Aztec (video game)
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This article relies on references to primary sources. (December 2008) |
| Aztec | |
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| Developer(s) | Paul Stephenson[1] |
| Publisher(s) | Datamost |
| Platform(s) | Apple II, Atari 400/800, Commodore 64[1] |
| Release date(s) | 1982[1] |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Media/distribution | 5¼" disk |
Aztec is a 1982 computer game, created by Paul Stephenson and published by Datamost. It was originally developed for the Apple II and later ported to the Atari 400/800 and the Commodore 64.
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Premise [edit]
Aztec is a platform adventure game in which the player enters and explores the recently discovered "Tomb of Quetzalcoatl" in search of a jade idol.
The tomb's many levels are filled with traps, dangerous animals, Aztec guards and other hazards. Equipped with a machete, a pistol and sticks of dynamite, the player must recover the jade idol and escape the tomb. The player encounters snakes on occasion as well as a giant octopus if he keeps going to lower levels.
Gameplay [edit]
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Before beginning play, the game prompts the player to select a difficulty level from one to eight. Increasing the game's difficulty boosts the number and aggressiveness of the enemies the player will face, but also increases the reward they'll gain from retrieving the idol.
Each level in the tomb is shown from the side, with steps often connecting the levels and piles of bones and debris scattered along the floor. Searching these piles, or occasional boxes or chests, may discover and yield useful items such as a pistol or ammunition, a machete, dynamite, health potions, remains of the Prof. Von Forster, or the idol. Once the idol has been found, the player must make it back up all the way, and escape outside. If the player dies, the game allows them to resume from the last level they were in. It also allows them to resume a game from a previous session. Every new game features a different set of random-created levels.
The dynamite sticks may either be used as a weapon or to blow up walls and floors (it's also possible to inadvertently break part of a staircase which is critical to climb back out). Interesting artefacts of the game design allow the player to place and lit a dynamite stick in a room and then switch to another room, for it to be located around the same location, to one's advantage or demise.
