Quake Minus One

Infobox VG| title = Quake Minus One


publisher = Monolith/Beyond
distributor =
released = 1985
genre = Real-time strategy
modes = Single Player
platforms =Commodore 64

Quake Minus One is a Real-time strategy game published for the Commodore 64 by Monolith/Beyond in 1985 and was written by Warren Foulkes and Mike Singleton

Premise

In the 1980s, the Western world constructed a large power plant named Titan under the Atlantic Ocean in order to extract geothermal energy from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where the Earth's crust is thinnest. The power plant is operated and maintained solely by a series of robots. Members of the Robot Liberation Front invade the power plant and seized control of the robots demanding equal rights for the machines otherwise they would use the power plant to trigger a massive earthquake which would severely threaten America, Europe and Africa. Titan is under the control of five separate computers - "Zeus", "Poseidon", "Vulcan", "Ares" and "Hermes" and scientists have managed to regain control of "Hermes" and the robots it operates. It is up to these robots to regain control of the other four computers who are moving to regain control.

Gameplay

The action begins with the player in control with a randomly placed "Hermes" controlled robot. The AI is maneuvering its robots to take control of Hermes so it is up to the player to maneuver their robots and formulate a strategy to retake control of the wayward computers. The player does have one advantage - he can enter into the map mode which will pause the game allowing a brief respite from the action and a change to view a detailed map of the Titan installation.

As robots travel down roads, they will eventually come to roads controlled by other computers where they will be attacked by fixed installations such as bunkers. Robots that have ion cannons can capture roads and junctions converting them to the control of "Hermes". Once a computer is captured, all its remaining robots are passed to the control of "Hermes". There are also quake suppression buildings to protect which if destroyed, bring forward the game's deadline.

User Reception

Quake Minus One wasn't well received. Although it won praise for its clear graphics and the sophistication of the interface, users often felt overwhelmed by what was going on and many made little to no progress with the game. Also the robots themselves were cumbersome to operate and the joystick interfact threw up problems.