The Living Daylights [Domark]
Shoot'em up in which you control James Bond and make him run through the landscape, while at the same time moving a crosshair to shoot almost invisible enemies hiding behind rocks. The result? I just keep tripping on small stones, getting riddled with bullets, and I was never able once to get past the first level in 30 years, but it doesn't matter because the rest of the levels are just like the first.
1/5
Tie-in of the eponymous 007 movie, the first where Bond was impersonated by Timothy Dalton after Roger Moore. The game follows the plot of the movies rather closely, and is basically a runny-jumpy variation of the old Missile Command: you move Bond making him run and roll to avoid enemies' shots from left to right, and shoot back by moving a crosshair around. From the second level on, you can choose one out of four objects from Q's laboratory at the start of each stage, but only one of them will aid you in your quest. For instance, in the third level the hard hat will protect you from wrenches falling from above.
Despite the simplicity of the gameplay, there is some variety in the game to be found. In level 3 (Industrial Complex), besides avoiding the aforementioned wrenches, you must also avoid the pipes by rolling under them, a feature not seen in any other level. In level 4 (The Mansion) a helicopter flies above the scene - another feature not seen in any other level - and you must get rid of it with the bazooka. Level 5 (The Fairground) is unique: there is only one enemy, the screen does not scroll and you must hit the balloons with the crossbow before they reach you, so that you can in the end dispatch the enemy himself. Level 6 (Tangiers) features gaps to jump over and enemies which must be hit repeatedly in order to go further. Finally, level 8 (Whittaker's House) only features the arch-villain you must kill in order to finish the game.
All of this cannot however hide the fact that TLD is thin on gameplay, rather short once you learn how to negotiate the various levels, and the graphics of both sprites and backgrounds are pretty sketchy - not what you would expect from a major license game. It is just average for a full price title in fact, but I must say that back in the day I found it strangely appealing, and completed it in fact a year after its release. One thing is for sure - it's better than the movie it is based upon. 6.5/10
