Exile Tribute: The One Amiga magazine review

Here is a review which was published in The One Amiga magazine when the 1995 update for the AGA (A1200) Amiga was released. It refers to the original Amiga version which was re-released by Audiogenic in 1995 to coincide with the update and is quoted here courtesy of Joachim Froholt whom I thank for this.

The One Amiga (May 1995)
Exile
Audiogenic, £14.99
My god! This is good. How on Earth did I manage to miss this first time round? I must have either been mad, asleep, or pretending to be a small town just outside Southport. So anyway, what's all the fuss about? Well, it's a lot like the 'games of olde' we often find ourselves reminiscing about, with elements of the Spectrum crinklies, Jetpac, Rex, and the great Cybernoid all mixed up together. It's basically an arcade exploration game with some nice puzzles thrown in for a good dollop of measure. There's a storyline supplied, but as is the norm on The One, I'd like to take this opportunity to ignore it completely. All you need to know is that you've got to find yourself a nice big gun, open as many doors as possible, and make use of your rather excellent 'personal teleporting capabillity' that allows you to set markers and then volunatarily warp around the place like Captain James T. Kirk on acid (cue 'Lucy in the Sky' - Andy.). There's an enormous map to be explored, with traps, switches, transporters, enemy guns, robots and baddies a'go-go. You'll be glad to hear that the puzzles stand miles above the Dizzy-esque pap we've become used to, with some real mind-bending problems tucked away in the darkest corners of the game. I'm particularily taken with Exile, as not only does it display a real, er... display of orginality, but it also has tons and tons of character. The graphics, though a tad old fashioned, are quirky in the extreme, and the sound is both powerful and silly (I'm sure I heard a Monty Python "Ni!" in there somewhere). The control method is an interesting one, and while your character is highly manoeuvrable with joystick alone, once you start manipulating his icon menus (oh! Go on with you, saucy! - Babs Windsor.) you can start to make really good use of the limited supply of grenades, along with the other objects collected. I've deliberately not mentioned the '1995 A1200 update' that I'm reviewing elsewhere in this issue, because I'm sure I will be referring to the original many times during that review and (though you're probably reading this review having allready read the main review) I've yet to get my teeth into it. All I can say is, if you, like me, like me, then you like me (Sorry Mr Byron, I couldn't help myself!). No, what I mean to say is that if you missed this game first time around, there really is no reason I can think of why you shouldn't go straight out and buy it now. So, er... do! Overall 90 % Matt Broughton (Andy is Andy Nuttall, the editor, and Mr Byron is Simon Byron, former editor. I've no idea who Babs Windsor is....)

So, for those interested in differences with he BBC version, we can see that added features include new sounds and joystick support. There is also apparently a more user-friendly control interface ('icon menus'). These are evident in the screenshots on the Amiga page

I have not seen any review of the original Amiga version at the time of its release in 1995 but as stated on the Amiga page I am informed that at least one reviewer awarded it 88%.