Captive (video game)
| Company type | Video game developer and publisher |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founder | Antony Crowther (developer mentioned) |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
| Products | Captive (video game) |
Captive is a science fiction role-playing video game released in 1990 by Mindscape, who both developed and published it. The game employs pseudo-3D real-time graphics viewed from a first-person perspective. Initially launched on Amiga and Atari ST platforms, an MS-DOS edition was made available in 1992.
Players assume control of a squad of androids ("droids") that are remotely operated by a prisoner striving to secure his freedom by dismantling bases scattered across various planets.
Plot
The main character, Trill, has been unjustly sentenced to 250 years in a cryogenic space prison. After awakening with no recollection following 248 years, he finds a "briefcase computer" within his cell. This device enables him to command four droids aboard a spaceship, which he must use to navigate hostile environments and orchestrate his escape.
Game structure
Players guide the droids through numerous planetary bases to discover space probes that indicate the locations of subsequent bases. The core missions involve destroying the generators that power the force fields surrounding these bases and escaping before each base collapses. The game includes ten such bases plus a final space station where Trill is held. Upon reaching Trill's quarters, players can opt to free him, concluding the game, or continue with additional missions.
The user interface starts with the droids positioned inside a vector-graphic spaceship before being deployed via capsules onto planetary surfaces. Each base resembles dungeon-like settings filled with puzzles and hostile alien or robotic adversaries.
Shops
Within shops, players have the ability to purchase, sell, and repair various items including weapons, ammunition, and individual droid components such as heads, chests, arms, hands, legs, and feet—all of which can be upgraded separately. Additional accessories available include batteries, remote cameras, and specialized utility gadgets.
Weapons
A range of weapons is available for both melee and ranged combat. The effectiveness of these weapons depends on the droid’s placement, targeting left, center, or right zones at two vertical levels. Certain weapons can discharge multiple projectiles across different positions simultaneously. Droids positioned at the front attack side flanks while those at the rear fire projectiles down the central path.
Devices
Droids may be equipped with add-on devices categorized as optics, which enhance vision or provide additional information, and devscapes, offering other strategic benefits. Each droid can only carry one device at any given time.
Challenge
The gameplay shares similarities with real-time Dungeon Master-style titles like Eye of the Beholder. As the game progresses, difficulty escalates, demanding quick reactions and tactical use of surroundings—such as trapping enemies behind doors, escaping via ladders, or neutralizing robotic foes by flooding sections.
Miscellaneous
Developer Antony Crowther designed an algorithm that generates each planet and base from a single numerical "seed," enabling 65,535 distinct levels without needing to store them individually. Only one base is active within each saved game; players must destroy it before moving forward.
Initially named "Federation War" during development, the final title Captive was chosen through a competition held by ACE magazine among its readers.
Reviews
Both Amiga Format and Zzap! awarded Captive a 91% rating between 1990 and 1991, commending its intricately crafted game environment, creative storyline, and demanding puzzles, despite the game's limited interactivity and fictional combat system.
In May 1991, Amiga Power placed it at number 31 on their list of the greatest games ever made. Additionally, that same year, PC Format included it among the top 50 computer games of all time.
See also
- Liberation: Captive 2 – The sequel to Captive
- Hired Guns
References