Line of Fire (video game)

Arcade screenshot

The game sees the player placed as a member of a two-man commando team who have been charged with going behind enemy lines to bring down a terrorist organisation which has access to a large arsenal of weaponry. During the mission the team find a "special weapon", which is a vehicle mounted, automatic machine pistol, and must report their findings. However, the player is faced with many enemy troops and military vehicles which need to be destroyed in order for the commando squad to escape in the jeep, and must use the "special weapon" against the terrorists.[6]

The game is played from a first person perspective, with two cabinet-mounted positional guns used to shoot enemies on the screen. There are eight stages which take place in various settings, including the enemy base, jungle, canyons, desert and ruins.[7] At the end of each is a boss vehicle which must be destroyed in order to progress. Ammunition is limited to a few clips of bullets for the machine gun, a small supply of hand grenades and a screen clearing missile, although additional supplies can be obtained by shooting the relevant icon when they appear during play.[8]

The stages scroll both horizontally and into the screen via a pseudo-3D effect, and due to Sega's dedicated sprite handling hardware and software, the game was able to combine the two movements in a single instance, thus effectively creating the illusion of twists and turning corners. This revolutionary engine allowed the player to experience a somewhat convincing 3D landscape.[9] Between stages, a map screen is displayed which shows the player progressing through the terrorist facility and towards freedom.

The Line of Fire arcade machine uses the Sega X Board hardware, comprising two Motorola 68000 processors running at 12.5Mhz as its CPU, and sound is reproduced using a Yamaha YM2151 sound chip. It features raster graphics at a resolution of 320 x 224 pixels on a horizontally orientated monitor.[10] There are two different arcade cabinets available for the game. One cabinet allows the player(s) to sit down as they are playing the game,[11] reaching forward to use the cabinet mounted light guns. The other is an upright cabinet with attached light guns.[10]

The Master system version is a vertically scrolling shooter.

U.S. Gold acquired the licence to release the game on home computers, and versions were produced for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. The conversion for all five home computers was handled by Creative Materials and all were released in 1990.[2] For these versions there is no light gun support: instead the player moves a crosshair using a mouse, joystick or keyboard to target enemies, and pressing a button to fire.

A version developed by Sanritsu Denki for the Master System was published by Sega in 1991,[3] This release is an overhead vertically scrolling shooter, although the storyline and locations are mostly unchanged.[12] The game does not feature light gun support, the player using the standard control pad. This game also features support for the SegaScope 3-D Glasses, a way of viewing the game in 3D, if the player enters a button combination when starting up the console with the Line of Fire cartridge inserted.[13]

In Japan, Game Machine listed Line of Fire on their February 1, 1990 issue as being the third most-successful upright arcade unit of the month.[14] In the United Kingdom, it was one of the top four highest-grossing arcade games during early 1990, along with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tecmo World Cup '90 and Super Masters.[15] In North America, Line of Fire was the top-grossing new video game on the RePlay arcade charts in July 1990.[16]

The arcade game was met with a positive-to-mixed reception from critics, with praise for its pseudo-3D graphics and sit-down cabinet but with a mixed response to its derivative gameplay heavily based on Operation Wolf and Operation Thunderbolt. Line of Fire received a positive review from S: The Sega Magazine, calling it an "Utterly fab" game with "Amazing 3D graphics" and "heart-stopping action throughout."[17] RePlay magazine praised the "impressive" graphics and action, stating "the graphics are extremely crisp" and clear, the "explosions look real" and it "achieves a near 3D depth effect" with "realistic backgrounds" that scroll "away" as enemies "come flying in towards you" while stating the gameplay is "a no-holds-barred joyride through explosions and action that just doesn't quit."[18]

Sean Kelly of Zero magazine called it "the best game" at London's 1990 Amusement Trades Exhibition International (ATEI) and stated that, despite being "an Operation Thunderbolt derivative" it "goes about ten steps better." He praised the "fantastic graphics and sonics throughout" the game, "some rather excellent original ideas" and the "brilliant two-handed machine guns" in the sit-down cabinet.[4] Amiga Action called the arcade game "revolutionary" with "addictive two player action" and "a real 3D landscape that your character could run through, shooting both in front and behind" him.[9] Zzap!64 praised the graphics but criticized the gameplay and lack of difficulty.[19] CU Amiga gave it an average review with a 66% score, calling it a poor clone of Operation Wolf, with graphics that "aren't as sharp" and lacking dramatic sound. There was praise for the sit-down cabinet, but the reviewer said this was the only lasting appeal, although they found it a nice touch that defeated enemies stay on the screen rather than disappearing after a few moments, allowing the player to survey the scene they have just created.[11]

Retrospectivaly, Hardcore Gaming 101 praised the graphics, comparing its sprite manipulation to later first-person shooters and textured-mapped 3D polygons, but said the gameplay is "nothing spectacular".[20]