Epic (computer game)

Epic is a science fiction-based flight simulator developed by Digital Image Design and released for the Amiga and the Atari ST published by Ocean in late spring 1992. A sequel was later released for PC systems titled Inferno.

The plot borrowed heavily from the television series Battlestar Galactica, focusing on a fleet of ships carrying the human inhabitants of a planet threatened by an imminent supernova. The escape route unfortunately leads through the Rexxon Empire's territory, which results in war.

The player controls the fleet's only hope, a one-man fighter - named Epic - similar to Star Wars' A-Wing. Epic carries a unique 'Epical' weapons system, which delivers a beam of focused energy of unparalleled power. In the final mission, the fighter is also used to deploy a cobalt bomb.

Epic has ten missions (levels), which take place either in space or on the surface of a planet. The action is viewed in 3D, with graphics being a mix of uniformly coloured polygons and bitmaps. The game is somewhat similar to Wing Commander.

The music featured in the game is the Mars Suite from The Planets.

Reviewer David Upchurch at the time gave the Amiga and ST versions a score of 839 (out of a possible 1000), praising its fast 3D graphics and sense of scale, but disliking its longevity and lack of depth.

Epic's 'borrowing' of concepts from Battlestar Galactica and other sci-fi universes did not stop at a thematic level; the enemy Rexxon fighters were clearly modeled on Colonial Vipers from Galactica, and the Battlestar Galactica herself made an appearance as the mothership of the Epic fighter.

Additionally graphics (including alert signs, clearly mimicking Michael Okuda's 'Okudagram' designs for the 1980s "Star Trek" movies) were lifted from other sci-fi environments (notably, as mentioned, "Star Trek"). The human fleet also went by the name of the United Federation of Planets, the same name as the interplanetary political union in the "Star Trek" universe.

References

* Upchurch, David (January 1992). Epic. ACE (UK magazine published by EMAP), p. 56–61.