previous speakers already mentioned - this can be very frustrating if you make a mistake just before the end."