Virus

tulikettu 2024-03-12
(10/10)
Offers probably the most intensive experience of all the shoot'em ups. You really sink in. Plus stunningly beautiful to watch.
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Thelead 2024-02-20
(5/10)
A game that requires a lot of patience as the control method is very unwieldy when you start. Once you do get the hang of it its a fairly basic arcade game just with really snazzy graphics (for the time). Today its very hard to recommend with its limited view and twitchy controls but it was a glimpse at the future.
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MarkTheMorose 2023-05-17
(8/10)
As with other commentators, I found this difficult to play at first due to the controls. Then I read the guide in one of the current magazines, and then I could really enjoy Virus. You just need a bit of practice to get used to the controls, so don't overlook this classic until you've given it a good try. Be patient, and it will pay dividends.

Aha, the guide was by none other than Julian Rignall, and was in the first issue of The One, pages 53 onwards. [www]
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fyl2049 2022-05-05
(3/10)
Beautiful but unplayable. Zeewolf is far more interesting as a game in the same style.
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Zeb 2020-12-11
(8/10)
First experienced this on a friend's A500 and I remember being confused with the controls. If it wasn't for his perseverance explaining how the controls worked I would never have enjoyed this game as much as I do. I could clear level 1 and I'm not sure I could get through level 2, seem to remember there being one enemy ship in particular that was very difficult to destroy and more often than not, got killed more times than I could kill it. When the school got an Archimedes 420 the demo of it (Lander?) was installed on the HD and that got played during break time.
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mike_tyson 2013-04-19
I always thought that calling a game "Virus" was a pretty stupid idea. Especially in a time when the general population started to understand what a computer virus is. Zarch, as the game was originally called on the Archimedes, was a better name I think.

Virus is a technical marvel, especially when considering it came out in 1988. The filled polygon engine is wickedly fast and smooth. The gameplay feels a bit like a 3D version of Defender. Although it looked very good and was technically groundbreaking, I don't rate Virus very high as a game: the fixed camera angle, and especially the ultra-sensitive control method made it barely playable.

10 years later David Braben revisited the concept with Virus 2000 (Playstation), and *that* game had excellent gameplay.
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rbn 2012-09-01
Way ahead of it's time. A much overlooked classic.
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Mancomb Seepgood 2012-05-05
(9/10)
Back in the day I didn't have clue what the objective was, but it was fun just to fly around, explore and blow things up. Very nice dynamics. Just maneuvering the ship was enough to keep me interested. I used to imagine how cool it would have been to land your ship on a planet in the original Elite, and how that part would have utilized Virus' game engine.
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balloonhead 2011-12-13
As i owned the Original, i KNOW what to do in this game. Just shoot all alienships that try to infect the land. Very hard to control but once you are used to it very fast. My tip: play it with mouse for fastest but hardest control.
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lobogris_1976 2011-03-18
(6/10)
Original and interesting, but very hard to control ... As practically all early 3d games approaches. Sorry but I can't get into it.
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ReTroViRuS 2010-05-13
(6/10)
The spaceship was very difficult to control, but the concept of Virus was so unusual at the time, I felt motivated to give it a try time and again. I couldn't quite figure out what I was supposed to do. Even nowadays, I'd love to get a copy of the manual in order to give it another go.
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Zeke 2007-11-01
I liked to play this one a lot. Even that I didn't know what vas the objective in the game..
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Little Monkey Lost 2007-08-09
A nice one. An atmosphere and mood were the best things. This was really impressive when this came out.
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Cthulhu 2007-02-18
(7/10)
This was fun, if not a bit hard to control. David Braben would later do a more modern remake of this as Virus 2000.
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MOG 2006-05-02
(10/10)
It didn't like it at first, but than after a few goes ...
Ahaaa...
All time favourite game..
Would be cool to play a remake today !
Voted 10 !

Just noted that it's made of David Braben:
Maker of Elite / Elite 2 ..
That makes sense
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stooart 2005-12-03
(4/10)
This was small, brown and lived in my pan. No, hated this stupid 3D shooter, I mean come on, it came from the Archimedes! I think my Amiga took the huff when I stuck this on so I banished it from my collection forever! How anyone found this playable is beyond me.
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Ratso 2005-05-05
(7/10)
Cool concept hamstrung by totally unforgiving controls.
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Predseda 2005-02-23
(6/10)
An early prequel to Zeewolf games. Very advanced for its age. But later Zeewolves were much much better (altough graphically nearly identical).
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Mycroft 2005-02-22
I remember there was an area in the southwest quadrant where continuous hover was the norm, and game-time just passed by: it was like watching an alien version of Little Computer People. You couldn't get killed but everything else in the game just carried on as normal. Great for voyeurs! I also liked the patchwork-quilt-effect on the landscape. Control system was a real shocker though, pity really.
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Trantor 2005-02-13
(7/10)
What does David Braben have with control schemes? I can understand wanting to make things physics correct, but that sure can make something a pain in the butt to control. Just like with Elite, for those that have the patience to get past the huge learnign curve involved with controlling this game, there is a great gaming experience hidden away for them to discover. Unfortunately I didn't have that patience at the time. If you want to experience this game with more "intuitive" controls, check out the Zeewolf games.
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steef-online 2005-02-13
(8/10)
I had seen this game before on other platforms, but never actually played it. Until today. Virus is really a nice game. The vector-graphics are fast and nicely drawn. The level of detail in the game is superb. For example, your thrusters burn the trees on the land when you fly very low and you'll see fish swimming in the water. Really nice! You play this game with the keyboard and although there are not so many keys to use (compared with the modern flight-simulators for example), this game is very hard to control! A lot of practice is needed to make your hands do what you think of in your head. So a good learning curve, which makes the lastability longer. It makes the game less accessable though. Sonically this game is okay, with some usefull use of sound. When tracking an enemy ship you'll hear a sound from that ship when you get close. A nice touch! To conclude, Virus is a pretty good game, with nice visuals, certainly looking at the year it was made. It plays nice, but it is pretty hard at and takes some time to get used to.

Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 7/10
Playability: 8/10

Overall: 8/10
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Kriko 2005-02-13
(9/10)
I remember ACE magazine giving this their highest score ever on the Acorn Archimedes (it was called "Zarch" then), and then it arrived on the Amiga. It does feel like a classic game, sort of like a thinking man's shoot'em up. Which means that I didn't play it that much
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Inferno 2005-02-12
(9/10)
David Braben gives a go at 3D arcade mayhem for thinking men, and guess what? It works. Perfectly, of course. More than just a classic... A milestone.
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DeAdLy_cOoKiE 2005-02-12
(7/10)
An early 3D polygon game by David Braben. A little classic.
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